During the COVID lockdown period, I found a few different projects for my 3 year old and I. She loves kneading bread dough, understandably, and we made quite a few loaves of various shapes. The basic dough in this bread recipe is highly flexible – you can use pretty much any white bread recipe you have in hand or use mine below which I have adapted from this garlic pull-apart rolls recipe. I have even used the dough function in my bread maker and used the dough to add colour and shape it again. If you are new to bread baking, fear not. This dough recipe doesn’t need much kneading and is quite fuss free. The most important thing when baking bread is to use the best yeast you can get your hands on. I have had good luck with SAF instant yeast and have made bread successfully both in my bread machine and by hand. If you don’t find this brand where you live, that’s fine too. Just buy whatever is available and make sure the yeast is within it’s expiry date!
Step by Step Rainbow Swirl Bread
Preparation of the dough – mix all ingredients except oil and knead into a soft, non-sticky dough Divide the dough into equal portions Add few drops of colour per portion of dough and knead in with fingertips to get a marbled effect Let the dough rest a bit and roll into oblong pieces you can stack together Roll into a tight loaf Place in a greased loaf pan. I also lined the pan but this is optional. Leave it in a warm place to double. Takes about 1 hour. In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 180 C. How to pre-heat an oven. My loaf rose a lot because I left it around for more than an hour. What a beauty! Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. You can brush the top with some butter or milk as soon as it comes out of the oven. Slice when the loaf has cooled completely. How gorgeous is that?
