Bread Adventures: Wholewheat Bread with Oats and Seeds

I think you've noticed by now that I'm a big fan of Rachel Allen's books. This recipe is from her as well.

A friend asked me the other day for a recipe with a high wholemeal content, and I wasn't sure my usual recipe would work with more than 50% wholemeal flour. So I had a look through my books and stumbled upon this recipe for a wholewheat loaf with oats and seeds, which is from Rachel's Favourite Food at Home.

A lot of wholewheat breads can be very dense and crumbly, but this one is surprisingly light. It is a bit crumbly, but that's probably partly due to the sunflower and other seeds, not just the flour type used.



It has a lovely nutty flavour, and contains quite a bit of fibre, so is definitely a healthy option. I also roughly calculated the calorie content and based on 16 slices per loaf, there are around 117 kcals in each slice, which much better than the brown bread I've made before.


Wholewheat Loaf with Oats and Seeds
by Rachel Allen

Ingredients:
200g wholewheat flour
75g plain flour
75g mix of sesame, poppy, and sunflower seeds, plus 2tbsp for scattering
50g oats
25g bran (I used wheat bran)
1 tsp salt
350-400ml warm water
1 tbsp honey
15g fresh yeast or 7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
1 tbsp sunflower oil


Mix the flours, seeds (reserving the 2 tbsp for scattering the top), oats, bran and salt in a large bowl.


Pour 100ml warm water into jug and dissolve the honey in it, then stir in the fresh yeast. Leave for 5 minutes until the mixture starts to froth.


Once frothy, add another 250ml of warm water and the sunflower oil and mix, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir well to make a sloppy, wet dough. If it's too dry, add some more water.


Pour the mix into a greased loaf tin and scatter the top with the reserved seeds. Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm spot until risen to the top of the tin (approx. 1 hour).


Preheat the oven to 200°C (175°C for fan-assisted oven).

Bake the loaf for about an hour in the tin, then take it out and check if cooked. If not, return to the oven without the tin until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped firmly.

Cool on a wire rack.