Kitchen Krafts - Whole wheat and Oats Bread

Today I am going to share a simple recipe for a quick loaf of delicious home-made bread. I have used whole wheat and white flour, because I find it makes a lighter loaf. If you would like a denser bread, use only the whole wheat/ brown flour (600g).

Ingredients:

• 400g Wholewheat Flour
• 200g White Flour
• 1 Packet dried yeast
• 2 - 4 Tablespoons Oats
• 370 - 450ml warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons of salt

How to make the bread:

I start off by getting the yeast ready. Add 350ml of the water to a jug and sprinkle the yeast over the top.

Sprinkle the teaspoon of sugar over the top of the yeast. (this helps it to activate)

Weigh out both of the flours and add to a bowl.

Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the flour and mix in.

Add 2 - 3 Tablespoons of oats to the flour.

Wait for the yeast to start bubbling and rising. Then add it to the flour.

Stir the yeast water into the flour, until it starts to look "doughy". 

When it gets harder to stir, remove the dough from the bowl and place on your working surface. Knead the dough until it reaches the consistency you are looking for.

 If a lot of the flour just doesn't seem to cling to your dough, you may need to add some more water whilst kneading, or add some more flour if your dough is very sticky!

If your hands are still covered with loads of dough, it means that your dough is too wet. Sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough and continue until your hands are relatively dough-free.

If my dough is a little wet after I have kneaded it, but I can remove most of it from my hands, I place it back in the bowl and sprinkle some more flour over the top, as it will soak up the moisture as it rises.

Cover the dough with a lid and allow to rest for 1/2 hour in a warm place.

After 1/2 hour, switch the oven on to warm up at 220 degrees (Celcius), remove the lid of your container. Your bread should have almost doubled in size.

Take the dough out and re-knead the bread. Shape it into the form you would like....

Score the bread with a sharp knife, brush with a little water and sprinkle with some oats. Allow to stand for another 1/2 hour.

Place in the oven at 220 for 15 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 180, and leave the bread for another 30 minutes. If you have a convectional oven, leave the bread in for a couple of minutes less.

You know when your bread is ready when you can knock it on the underside and it will sound hollow, like a drum.

Take out of the oven and allow to cool down completely.

Serve with a warm wonderful winter soup, or with your favourite home-made jams and cheese.

Enjoy!

Join me next week for an easy, quick cake that is ready in minutes!

What is your recipe, tip or trick from your kitchen this week? Share it below, and leave a comment. It would be wonderful if you could visit one or two of the other posted links as it is always nice to have someone come and see all your efforts.

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I am sharing this over at Linda's Blog