OK, here is a super practical way to make bread for your family toast and sandwiches each week. This is EXACTLY how I do it and it fits in with my routine really well. Three loaves in one bake. Simple. ONE THING TO NOTE THOUGH is that this recipe make quite a large dough, so it might become a little hard work in the kneading stage. Having said that I manage, and my muscles aren’t anything special. I think the key is to take your time, and you won’t get too tired too quick. OR split the dough in half and give half to somebody else!

This recipe will take around three hours start to finish, as a rule I start this in the evening around 6pm, but do what you need to do to fit in into your schedule!

The first part (weighing, mixing and kneading) will take around 20 minutes, so it works well for me to do it before the kids bedtime routine. I can sort them out while the dough is resting, and I’m back downstairs in time to shape up. That way the bread is out of the oven by 9 and resting up ready for the morning.

The following day, I’ll slice a whole loaf and pop it in the cupboard for toast and sandwiches.

The second loaf will keep whole in the cupboard too, since the first loaf normally gets eaten pretty quick. And I’ll slice it a couple of days later

The third will be wrapped in cling film and frozen. You can slice it first if you like and then take out what you need, or take the whole loaf out when the first two are gone.

So there you have it. Three loaves for the week to feed the family, all natural, home made, with love :-)

My Triple Loaf Recipe

Difficulty: Easy

3 hours

Ingredients

600g       Wholemeal Flour

900g      Strong White Bread Flour

30g         Salt

36g         Fresh Yeast or 3x7g sachets of dry easy bake yeast

1020g    Room Temperature Water

Method

1. Weigh your two flours and salt into a LARGE bowl, the dough will be large! Weigh the water into a jug. If you are using fresh yeast, pop it into the water to dissolve before moving on to step 2. Dry yeast can go straight into the bowl with the flour

2. Pour the liquid into the bowl and mix everything together into a dough, give it some welly to get all the flour incorporated in. Tip it out onto a clean table

3. Knead the dough on 8-10 minutes, without adding flour. Use a dough scraper to release it from the table if you need to, and bring it back together

4. With a very light dusting of flour, shape the dough into a ball, and place it back into the bowl. Dust again, cover with a clean cloth, and leave to rest at room temperature for 60 minutes

5. When your dough has puffed up, use a dough scraper to loosen it around the edges of the bowl, and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface so it lands upside down.

6. Use your fingertips to “knock back” very slightly and cut into three pieces the same size as each other. Shape them into three balls, and line them up on your kitchen side to rest again under a cloth for 15 minutes.

7. Now you are ready for your final shaping. Shape each ball into a loaf. Dust each really well and place in 2lb loaf tins.

8. Cover with a cloth and allow 45-60 minutes for them to prove up.

9. During the resting time, preheat the oven to 200°C Fan/Gas Mark 7

10. Bake your loaves for 30 minutes. Then pop each of them out of their tins, and place back on the oven shelf for another 10 minutes to finish off. Tap the base of each, and if they sound hollow they are fully baked.

11. Allow to cool completely before slicing