We tried this super easy South African braai bak bread recipe recently and our whole family loved it! The bread texture is similar to sourdough bread (kind of a spongy texture, but with less fermented flavor…or time commitment!). The bread has a crusty outer later with a spongy center, making it perfect for pairing with soups or just enjoying as is with some butter spread or apple butter! All in all, it was fun to try a new bread recipe that wasn’t hard to follow and didn’t require a lot of ingredients!
Ingredients:
3 c. white flour (or other flour, but not self-rising flour), + more for dusting surface
1.5 t. salt
1 t. dry active yeast
1.5 c. warm water
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together in mixing bowl, then add water and mix with hands. Add more water if needed so the ball of dough has a shiny wet look, but is not too wet. Cover dough with towel &/or plastic wrap and let sit on counter overnight (8-12 hours).
After dough has set overnight for 8-12 hours, put empty, oiled cast iron dutch oven pot with lid* in oven and let heat in oven to 425 degrees. While pot is heating in oven, dust counter/surface with flour and gently scoop out dough onto floured surface. Wet your hands with water as needed and gently (don’t mess with it too much or bread will become too dense) stretch dough into a rectangle shape. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Remove dutch oven pot from oven. Fold the long ends of dough to the middle, overlapping each other (a trifold). Then fold the opposite ends of dough (top and bottom) to the middle, overlapping each other again (trifold style again, but the other direction) and place in hot dutch oven, folded side down. Place lid on dutch oven and bake in oven at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes. Enjoy!
*Or roasting pan with lid, or other oven safe casserole dish with lid.


Recipe adapted from the original @greteli.deswardt on Instagram
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