Orange Bread for Breakfast

This bread has a special place in my heart. It was the first yeast bread, after i started my bread baking experiments, that came out with a satisfactory result. It looked as good as a store bought loaf and tasted delicious! You can taste the orange when you bite into a slice. You can make a healthier version by substituting upto 100% of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. It will make a denser bread (i have tried that version too) but i like this bread with the less healthy white flour!

You don't even need two rises for the dough, as called for by most yeast bread recipes and still tastes this good. My taste tester who is not a fan of breads said - "Mmm, its  good, flavourful" and finished a whole big slice. Have i sold this bread enough, already? Then lets get to the recipe, shall we.

Recipe Source - Wildly adapted from here
Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice (120 ml)
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water

Method

In a small bowl add the yeast to the warm water and let it rest for 5-10 minutes until frothy. In a separate larger bowl stir together the flour, salt and sugar until combined. Rub the butter/oil into the flour with your fingers. Now add the orange juice and yeast mixture to the flour and mix into a soft ball. Knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and springy.
Place the dough in a bread loaf pan and lightly oil the top to prevent from drying. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until it doubles in size. Preheat the oven to 400F and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top browns and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Take out of the pan and allow to cool.
For best results, cut the loaf into slices only after the bread has cooled completely. Serve with butter or jam. Storage - i could store the bread in the refrigerator for 5 days with good results.

La's Note: The measuring cup for the ingredients listed is 240 ml cup. If you are squeezing the juice from fresh oranges, you can also add in the grated rind of half an orange. Adding the rind of a whole lemon will also work if your orange juice is from a carton, like i did.