Let’s Bake! Whole Wheat Bread Edition

Whether you are new to baking or a seasoned veteran in the kitchen, knowing how to make your own bread is a tasty and useful skill to have.

Baking for me is a celebration of my upbringing and elicits fond memories of helping my mother and grandmother shape perfectly spherical buns, impatiently waiting and watching the oven door and most importantly, quality control. I am a certified taste-tester in my mother’s kitchen!

In this blog, you will learn how to make your own loaf of whole wheat bread, with alternatives and substitutes to suit your palette.

Let’s dig in!

Prep time: 30 mins | Bake time: 40 mins | Yields: 1 loaf/16 slices

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (520g) Whole Wheat Flour*
• 1 Packet (11g) Instant Yeast (~1 Tbsp)
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Honey*
• 2 cups (480ml) Warm Water
• 4 Tbsp of mixed seeds (optional)*

*If you are looking for a fluffier loaf, you can use ½ whole wheat flour and ½ white flour

*For a vegan substitute, replace honey with maple syrup, agave syrup or brown sugar

*I used sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and hemp hearts

Instructions:

1. Add dry ingredients – flour, salt and yeast to a bowl and mix together.
2. Dissolve honey or alternative sweetener into the warm water and add to the dry ingredients.
3. Mix – don’t knead – until you have a sticky, well combined dough.
4. Cover the dough with a plastic bag or a damp towel and leave to rise for 20 minutes at room temperature.
   *If you want more of a ‘muffin top’ to your loaf, let rise for 45 mins.
5. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
6. After 20 minutes, the dough should have doubled in size. Once the dough has risen, add your seeds by pinching or perforating pockets into your dough.
7. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface into a firm loaf shape (4-5 folds of the dough, be careful not to over-knead)
8. Transfer to a greased 9×5 loaf pan. You can use olive oil, butter or another oil alternative. You can also line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper, if you think there will be any chance of it sticking.
9. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
   *Pro-tip: to check your loaf is fully baked, use a chopstick or butter knife through the top-middle of your loaf. If no raw residue appears on utensil, she’s baked!
10. Let cool for 15-30 minutes on a wire rack
11. Slice and smother in your topping choice!

Notes: Bread will keep for 2-3 days and can be stored in a plastic bag to retain its moisture and freshness.