crusty wholemeal bread

I like to eat wholemeal or wholegrain bread. It is more healthy than white bread. More importantly, it is more substantial than white bread and can help to stave off hunger for a longer period.

If you were to use totally wholemeal flour to bake a loaf of wholemeal bread, you can end up with bread that is too dense. The solution is to use a mixture of bread flour and wholemeal flour. Some recipes that you may come across recommend mixing plain flour and wholemeal flour. However, I find that the bread sometimes ends up being too solid and difficult to eat. As such, I prefer to use a mixture of bread flour and wholemeal flour instead.

INGREDIENTS

400ml water
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp castor sugar
2 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tbsp dried Italian herbs
240g bread flour
460g wholemeal flour
1 1/2 tsp instant dried yeast

METHOD

1. Add all the ingredients (except the bread flour, wholemeal flour and yeast) to the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour and wholemeal flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered by the flour.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the "dough" cycle has been completed, turn out the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times.

6. Place the dough in an 8" x 5" loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Cover the loaf pan with a damp cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

7. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees celsius for 40 minutes.

8. Let the bread cool thoroughly before slicing.