A simple bread recipe

• Ingredients 
  
  
  
  
  500g/1lb 1oz strong white bread flour, plus a little extra flour for finishing
• 40g/1½oz soft butter
• 12g/2 sachets fast-action dried yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• about 300ml/10¾fl oz tepid water (warm not cold – about body temperature)
• a little olive or sunflower oil
  
  
  Step No. 1
  
  
  Pop the flour and butter into a large mixing bowl, then make sure to add the salt at one end and the yeast at the other, otherwise the salt will kill the yeast and you'll have deflated bread. Now mix together your ingredients with a spoon.
  
  
  Step No. 2.
  
  
  Add about half of the water, and now either begin turning everything around with your fingers or you can use an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, I found the latter a much easier option. Keep mixing everything round until you have picked up all of the flour, you may not need to use all of the water, you want your dough to be soft and silky feeling, not stodgy or sticky.
  
  
  Step No. 3.
  
  
  If you are using your hands then you now need to begin kneading your dough, lightly oil a clean work surface and pull your dough out from the corners and fold into the center, then use your knuckled to push down and roll it around a bit (like they do on telly). If your using an electric mixer then keep it going for about five minutes.
  
  
  
  
  Step No. 4.
  
  
  Now lightly oil your mixing bowl and pop your dough back inside, with a damp tea towel over the top for about 1 hour. This will give your dough a chance to rise, it should almost double in size over the hour. Don't leave your dough somewhere to warm otherwise it will rise to quickly.
  
  
  Step No. 5.
  
  
  Right so an hour has gone by, go back to your dough, turn it out of the bowl and begin  kneading it again to knock all the air out. Do this for another 10 minutes and then you can add any tasty ingredients. I have gone for some herbs, cheese and onion, but you should experiment with what you like. 
  
  
  Step No. 6.
  
  
  Now lightly oil your baking tray and then shape your dough, either use a loaf tin or you can freestyle (like my attempt at a platted loaf of bread. At this point you will need to preheat your oven to 220C and pop an old empty roasting tin in the bottom of the oven. Now leave your loaf to rise again for another hour with damp tea towel over the top.
  
  
  Step No. 7.
  
  
  After an hour go and pop your bread in the middle of the oven, pour some cold water into the empty roasting tin, this will create steam and give a lovely hard shiny crust to your bread and now bake your loaf for about 30 minutes.
  
  
  Step No. 8.
  
  
  After half an hour, check your loaf is baked by tapping it, if it sounds hollow its time to take it out the oven and turn on to a wire rack to cool and now you eat it, done!!