Basic Bread Recipe 2/ Doh Roti Asas 2 (Step-by-Step Instruction)

This is a follow up to my previous post of Basic Bread recipe here. I love the recipe as it is, but being quite a perfectionist myself, I find the bread to be lacking in 'body', that it is too soft and airy to my liking.  Therefore, I tweaked the recipe a bit by reducing the amount of water roux and increasing the amount of liquid. Note that I knead my dough by hand. The amount of water might be a little bit different if you use a Bread Machine. 

Now, are you ready to bake some bread? Let's get started. 

First,  we need to activate the yeast. In a small bowl, combine the yeast with a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of flour and 150ml of lukewarm water or milk. Make sure the liquid is warm and not too hot, otherwise, it will kill the yeast. Let the yeast mixture sit while you prepare the other ingredients.   

Then, we make the water roux. Water roux is basically a mixture of water and flour that would help make your bread springy. For more information on water roux, check my post here.Water roux is one part flour and 5 parts water. So, mix together 25g flour and 125ml water:

 Stir the water roux mixture on medium heat until thicken, like this:

Set the water roux aside too cool a bit. Now, in a large bowl, combine and whisk together the flour (I used half all-purpose flour and half wholemeal flour), sugar and salt:

Then, it's time to put in all the wet ingredients - the yeast mixture (should be frothy by now), the water roux and a beaten egg:

Ok, from now on, it's work out time! Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a spatula or by hand:

Knead the ingredients together for about 5-7 minutes until a rather dry dough is formed. It may not be smooth or elastic at this stage because we are yet to add in the margarine/shortening. You might feel that you need to add more water to the dough, but trust me, you don't. The moisture will be added once the margarine is added in. But if you will, just add a little water tablespoon by tablespoon, not more than 50ml or 3 tablespoons:

Now, it's time to add in the margarine. Work the margarine into the dough and continue kneading with the heel of your palm until a smooth and elastic dough is formed, about 8-10 minutes. As you knead, scrape the bowl clean with dough. The dough might become greasy at first, but as you continue kneading, the margarine will be incorporated into the dough and it helps to create elasticity: 

 

After some serious hand workout, this is what you will get, a smooth and elastic dough. Note that the bowl now is clean:

Next, the dough need to be rested until it doubles in size (about 45 minutes to an hour), like this:

Then, punch the dough to deflate and now is your chance to shape the dough in whatever shapes you fancy:

Then, rest the shaped dough for another 30-45 minutes until they rise again. Glaze them with eggwash before baking. Bake at 350F/175C for about 15 minutes (depending on the size of your bread, the buns above took about 15 minutes to cook). 

Basic Bread Dough
Adapted from My Resipi

Ingredients:
To activate yeast:

5 tsp instant yeast
150ml warm water or milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon flour 

To make water roux:

25g flour

125ml water

For the dough:

600 g (5 cups, leveled) all-purpose or bread flour
100g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk powder (optional)
1 egg, beaten
Water roux  
60 g softened butter/ margarine

1 egg, beaten + 2 tbsp milk (for egg wash)
Melted butter/ margarine (for brushing on cooked bread)

 

Method:

To activate yeast: In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, flour and warm water/milk. Set aside and let the yeast do its thing.

To make water roux: Mix the flour and water in a saucepan and stir on medium heat for about a minute until thicken. Set aside to cool. 

To make the dough (by hand):

1. In a large bowl, combine and whisk the flour, milk powder (if using), sugar and salt together. 

2. Then, add in the activated yeast (should be frothy by now), cooled water roux and and an egg. Mix well. 

3. Using your hand, knead the mixture for about 5 minutes until a rough dough is formed. The dough might be rather dry and not elastic at this stage and there might still be bits and pieces of flour in the bowl.

4. Next, add in the butter or margarine into the dough. The dough might become greasy at first. Continue kneading using the heel of your palm until all the butter is incorporated in and the dough is no longer greasy and becomes smooth and elastic. 

5. Set the dough to proof for about an hour until it doubles in size.

6. After that, punch the the dough to release the air out. Now, you may shape the dough in any shape you like. Then, rest the shaped dough for at least 30 minutes to an hour to allow them to rise again.  

7. Preheat the oven to 350F or 175C. Brush the bread with the egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes (depending on the size of your bread) or until cooked. 

8. Lightly brush the tops of bread with the margarine or melted butter when done to prevent crust from getting hard. 

  
Note:
- For variation, you may substitute half of the flour with wholemeal flour for a wholemeal sandwich, like this:

 -  You can use this dough to make pizza too.

Look at its texture:

Resipi Doh Roti Asas
Diolah daripada: My Resipi

Bahan-bahan:
Untuk aktifkan yis:

5 sudu kecil yis *saya guna Mauripan
150ml air/susu suam

1 sudu besar gula

1 sudu besar tepung

Untuk membuat water roux:

25g tepung

125ml air

Untuk doh:

600 g (5 cawan rata) tepung roti atau tepung gandum
100g gula kaster
1 sudu kecil garam
2 sudu besar susu tepung (optional)
1 biji telur, dikocok
Water roux  
60 g marjerin

1 biji telur dikocok + 2 sudu besar  (untuk glaze)
Marjerin (untuk sapu roti selepas masak)

 

Cara-cara:

Untuk aktifkan yis: Dalam bekas kecil, satukan yis, gula, tepung dan susu/air suam. Ketepikan.

Untuk water roux: Kacau tepung dan air di atas api sederhana hingga memekat (dalam 1 minit). Sejukkan.  

Untuk membuat doh:

1. Dalam mangkuk yang besar, satukan tepung, susu tepung (jika guna), gula dan garam.

2. Selepas itu, masukkan yis yang telah diaktifkan tadi (yis akan berbuih), water roux dan telur yang dikocok. Gaul sebati. 

3. Dengan menggunakan tangan, uli bahan-bahan tadi sehingga menjadi doh yang kasar, dalam 5 minit. 

4. Selepas itu, masukkan marjerin/butter dan uli lagi doh sehingga menjadi licin dan elastik. 

5. Rehatkan doh selama 1 jam atau sehingga naik dua kali ganda.

6. Selepas itu, tumbuk doh untuk membuang angin dan bentukkan doh mengikut citarasa anda. Selepas itu, doh perlu direhatkan semula selama 45 minit atau sehingga berganda saiznya.  

7. Panaskan oven pada suhu 350F/175C. Sapu permukaan roti dengan campuran telur dan susu dan bakar selama 12-15 minit (bergantung kepada saiz roti) atau sehingga masak. 

8. Selepas dikeluarkan dari oven, sapu permukaan roti dengan sedikit marjerin/butter supaya roti kekal lembut. 

  
Nota:
- Untuk variasi, boleh juga gantikan separuh daripada kuantiti tepung gandum dengan tepung wholemeal untuk buat roti sandwich wholemeal.
- Doh ini juga boleh digunakan untuk roti pizza.