Breads on Nathan Hollows

Manakish (Middle Eastern Flat Bread)

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Original recipe makes 5

Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast 7 grams (or 25% less instant yeast powder)
3 cups plain all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup plain yogurt or oil

Directions

Add the water, sugar, and yeast to a small bowl, mix well and then allow it to stand for between 5-10 minutes for the yeast to activate. It should froth up and become quite bubbly during this time.
Combine the sifted flour and salt in a large bowl.
Add the yeast mixture and yogurt to the bowl, mix into a rough dough, and then knead for around 10 minutes until you have a smooth, elastic dough. When poked with a finger, the dough should bounce back again – if it doesn’t, knead it a little longer.
Form the dough into a rough ball and cover lightly with oil, then place back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or cling film and place it in a warm place to prove for between 45 minutes to an hour. During this time, it should double in size.
Preheat the oven as hot as it will go.
Divide the dough into 5 pieces, shape each piece into a ball, and roll flat. Dimple the dough all over with your fingers to make more space for topping and to prevent the dough from puffing up too much.
Top the dough with your toppings and transfer to the over for 5–6 minutes.

Notes

Feel free to season the dough as preferred depending on the recipe; Italian seasoning, za’atar, garlic, and onion powder, etc.
To use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, reduce the amount by 25%

Two Ingredient Naan (non-traditional)

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It’s not traditional but it is super fast and tasty. This takes about 15 minutes to make and the yoghurt makes it fluffy and light. Check out this recipe for something more traditional.

Ingredients

Self raising flour
Greek yoghurt
Salt
Butter / oil

Directions

Mix the self-raising flour and yoghurt in a bowl. You want a dough consistency. Add flour if it’s too sticky and yoghurt if it’s too dry. Add a pinch of salt.
Cook on medium-high heat in butter or oil. Feel free to add garlic, herbs, etc.

Baguettes

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Original recipe

Makes 2 baguettes

Ingredients

50ml warm water
1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast
450 g bread flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
285 ml cool water (you may not need all of the water
additional flour, for dusting

Directions

Measure the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside and allow the yeast to dissolve and become foamy.
Measure the bread flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and stir in the dissolved yeast.
Add the cool water, a little at a time, while stirring, just until a stiff, shaggy dough (watch the video below to see what this should look like) has formed (you may not need to use all of the water).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and gently press it into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Turn 90 degrees and repeat.
Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 to 2 hours).
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, and shape each one into a long loaf (about 15-inches long and 1 1/2-inches in diameter), with pointed ends.
Place the loaves on a floured towel, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled in bulk (about 30 to 45 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and place a pan of water on the bottom rack.
Uncover the baguettes and transfer to lightly greased baking sheets.
Sprinkle with flour, and make 4 elongated slashes down each one with a lame, razor, or sharp knife.
Bake the breads until crusty and brown (in my oven this takes around 35 to 40 minutes). The baguettes should give a hollow sound when tapped.

Notes

This is best eaten on the same day
To store, wrap in tinfoil and leave at room temperature

Banana Pancakes

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

1 Banana
1 Egg
Enough almond meal for correct pancake batter consistency (or oat bran, or any sort of flour)
Baking powder (about 1/2 tsp)

To serve

Maple Syrup
Butter

Directions

Mix everything together
Cook on medium high heat
Serve smothered in maple syrup or butter

I also like to put blueberries in my muffins.

Naan

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Makes 4 large naan. Approx 2 hours

For a super quick and tasty version of this recipe check out the two ingredient version.

Ingredients

375 grams all purpose flour (2 + ½ cups)
1 tsp instant yeast
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
15 grams vegetable oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

For the garlic topping:

2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Dough:

Parmesan Peppercorn Bread

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 cups warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
125g Parmesan cheese

Directions

Stir the flour, yeast, salt, water, pepper, and olive oil together in a large bowl until well combined. It should look sort of shaggy smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, or something else if you don’t want to kill the environment, and let it rest for two hours.
Flour your countertop with 1 tbsp flour, turn the dough out, and sprinkle the top with another tbsp of flour. Knead for 2 minutes by hand (after that it will start to get too sticky, and we don’t want to add too much flour to the dough, since it will change the identity of the bread). Place the dough back into the bowl, and let it rest for another hour, again covered with plastic.
Break the Parmesan up into little pieces. Knead the parmesan chunks into the bread, keeping your hands wet at all times so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Let it rest for an hour or two before baking.
Bake for 30 minutes covered, and 10-20 minutes uncovered

Blueberry Muffins

Sun, 30 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Makes 12ish.

Ingredients

Topping

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, or just a lot of lemon juice
Pinch of salt
60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Muffins

2 cups fresh blueberries, divided, plus more to top
1 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Streusel topping

Milk Bread Honey Buns

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It's milk bread honey buns

Rough Puff Pastry

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

250g high grade plain flour
1tsp fine sea salt
250g butter, at room temperature, but not soft
About 150ml cold water

Directions

Makes 700g pastry.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Roughly break the butter in small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of the cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle. Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don’t overwork, you should have a marbled effect from the butter streaks.
Divide rolled pastry into thirds visually. Fold a third across then fold the remaining third over the top. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out as before to three times the length. Fold as before. Depending on time and for best results you should repeat this rolling, folding (laminating) and chilling process 3 times before rolling and cutting pastry for use.

Notes

If using a stand mixer then grate butter into bowl and mix using paddle attachment
Freezes well. Freeze before final fold.
Always mark (finger dents) how many folds your pastry has

Scones

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Ingredients

3 cups flour
25g butter
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
about 1 cup milk

Method

Preheat oven to 230c
Sift together dry ingredients. Rub in butter. Add milk all at once and mix into a shaggy dough with a bread knife. Knead on lightly floured surface until coherent shaggy ball of dough. Add milk as necessary.
Pat and push into rough square. Cut into 9 pieces.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with cream and jam

Tortillas

Sun, 01 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Makes 8

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in water and oil. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10-12 times, adding a little flour or water if needed to achieve a smooth dough. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into eight portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 7-in. circle.
In a greased cast-iron or other heavy skillet, cook tortillas over medium heat until lightly browned, 1 minute on each side. Keep warm.

Notes

If the dough is hard to roll then let rest for a few minutes

Brioche Buns

Tue, 08 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

250 ml (1 cup) warm water
60 ml (¼ cup) warm milk
2 tsp instant dried yeast
2½ tbsp caster sugar
450 g (3 cups) strong flour, sifted
50 g (⅓ cup) plain flour, sifted
40 g unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, whisked
1½ tsp salt

Egg wash

1 large egg, whisked with 1 tsp milk

Directions

Resting time 3 hours or overnight

Combine the warm water, milk, yeast and sugar in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to stand for 5 minutes or until there are bubbles on the surface.
Combine the flours and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until you have a crumbly mixture (alternatively, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour). Change to the dough hook attachment, add the egg and the yeast mixture and knead on the lowest setting for 5 minutes, then add the salt. Continue to knead for another 5 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth, sticky and elastic. Knead a few times to form the dough into a ball, then place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm draught-free place until the dough has doubled in size (overnight, if time permits).
Transfer the dough to a floured workbench, then punch down and roll into a sausage shape. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Working in batches, hold 1 dough portion at time in one hand, then use the other hand to pull the edges, tucking them onto the centre, until a round ball has formed. Place the dough seam-side down on a clean workbench, cup the top of the ball with one hand, then roll it gently in a circular motion to shape it further into a ball. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then repeat with the remaining dough balls, placing them 5 cm apart on the baking tray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave to rise again for another 1 hour or until the dough balls have expanded by another one-third of their original volume.
Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Tip 250 ml (1 cup) of cold water into a roasting pan and place it on the bottom shelf of the oven.
Brush each bun well with the egg wash and bake on the middle shelf for 15–20 minutes or until golden brown, then cool on a wire rack before serving.

Notes

The longer the resting time the more sour and yeasty the bread will taste. When I made these I left them for about 10 hours - in their own they had a sour taste but with fillings I couldn’t taste it.

Bagels

Sun, 18 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 ½ tablespoons (4 ½ teaspoons) granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups / 300ml warm water (you may need ± ¼ cup /60ml more, I know I did)
3 ½ cups (500g) bread flour or high gluten flour(will need extra for kneading)
1 ½ teaspoons salt

Optional Toppings:

Caraway seeds
Coarse salt
Minced fresh garlic
Minced fresh onion
Poppy seeds
Sesame seeds

Directions

In ½ cup /120ml of the warm water, pour in the sugar and yeast. Do not stir. Let it sit for five minutes, and then stir the yeast and sugar mixture, until it all dissolves in the water.

Apple Bread

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups apples, diced
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Combine and set aside the oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.
Sift flour, cinnamon, soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to oil mixture gradually.
Add apples and nuts.
Bake in 2 regular loaf pans or 3 foil loaf pans for 1 1/2 hours at 170 degrees.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan.
Sprinkle with sugar, if desired.

Sun dried Tomato Bread

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

https://www.lovethekitchen.co.uk/sun-dried-tomato-bread-with-oregano-and-sea-salt-crust/

Ingredients

500g Strong White Flour
7g fast action yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp caster sugar
275 ml warm water
3 x tbsp tomato purée
3 x tbsp olive oil
50g sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin strips
coarse sea salt
1 x tsp dried oregano (and extra to sprinkle on the crust)

Directions

Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, salt, dried oregano and sugar)in a large mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly.

Challah Bread

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

This makes 2 large loaves, and takes a lot of time (an hour or two of active time, two days overall).

Ingredients

5 tsp. active dry yeast
1-3/4 cup warm water
⅔ cup sugar
½ cup olive oil, plus extra to grease a bowl
5 eggs, plus 1 extra for an egg wash before baking (6 eggs total)
1-2 Tbsp. salt, depending on your taste (I use 1-1/2 Tbsp. or so)
8 to 8-1/2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading/dusting

Directions

In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast begins to foam.
Mix oil, sugar, and salt into yeast.
Add 5 eggs, one at a time.
Add 8 cups of flour in 1-cup increments, mixing the dough a bit between each flour addition. (If you’re using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment here. If you’re working without a mixer, stir in as much flour as you can with a wooden spoon and then knead the rest in by hand).
When you’ve added 8 cups of flour, take a look at your dough. It should be slightly sticky but should still hold together and pull away from the sides of your bowl as you mix. If the dough is too wet, add more flour in ¼-cup increments until dough reaches the right consistency.
If you’re working with a stand mixer, add an additional 1 Tbsp. of flour to the mixer and continue to knead the dough with your dough hook attachment until the dough is smooth and holds together. -If you’re working without a mixer, turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead it by hand until it reaches a smooth consistency.
Oil a large bowl and place your dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place for 1-1/2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
When dough has doubled, punch it down and turn it over in your bowl. At this point, you can either let it rise again on the counter or let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight. I ALWAYS do one rise overnight in the fridge, no matter what kind of bread I’m baking. It gives the flavors more time to develop and makes for a much richer end product. If you’re in a hurry, though, re-cover the dough and let it rise again for 45 minutes on the counter. If you have the time to wait, re-cover the dough and place it in the fridge for 7-8 hours or overnight. After the dough has risen in the fridge, take it out and allow it to come back to room temperature before you proceed with the next step (about 3-4 hours).
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, punch it down slightly, and cut it into 12 equal pieces. (Each loaf will use 6 of those pieces). Set 6 pieces aside while you form the first loaf.
Roll each piece of dough out into a long rope, about 12-14", and place the ropes parallel to each other on your floured surface. See this video for great instruction on how to braid the pieces. - Braid one loaf, set aside, and repeat the process with your remaining 6 pieces of dough. Transfer the loaves to a large baking sheet.
At this point, you can freeze one or both loaves for baking later or you can let them rise a final time. If you freeze a loaf, remember to let it come back to room temperature and rise before you bake it. If you’re moving straight onto baking, cover each braided loaf and let it rise a final time - in a warm place for 1-1/2 hours or until the loaves have nearly doubled in size (they should be puffed up pretty significantly).
Beat your remaining 1 egg with 1 Tbsp. of water to make an egg wash. Brush it liberally on each loaf. Place loaves into a 375 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed, pull the baking sheet slightly out of your oven and give each loaf another liberal brush of egg wash.
Return loaves to the oven for 10-20 minutes or until loaves have developed a deep golden color. Fully cooked loaves should make a hollow sound when you tap them and will have a sturdy outer crust. (Don’t worry, the inside will be soft!)
Let loaves cool for 15-20 minutes. This bread tastes UN.BE.LIEVEABLE. when you eat it warm, but it’s pretty dang delicious at room temperature, too. Enjoy!

Tuscan Bread

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Original Recipe

Ingredients

3 Cups Bread Flour (with a little extra for dusting)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast granules
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

In a large bowl fold together flour, yeast, salt sugar, oregano, thyme, marjoram, and thyme with a rubber spatula. Fold in warm water and olive oil and stir until mixed thoroughly (bread will be sticky).
Let dough sit in a covered bowl for 1 1/2 hours at room temperature, or until dough doubles in size.
Once dough has doubled in size, generously flour a clean surface, place dough on surface, and knead dough 4-5 times.
Leave dough on the counter and tent foil over dough and left rise another 1 1/2 hours. At the 1 hour mark, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place dough in a covered Dutch oven or on a pizza stone and bake covered for 30 minutes. Then, remove cover and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes, until bread is a light golden brown.
Enjoy it hot or save it for dinner, sandwiches or whatever your heart desires.