Whole grain wheat bread
There's something really personal about making bread — you cannot make it well, unless you care deeply and commit lots of attention. While white breads are all the rage, from time to time it's nice to enjoy a more substantial, heavier bread and this whole grain wheat bread recipe delivers beautiful, soft and moist bread ideal both for sweet toppings (I personally like strawberry or plum jam) and salty ones (cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese). It's also packing quite a lot of fiber, which is healthy and will keep you full for longer time with less of the bread itself!
Step #1: Ingredients
- 250g of plain wheat flour,
- 250g of whole grain wheat flour,
- 330ml of luke-warm water,
- 100ml of oil,
- 1 spoon of sugar,
- 1 teaspoon of salt,
- 1/2 cube of yeast or 1 pack of dry yeast.
You can use various toppings for the bread: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, plain flour, to make the bread taste nicer and look beautiful.
Step #2: Utensils
- Large mixing bowl,
- Mixer with kneading hooks,
- Scraper,
- Wooden stick,
- 2 bread forms (or rectangular forms).
Step #3: Mix the dough (5 minutes)
Mix both flour types, salt, sugar, yeast and mix lightly, then add lukewarm milk (35-39 centigrades) and oil.
Mix on slow speed, then keep increasing speed until you reach maximum and the dough gets firm and sticky.
Scrape leftover flour and other ingredients into the bottom of the bowl few times to mix everything.
Step #4: Rise the dough (30 minutes)
Rise the dough for 30 to 60 minutes in the bowl, cover it with a large plate or a clean cloth, but allow fresh air.
Step #5: Split and rise (again) (about 1 hour)
Splash some oil on your hands and the scraper and slice the risen dough into two pieces, then using the scraper, detach it from the bowl, and move each part into the separate forms or on a baking sheet.
Let the dough rise for another 1-2 hours, make sure it doesn't overflow — if it happens, just move the overflown dough from sides to the top (fold it).
Step #6: Bake the bread (20 minutes)
Preheat the oven to 160°C, place the dough in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes of baking test the bread: pierce it diagonally across with long wooden stick and take the stick out — it should be clean of the dough. Otherwise lower the temperature to 150 centigrades and let the bread sit for another 5 minutes and test again. Repeat this 5-minute test until the stick comes out clean.