Wholemeal Bread
This bread is super easy to make and is delicious fresh out the oven or toasted with lashings of butter!
Ingredients:
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500g wholemeal flour, plus a little extra flour for finishing
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40g soft butter
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12g/2 sachets fast-action dried yeast
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2 tsp salt
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about 300ml tepid water (warm not cold – about body temperature)
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a little olive oil
Method:
1. Put the flour into a mixing bowl with the butter, yeast at one side of the bowl and the salt at the other, otherwise the salt will kill the yeast. Stir all the ingredients with a spoon to combine.
2. Add half of the water and turn the mixture round with your fingers. Continue to add water a little at a time, combining well, until you’ve combined all of the flour from the bowl. Keep going until the mixture forms a rough dough. (You might not need all the water)
3. Use about a teaspoon of oil to lightly grease a clean work surface. Turn out your dough onto the greased work surface.
4. Fold the far edge of the dough into the middle of the dough, then turn the dough by 45 degrees and repeat. Do this several times until the dough is very lightly coated all over in olive oil.
5. Knead the dough for about 4 or 5 minutes until it’s smooth and stretchy. if it does get too sticky you can add a little flour to your hands
6. Lightly oil your mixing bowl and put the dough back into it. Cover with a damp tea towel and set it aside to prove. The dough should double in size. This should take around one hour, but will vary depending on the temperature of your room.
7. Once the dough has doubled in size scrape it out of the bowl to shape it. Use your hand to roll the dough up, then turn by 45 degrees and roll it up again. Repeat several times. Gently turn and smooth the dough into a round loaf shape.
8. Place the loaf onto the lined baking tray, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove until it’s doubled in size. This will take about an hour, but may be quicker or slower depending on how warm your kitchen is.
9. Preheat the oven to 220 C. Put an old, empty roasting tin into the bottom of the oven.
10. After an hour the loaf should have risen again. Use a large, sharp knife to make shallow cuts (about 1cm/½in deep) across the top of the loaf to create a diamond pattern.
11. Put the loaf (on its baking tray) into the middle of the oven. Pour cold water into the empty roasting tray at the bottom of the oven just before you shut the door – this creates steam which helps the loaf develop a crisp and shiny crust.
12. Bake the loaf for about 30 minutes.
13. The loaf is cooked when it’s risen and golden. To check, take it out of the oven and tap it gently underneath – it should sound hollow. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.
13. The loaf is cooked when it’s risen and golden. To check, take it out of the oven and tap it gently underneath – it should sound hollow. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.