Bread Recipe | APF (All Purpose Flour) Bread

This bread recipe is my first in this niche. This APF bread is my favorite now and I am sharing this recipe with you all, after trying it for a couple of times and being sure that it gives a good result.

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I have tried many bread recipes before I finally got satisfactory results with this one. After reading so many blogs and articles, and watching so many videos, I came to the conclusion that bread baking is not for me. I mean not even a single time, I would get the bread right. Still, I kept trying and finally learnt from my mistakes and understood what I was doing wrong. So here I am, sharing my experience of bread baking. Hope that it helps you in getting your perfect bread.

Just check out below video, how perfect this bread has come out!!

Secrets of Bread Recipe

I am going to share with you the secrets of bread baking.

1. PATIENCE. Yes, patience! All bread recipes, talk about patience and how it is so important in getting a good rise and a wonderful bread. Yeah, I know its not an ingredient but it is a very important factor.

The proofing of yeast, the dough proofing twice, kneading the dough; all this in a bread recipe is important and should be done with patience and correctly.

2. Another secret of bread baking is its TEXTURE. I know you all would be like, what about the ingredients, measurements? Yes they are important too but generally the basic ingredients are same and so is the measurement. Then why would the breads not come out same? I found the answer to this question in the texture of the bread dough. The correct techniques should be followed patiently to get that right texture of the dough which is quintessential for a perfect bread.

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3. TECHNIQUE. Kneading the dough in the right manner, for the right time , to get the right texture is the key here. The perfect dough is equal to a great bread. And that’s all that’s there in a bread recipe.

Dear readers, choose any recipe from the vast realm of this internet world, but do keep these secrets in your mind, and you would never fail in bread baking.

Some other interesting recipes;

• Chocolate Brownie
• Instant Dhokla
• Red Velvet Cake
• Home made Cream Cheese recipe
• Mango Cake
• Eggless Dry Fruit cake

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Important tips for Bread Recipe

1.Yeast – It is very important to take the right quality of yeast. By quality, I mean that the yeast should be perfectly active. If you see that the yeast is not proofing nicely, then that yeast has expired. Please throw it away and make another yeast solution with a new yeast. Expired yeast will definitely not give you desired results.

2. Kneading – Kneading the dough before first proofing is very important. It activates the proteins in the dough and forms gluten, which, later while baking forms the perfect texture of the bread. This is the only step where you are actually working to make the bread more springy and light. If the dough is not kneaded correctly it will be not be elastic enough to stretch and hold the tiny air pockets in bread while baking. Patience and technique should be the focus here.

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Kneading with hands – If you are going to knead the dough with hands, be sure that you do so for at least about 20 min in total. Yes, it is a lot of work. At first the dough will look very loose and sticky. But as you will keep on kneading, it will start to form its shape. For the initial 10 min, the dough will stick to the surface. Keep scraping it and pulling it back. You can lightly wet your hands in between. To make is easy, you can form a cycle of kneading for 2 min and rest for 30 sec in between. After about 10-12 min, you’ll see that the dough is less sticky and has started to come together. Keep kneading for the next 6-8 min. When the dough is springy enough and elastic, you know that it is ready.

Hand Mixer/ Stand Mixer – If you use hand mixer or stand mixer for kneading the dough, just knead for 8-10 min with some rest in between. After about 10 min (maybe little less or more time ), you’ll see that the dough has started to form into a ball and is leaving the sides of the bowl, that is when you know that the dough is ready.

In this bread recipe, I have used hand mixer and got beautiful results. In fact, I have never used the dough attachments of my hand mixer before this. So I was like, “This is so easy!”

Do not over-knead the dough and make it very hard. If it loses its moisture, it will just not rise or become very hard after baking.

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3. Proofing – Proofing the bread dough till it doubles up in size is enough time. If you let it proof more than this, the dough will loose its elasticity (the bubbles will pop) outside the oven only and while baking it won’t get the right rise. So be careful not to let this happen to the bread dough.

4. Measurements – It is very important to understand that almost all the bread recipes have same ingredients , with almost same ratio of the flour to liquid and yeast. but then in bread it is never the measurement. It is how the dough is forming up while you are at it. I mean, I might need 3/4 of the total liquid that I have mentioned and you might need 1 cup of it. And yes it can happen. So don’t follow the recipe to the T, especially when its about adding liquid.

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How much liquid will be needed to make the dough, will depend on the quality of the flour you use. Sometimes the flour is old, so you may need a little less liquid in the dough. Sometimes its new, then the liquid required will be little more or same as in the recipe. It also depends on the temperature and humidity in your area.

So do keep in mind these factors and go by the feel. The feel of how your dough is forming up. 1 -2 tbsp more or less liquid than mentioned in the recipe is okay. May be sometimes even more than this but what you should be aware of is how your dough has come up. Is it elastic enough after kneading for about 20 min? Has it become smooth? Is it springy? Check for the answers to these questions and you will get a right dough.

Video of Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• APF (All purpose flour/ refined flour) – 1 cup + 1 cup (240 gm)
• Milk – 1/2 cup (100 ml)
• Water – 1/3 cup + 1-2 tbsp (if required) (80 ml)
• Dry Active Yeast – 1 tsp
• Dahi (curd) – 1 tsp
• Sugar – 1 tbsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Butter – 1tbsp + 1-2 tsp

Method

1.Take 1 cup flour, milk ( at room temperature ), salt and dahi ( curd). Mix it all together in a bowl. Make sure there is no dry flour left in it. Now cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for over night. This dough will be very loose and sticky.

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2. Next morning, take out this mixture out of the refrigerator about an hour before you start making bread. The point here is that when we will use it, this dough should be at room temperature.

3. Take 1/3 cup water. Add 1 tbsp sugar in it. Warm up the water and dissolve the sugar completely. Now let it become lukewarm and then add 1 tsp yeast in it. Stir gently only once. Cover it and let the yeast get activated. It should take 5-8 min depending upon the temperature in your area. If the yeast is not frothy after 10-15 min also, then it is a dead yeast. Discard away this solution and make another one with new yeast.

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4. Take 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp melted butter, frothy yeast solution and the over night dough. Mix everything nicely and start kneading the dough. Make sure, no dry flour is left in the dough. In this bread recipe, I am using hand mixer for kneading the dough, so it took me around 15 min in total to get the perfect elastic dough. For stand mixer the time will be little less and for kneading by hands, it will be little more, like around 20 min or so. To know how to knead with hands or mixers, please read it under the heading ‘important tips’.

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5. After about 7-8 min, the dough will start leaving the sides of the bowl. You can see the stretch in the dough even while kneading.

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6. Now take out dough from the bowl (sprinkle some dry flour on the surface) and fold it for about a min.

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7. Now just glaze your finger tips with very little butter and roll the dough into a ball, while making the top plain and tucking its sides under it.

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8. Put it in a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and keep in a warm place for 45 min to 1 hour, or until it doubles up.

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9. After about an hour, the dough will double up. Take it out on a flour sprinkled surface and knock the air out of it.

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10. Flatten it out into a rectangle shape.

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11. Now roll it tightly and pinch the edges together.

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12. Put it in a greased tin. I have used 9″ x 3″ tin. Cover with the kitchen towel and keep it in a warm place for second proofing.

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13. After about 30-45 min the dough will double up.

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14. In the mean while, pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees celcius for about 15 min. Once the dough is ready, bake it for 30-35 min. I have baked it in a microwave convection mode.

15. You can brush the top of the dough with milk or melted butter to get a dark brown color on top crust of the bread. I like it less brown so I have not brushed it with milk.

16. Once the bread is baked, brush it with butter immediately after taking it out from the oven. This helps in softening the top crust.

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17. Let it cool in the tin for about 5-7 min and then take it out on a rack. If the bottom of the bread sounds hollow, when you tap it, then you should know that your bread is baked right.

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18. Once the bread is cooled completely at the room temperature, then you can slice the bread.

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