DIY Recipes: How to bake Ghanaian tea bread

Slice it into thick wedges and spread with salted butter for a satisfying treat.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose/bread flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 or 177ml cup warm water

2 teaspoons dry yeast

Method

Put 20ml of the warm water in a bowl, add the yeast, 1 tsp sugar and whisk together. Set it aside to froth. This may take up to 15 minutes.

Sift the flour, salt, nutmeg and pour into a mixing bowl and mix together. Or if using a bread maker bowl, pour inside and mix together. Add the melted butter.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated.

Slowly add the water to the mixture and mix the flour into a dough using your hand or bread maker.

Knead the dough for about 30 minutes until it is very elastic.

Roll the dough into a ball shape. Grease a bowl with extra butter.

Place dough in the greased bowl then rub the dough with extra butter. Using a clean cloth, cover it and place it in a warm place

Wait for an hour for the dough to double in size. Place on a floured surface and knead, knocking out the air

Cut it into four quarters then with the heel of my palm, press it down to form an oblong shape. Start rolling from one tip and roll it all the way to the end. Alternatively, roll into buns

Lightly butter and flour your choice of a baking tray or place a parchment paper then place the dough on the tray, ensuring that they are equally spaced.

Then go ahead and dust some flour over it then cover with plastic rubber or kitchen towel. Keep it in the oven for about an hour or 30 mins till it doubles or triples in size.

Heat up the oven to 200oC. Place the baking tray on a top-shelf.

Cover with a damp warm cloth using a rolling pin or something suitable to prevent the cloth from touching the dough.

Place a bowl of cold water on the bottom shelf then bake the dough for 30 minutes. This will create steam in the oven to help create a lovely crust on the bread.

Take it out of the oven, cover the bread with a cloth and let it rest to cool down.

Serve with your favourite beverage like Hausa Koko, Tombrown, Tea, etc