Wholemeal Flax Seed Bread

I'm so thrilled that I've finally found an idiot-proof bread recipe.
The best part of this recipe is that it takes only about 2.5 hours from start to finish. Certainly do-able for a weekday night.

This recipe is so versatile.
You can make plain white bread, wholemeal bread, fruit and nut bread, dinner rolls, sardine buns, tuna buns, cheese buns... you get the idea.
It's super soft, fluffy and moist and so tasty that it's good enough to eat on its own!

This is gonna be my holy grail go-to recipe for bread from now on.
Just look at that crumb!!

WHOLEMEAL FLAX SEED BREAD

125g milk, lukewarm
35g Sugar 
1.5 tsp instant yeast 
10g milk powder 
260g flour (use any combination of flour you desire; for this recipe, I used 40g wholemeal flour, 20g flax seed, 100g plain flour, 100g bread flour)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 egg
60g unsalted butter, softened

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. 
Using the hook attachment, run your mixer for about 15 min till you get a smooth tacky dough. 
Cover with a damp tea towel and proof for 45 mins. 

Punch dough down. Let it rest for about 10 min. 
Shape the dough into a log to fit a 8x4" loaf pan. 
Grease the loaf pan before placing the dough in it. 
Let it proof for another 45 mins.


Bake at 200*C for 30-35 mins, tenting till the last 2 min of baking.  
Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. 
Slice only when bread has completely cooled. 

Oatmeal Loaf

How to make an Oatmeal Loaf.

20g bread flour
100ml water
100ml milk
30g sugar
240g bread flour
30g wholemeal flour
10g milk powder
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
20g butter or margarine

In a saucepan, whisk together 20g bread flour and water over low heat till it thickens.

Remove from heat, add milk and sugar and stir till well incorporated.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir till a dough forms.

Knead till dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and allow to rise for about half hour.

Punch down dough. Let it rest for about 5 min. Shape into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan.

Let dough rise for about half hour.
Bake at 170*C for 25-30 min.
Cool completely before slicing.

Wholemeal Bread (sponge starter method)

After my success with the water roux method of bread-making, I thought I'd give the sponge method a try. 


My first attempt last week resulted in a disappointing loaf. The recipe for the sponge had such a high proportion of flour that the sponge didn't develop the way it's supposed to be. So it took forever for the dough to rise, and the resulting loaf was dense.

This time round, after more Googling - what would we do without Google these days - I reduced the flour for the sponge starter, and it foamed up beautifully. However, I still didn't get the nice rise I got from my water roux loaf. Could it have been the wholemeal flour that caused the heavier and denser dough? Or was it the method?

With the water roux method, the bread also lasted several days, retaining it's soft and fluffy texture. But for this sponge bread, it turned dry and crumbly after two days. Does this happen for you too?

Many of you have a lot more experience in bread making than I do. So if you have any tips for me and the other readers, or if you'd just like to share your experience, I'd love to hear from you. Which bread-making method do you favour? What's the 'trick' to soft fluffy bread - is it the method, or some secret ingredient?

Here's the recipe I used...

Sponge Starter:
65g bread flour
20g sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
125ml warm water

50g wholemeal flour
170g bread flour
1 tsp salt
10g milk powder
1 egg
2 tbs water
20g margarine


Combine all sponge starter ingredients and set aside for about 30 min till foamy.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, then add the starter. Mix everything together till a dough forms. Knead for about 10 min till dough is smooth. Then place in a well-oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap and let it rise for about 45 min till double in size.

Punch down the dough to release the air. Let it rest for 5-10 min.
Shape dough into a loaf and place in a greased and floured loaf tin. Let it proof for about 30 min till double in size. Before baking, sprinkle some flour over the top (optional).

Bake at 180*C for 30 min.
Remove from loaf tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

***********