If you follow me on social media, you know I have been obsessed with making bread. Which is kinda late, when I think about it, everyone was baking bread at the very early stage of the pandemic, in March 2020. Well I just got my standing mixer and another mouth to feed in March 2021, so I am a year late to the game.
My dad is staying with me in my apartment, where I have a full kitchen to myself, hence the bread baking. So I’ve been feeding him all the failed bread experiments before I came up with this one. He loves the marble effect of the bread and he thinks it’s unique. There were hint of matcha flavor and aroma, but one day I was craving grilled cheese and I used this bread and my craving was satisfied.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour or bread flour
1 cup tepid water
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter/margarine -room temperature
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp matcha powder
Instructions:
- In a small bowl, pour in the tepid water, add honey, yeast and stir everything well and dissolve in water.
- In a standing mixer bowl, combine salt and flour. Then add butter and the yeast mixture. Combine everything together to form a shaggy mass of a dough.
- Then run the mixer on medium speed for 7-8 minutes.
- If knead by hand, transfer the dough onto a clean work surface and knead the dough for about 10-12 minutes until we get a soft and elastic dough.
- Form the dough into a ball and cut it into 2 equal sized.
- Place one dough into an oiled bowl and lightly coated the dough. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic film and let it sit for 90-120 minutes until it gets doubled in size.
- Place the other dough back into the mixer bowl. Add matcha powder then mix slowly to incorporate. Knead until the matcha is fully incorporated with the dough, around 3 minutes. Place the dough into an oiled bowl and lightly coated the dough. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic film and let it sit for 90-120 minutes until it gets doubled in size.
- Poke the plain dough and then flatten it into a rectangle with a width very similar to the width of the bread tin (20cm x 10cm x 10cm).
- Do the same thing with the matcha dough (separately). I used a rolling pin to make the doughs flatten nicely and even.
- Then place the flatten matcha dough on top of the plain dough. Adjust both doughs so that they are the same size. Then cut into 2 equal pieces. Place 1 piece on top of the other, making sure the layers are alternating (plain/matcha/plain/matcha).
- Roll the dough into the shape of a log and place it onto a well greased baking tin. Cover the top loosely with a greased plastic film.
- Proof the dough for 60 minutes or until it rises well. When the dough has been proofing for 45 minutes, preheat your oven to 350F.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes.
- Take out from the heat, remove the bread from the tin and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before cutting. Enjoy!