Wholesome bread recipes

Eat one of the meals tonight, freeze one for later and prepare one that's specifically tailored for your baby or toddler.

Staple food for the masses throughout history, bread is also made from wheat, which offers loads of vitamins and fibre. Stick to wholewheat products to get the most out of this.

Make tonight:

Cheese and onion bread

You'll need:

• 500g  Self-raising flour
• 500ml  Buttermilk
• 1 packet  White onion soup
• 125ml  Cheese, grated
• Cayenne pepper (optional and not for children)

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, keeping half the cheese aside.
2. Scoop this into a well-greased baking pan.
3. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the dough.
4. You can also add a touch of cayenne pepper (adults only).
5. bake in the oven at 180°C for 1 hour.

TIP:

The sky is the limit with this basic bread recipe. use your imagination to add lots of interesting ingredients to this bread- herbs, bacon, vegetables, etc. using buttermilk and self-raising flour as the base.

Freeze for later:

Focaccia

You'll need:

• 500ml  Cake flour
• 2ml  Salt
• 5ml  Sugar
• 8ml  Yeast
• 125ml  Lukewarm water
• 125ml  Oil
• Salt crystals
• Rosemary, thyme or oregano (optional)

Method:

1. Sift the dry ingredients together then add the lukewarm water and oil.
2. Knead the mixture until the dough is soft (this will take about 10 minutes).
3. Leave the dough in a warm area for approximately 45 minutes to let it rise.
4. Divide the dough into two balls.
5. Press these down to form a flat focaccia.
6. Drizzle oil and salt crystals on the surface.
7. Sprigs of herns such as rosemary, thyme or oregano as garnish are optional.
8. Cover a baking pan with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until double the height.
9. Bake this for 20 minutes at 200°C.

TIP:

How to  know when to stop kneading: after pressing a thumb into the dough it should spring back to its original form.

For children:

Marmite toasties

You'll need:

1  Sliced loaf wholewheat bread

250g  Soft butter or margarine

1 packet  White onion soup powder

2 tbsp  Marmite

Method:

1. Mix the butter, onion soup and marmite into a soft spread.
2. Cover one side of every slice of bread evenly.
3. The mixture should be enough for one loaf of bread.
4. Cut the slices into 3-4 smaller pieces.
5. Dry in the oven for about 45 minutes at 160°C.

TIP:

Store these in an airtight container and take out as a teatime snack.