'Surprisingly fluffy': this slow cooker bread hack is just what I need

A simple recipe for basic white bread, baked in a slow cooker. What??

Slow cooker bread

With the current cost of living pressures, Aussies have discovered a new passion for getting a little experimental in the kitchen and making more food from scratch. From hours spent cooking from pantry leftovers, making DIY sauces and loading up freezers with comfort food… you name it, we’ve tried it.

But people are also feeling time poor, so lazy cooking has become more popular than ever. THIS recipe is something that combines all our new-found food passions. Taste’s recipe developer and food writer Alison Adams has managed to successfully make a loaf of white bread in the slow cooker. Yep. You read that right. It’s the easiest, laziest, most cost-effective recipe on the planet.

How to make bread in your slow cooker

It took a bit of testing (and a few failed attempts… eight to be exact), but she finally got there and has provided us with a super easy recipe. All you need to have a loaf of freshly baked bread in your kitchen is sugar, water, yeast, flour, salt and olive oil. Oh, and a slow cooker.

Alison says of the recipe: “I always thought slow cooker bread would be extremely stodgy or dense – and believe me, some of my test versions were! But I believe I’ve found the perfect balance for bread that’s surprisingly fluffy (well, as fluffy as it can be without being baked the traditional way).

“I eat it within an hour of ‘baking’, with lots of butter of course!”

You can find the recipe for our 6-ingredient slow cooker bread here.

If you don’t have a slow cooker yet, you might want to read our expert guide to buying the best slow cooker for your needs.

The best topping for your homemade bread

We’re not stopping at home-baked bread though. That’s right, jam is also trending right now – and we’ve got the easiest recipe ever, made in another handy appliance. This 3-ingredient raspberry jam – also by Alison – is made in the microwave.

The most important ingredient is, of course, raspberries. We bought a heap on special at Coles recently. Alison recommends fresh. The recipe also includes sugar and lemon juice, which preserves the jam and helps give it the sticky, jammy consistency you want on your homemade bread.

Originally published as 'Surprisingly fluffy': this slow cooker bread hack is just what I need