I enjoy eating bread! That might be a major understatement. My mini obsession with bread started very young, so much so that one of my aunts had to tell me that if I continued to eat bread the way I did, a bread tree would grow out of my belly button… Sigh! I believed this tale for a while, especially after she asked me “where do you think breadfruit comes from?”. The fear of becoming a human breadfruit dispenser ruined my love for bread, however once I later found out that trees didn’t grow from your belly button, my long-lost love re-ignited.
My mom as a baker runs a food service business. The frequent varieties of bread she brought home from her bakery had me living in a mini paradise. I grew up with the privilege of eating extra fresh, good quality, homemade bread on an almost daily basis. My mom’s bread is the best, I tell you! Some days we had fruit bread, whole wheat bread, baguettes, bread rolls, cake bread, and one of my very favorites, Ghana Sugar bread.
Striving to be half the baker my mom is, has become one of my greatest motivations. And I must confess those are some grand shoes to fill! Recently, I called up my mom and asked her for the secret to making Ghana Sugar Bread, and getting the perfect texture that for me was so illusive.
How to Make the Best Ghana Sugar Bread| Easy Bread Recipe| Best Way to Make Homemade Bread
Ghana Sugar Bread Recipe
Ghana Sugar Bread (or sweet bread) is a sweet dense and chewy textured bread commonly eaten in Ghana. Other West Africans eat similar versions of this bread as well (for instance agege bread in Nigeria), and the recipe that I am sharing is tweak-able to cater to your taste. Ghana Sugar Bread (or sweet bread) is a sweet, dense and chewy textured bread with the most luxurious rolls that is commonly eaten in Ghana.
The secret she shared with me, which I will be sharing with you guys is this: Use a dough conditioner! What is that you say? A dough conditioner is simply something added to bread dough to enhance the texture of the bread. For this sugar bread, my mum recommended scalded flour and ascorbic acid as dough conditioners to try. These natural dough enhancers elevate your bread from basic bread to the most luxurious textured bread rolls characteristic of Ghana sweet bread.
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You prepare the scalded flour by simply cooking 1/4 cup of water with 3/4 cup of bread flour on low- medium heat until it looks like a thick custard. The color of the scalded flour mixture should turn from an opaque white to a translucent off-white color. This indicates that the starch granules have burst, and the flour is scalded.
The ascorbic acid is simply powdered vitamin c (167% worth) but be careful not to be too generous with it; a little goes a long way. Even when doubling the recipe, this is one ingredient I will not double. Sometimes in a pinch when I’ve run out of absorbic acid, I have used lemon juice as a substitute. Be careful when doing this though because it can affect both the texture and the flavor of the bread. If you use lemon juice, substitute 1/8 teaspoon of ascorbic acid with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Ingredients
- 390 g (2 2/3 cups) bread flour
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 3/4 cup scalded flour
- 2 1/4 tsp (1 sachet) active dry yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ascorbic acid
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
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Course: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Ghanaian
Servings: 6
Calories: 346.3kcal
Instructions
- Fill a small bowl with 1 cup of warm water (between 105°F- 115°F), sprinkle one tsp of sugar in the warm water and the yeast. Whisk the mixture till dissolved and set aside for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, the yeast should be foamy and should have bubbled up; if this does not happen, then your yeast may be inactive. Dump that batch and try again with new yeast.
- In a mixing bowl, mix in the flour, sugar, salt and ascorbic acid. Add in the scalded flour and activated yeast.
- Knead the dough for 15 minutes. It should be smooth to touch after kneading and not sticky.
- Place the dough in a bowl that has been greased lightly with vegetable oil, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place till it doubles in size (usually about 1 hour).
- After the dough is doubled, tip it out of the bowl on a clean work surface, and knead for five minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 350°F
- Divide the dough into 6 even balls and place in a baking pan covered with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until it has doubled in size.
- Bake the bread in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes.
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Ghana Butter Bread Recipe
This easy, authentic Ghana butter bread recipe has all the qualities of perfect bread for making a sandwich or eating it alone. This butter bread uses flour, water, yeast, salt, salt, butter, and milk. I know many people have all-purpose flour, but using bread flour in this recipe produces a soft, buttery interior with a chewy crust outside. Let’s make homemade Ghana butter bread! I often make this basic bread in my house since it is easy to make and does not require much time. I love the smile of freshly baked homemade bread; this recipe is foolproof and may become your favorite, too. This is the best butter bread, which reminds me of home. I used to help a bread baker in college during my spare time and was impressed by how simple ingredients can produce delicious buttery and soft bread. This recipe is delicious, just like I used to have.
Water: water helps activate the yeast, and I used water and milk in this dough. Milk: To make soft bread, you need fat in the dough, so ensure 1/4 cup of the liquid is milk. Yeast: You can use dry active yeast or instant yeast. Butter: Unsalted butter is an essential ingredient in this recipe. That is where it gets its name and promises a flavorful loaf.
This recipe needs only one rising time, which is how easy it is to make the bread. Here is an easy step-by-step with pictures to guide you through making butter bread.
Ingredients
- Flour
- Water
- Yeast
- Salt
- Butter
- Milk
You can easily turn this bread into vegan bread by using vegan butter or margarine, a plant base. If you have any questions about this recipe, I would love to hear them in the comment section below. Did you make this recipe? Let me know by leaving a review and recipe rating below.
Instructions
- Activate the Yeast by Proofing: Whisk the warm water, warm milk, yeast, and a tablespoon of sugar together in a bowl or large measuring cup. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. After 5-10 minutes, the mixture should be foamy. If not, the yeast is dead and should be tossed.
- Preparing the Bread Dough: In a large mixing bowl or a bowl of your stand mixer, add all the dry ingredients and mix on low with the paddle attachment until everything is combined. You can use a whisk to mix if you don’t have a stand mixer. Add the softened butter to the flour mixture and mix to distribute the butter evenly. Then, add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture using the dough hook attachment, and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. You can also do the mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula with a bit of elbow grease.
- Kneading the Dough: Continue to knead the dough for about an extra 5- 7 minutes to develop the gluten. The gluten helps the bread dough to rise well and produces soft and fluffy dough. You can also knead the dough by hand, and will take longer time than the stand mixer.
- Shape the dough: As said earlier this dough requires only one rise, so Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes which helps the gluten that has developed to relax and helps work with the dough. While the dough rest, prepare two 8x 5 inches pans with easy pan release or vegetable oil and flour. Lightly flour a work surface, your hands, and a rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 8×15 inches. Roll it up into an 8-inch log, seal the edges, and place in the prepared loaf pan with seam side down.
- Rising Time: Cover the dough with tea or a kitchen towel and allow it to rise for about one or an hour and a half. You can proof the dough in an oven. I usually turn on the oven light, and that produces enough heat for the dough. You can also place the dough in the microwave with hot water, which will produce enough heat to proof the dough.
- Bake the Bread: While the dough is still proofing, preheat your oven to 350 F. Bake the bread for 30-34 minutes or until golden brown on top. If you gently tap on the loaf, it should sound hollow. You can use an instant-read thermometer to read the center of the loaf at 195°F (90°C). Remove from the oven and transfer onto a cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. Allow the bread to cool completely, then freeze for up to 3 months.
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tags: #Ghana
