Nadiya Hussain's oven is her best friend. While baking is often reserved for special occasions, Nadiya shows that it isn't just about cakes and cookies. She reveals how to fall in love with baking for your everyday meals too and how to reap the benefits. Be it simple weeknight meals; sweet and savoury traybakes; beautiful celebratory cakes; achievable homemade breads with hacks to match; tasty snacks; quick-fix lunches or mouth-watering treats, Nadiya's recipes let your oven do the hard work for you, helping take the pressure off but never at the expense of flavour.
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- Nadiya's Everyday Baking: From weeknight meals to celebration bakes, let your oven do the work, by Nadiya Hussain. Michael Joseph. $55.
Sprinkle butter babka loaf
It's traditional in Holland to have a slice of white bread buttered and sprinkled - and when I say sprinkled, I mean doused in chocolate sprinkles. Take me to Holland! They had me at bread and butter, let alone sprinkles. So, this is my all-in- one version: a rolled bread dough with butter and coloured sprinkles swirled through, then plaited and baked. It's the kind of bake that pleases not only the baker in me, but also the eight-year-old in me!
Ingredients
For the dough:
275g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
5g fast-action yeast
20g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 medium eggs, beaten
50ml whole milk
80g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
For the filling:
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g caster sugar
140g rainbow sprinkles, plus 20g extra for the top
For the syrup:
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp hot water
Method
1. Start by lightly greasing and lining the inside of a 900g loaf tin.
2. Now, let's make the dough by placing the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if you are making it by hand. Add the yeast and sugar to one side of the flour and the salt to the other.
3. Give it a quick mix and make a well in the centre. Add the beaten eggs and the milk and mix till the dough starts to come together. If you're using a stand mixer, attach a dough hook and start to bring the dough together.
4. Slowly start adding the butter in clumps till fully incorporated. Knead on a high speed for six minutes. If you are kneading by hand, use as little flour as possible and knead for about 10 minutes till the dough is smooth and shiny and stretchy. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough to a rectangle of 20 x 30cm.
5. Make the sprinkle butter by mixing the soft butter with the sugar and half the sprinkles.
6. Have the dough rectangle with one of the long edges closest to you. Spread the sprinkle butter all over the rectangle, leaving an edge of 1cm all the way around. Take the rest of the sprinkles and spread all over evenly and push into the dough.
7. Now, roll up the dough like a Swiss roll, starting at the long edge. Make sure to roll tight. Lift the roll and place it in front of you vertically, seam-side down. Using a sharp knife, start at the top of the roll and cut it in half vertically all the way down, all the way through. So now you should have two long pieces of dough. Turn them out so you can see stripes of dough and sprinkle butter.
8. Make a large cross using the two dough strips. Crisscross the whole thing like a two-strand plait till you reach the end. Gently lift and pop into the prepared tin, making sure to tuck the ends into the base. Cover with a piece of greased clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm place till doubled in size.
9. Preheat the oven to 200C.
10. Bake the loaf in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 170C and continue to bake for another 25 minutes. Take out and leave for 15 minutes before removing from the tin.
11. Make the syrup glaze by mixing the golden syrup and water. Brush the loaf all over with the sticky glaze and scatter over the extra sprinkles.
12. Once the loaf has cooled down, slice and it's ready to eat. Nobody is stopping you from adding more butter and sprinkles, if you so wish, in fact I highly recommend it!
Serves 8-10.
Pretzel bites with cheese sauce
These are satisfying to make and incredible to eat and share. Soft, chewy, salty and moreish, they are boiled (yes, boiled!) and then served with an irresistible cheesy cheese dip.
Ingredients
For the pretzels:
500g strong bread flour
7g fast-action yeast
25g sugar
50g unsalted butter
250-300ml water oil, for greasing
3 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten rock salt
For the cheese sauce:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp plain flour
350ml whole milk
150g Cheddar cheese, grated
150g Red Leicester, grated
a pinch of salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
chopped fresh chives
Method
1. Start by making the dough. Put the flour and yeast in a bowl with the sugar and mix. Add the butter and rub the butter in till there are no lumps left.
2. Make a well in the centre, add in the water, a little at a time (you may not need it all) and bring the dough together. Knead the dough till you have a dough that is smooth and stretchy.
3. Leave in a greased bowl to prove till the dough is double the size.
4. Have two large baking trays at the ready. Tip out the dough and knead for a few minutes. Make dough balls the size of walnuts. They don't have to be round - misfits and odd shapes are perfect. Pop onto the trays and leave to prove, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
5. Half fill a medium pan with water and add the bicarbonate of soda. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer.
6. Preheat the oven to 190C.
7. Take the dough balls and drop into the simmering water for 20 seconds, making sure to turn after 10 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, pop back onto the trays. Do this to all of the dough balls. Once you have done them all, brush with the egg and sprinkle with rock salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, make the sauce by putting the butter into a small pan. As soon as the butter has melted, add the flour and mix, then pour in the milk and whisk. On a medium heat, whisk till the mixture has thickened.
9. Take off the heat and add the two cheeses, salt, cayenne and chives and mix. As soon as the pretzels are out, eat warm with the warm cheese sauce.
Makes about 20.
Baked feta with chilli, honey and thyme
Except for me, not one soul in my house likes feta, so I make this recipe all for myself and my sisters. Baked with herbs and chilli, and served with a drizzle of honey, this feta is salty, sweet, spicy and herby, making for the most delicious warm dip that really does everything.
Ingredients
2 x 200g packets of feta cheese
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
a large sprig of fresh lemon thyme, leaves picked
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
200g salted crisp crackers, warmed in the oven
honey, for drizzling
slices of crusty bread, to serve
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Lightly grease a small roasting dish.
2. Put the feta cheese right into the dish and drizzle generously with the oil. Sprinkle over the thyme, oregano and chilli. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. For the last five minutes of baking, add the crackers to a tray and warm through.
3. Take the foil off the feta and drizzle over the honey. Get your warm crackers out and spread with the warm, salty, sweet, herby feta. Mop up that oil with warm crusty bread.
Serves 6.