Soft Wholemeal Bread Loaf

I really think that there is a great satisfaction in bread making, resulting in intense personal pride when you open the oven and bring out your beautifully baked loaf.  

This is a good everyday bread recipe which makes a loaf with a soft crust, good for sandwiches, toast and soup dipping.  I normally use half white flour and half wholemeal as using all wholemeal flour tends to make quite a heavy loaf.  It's great to experiment but this tends to be the loaf I make most often.

Ingredients

250g/8oz Strong White Bread Flour

250g/8oz Wholemeal Bread Flour

1 heaped teaspoon Salt

200 ml Warm Water, from a recently boiled kettle

120ml Milk

1 heaped teaspoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Oil (sunflower or light olive oil)

1 sachet (7g) of Fast Action Dried Yeast

• Mix the flours and the salt lightly together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
• In a measuring jug, measure the water and the milk (it should be warm but not hot when mixed) then add the sugar, yeast and oil.  Give it a good mix until the sugar is dissolved then pour into the middle of the flour.
• With a fork, gradually work the liquid into the flour until it starts to come together as a dough.  Get rid of the fork and switch to using your hands to knead the dough around the bowl to pick up any remaining flour.
• Scrape off as much dough as you can from your hands and wash them.  On a clean work surface, pour a tablespoon or so of oil and spread it over the surface getting your hands thoroughly oiled at the same time.
• Take the dough out of the bowl and start to knead it on the oiled work surface.  It may be a bit sticky but persevere!  After kneading for a while, if you feel that it really is very sticky, try washing and oiling your hands again, this often works for me.  If this doesn't work, then lightly dust the dough with white bread flour and keep kneading.  However, you want to avoid adding too much flour and making the dough too firm, it will struggle to rise resulting in a rather solid loaf.
• When the dough has had about 10 minutes kneading and feels springy to the touch, put it back into the bowl that has been washed and oiled.  Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough to rise to about double the size.  This can take anything from 1 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature of your house!  It's good not to rush this stage anyway as it gives the flavour chance to develop.
• When you've got a well-risen dough, take the dough out of the bowl and 'knock it back', lightly kneading it to get the air out.  Then shape it into a vague oval, tucking the dough under itself to make a smooth top.  Place the shaped dough into an oiled loaf tin and cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise again.  This may take up to an hour.
• Pre-heat the oven to 210C (fan).
• When the dough has risen, transfer to the pre-heated oven and bake it for approximately 25 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
• Leave it in the tin to cool slightly then carefully turn it out onto a rack or board.  Leave it to cool completely before slicing, it can go a bit doughy if it is cut into when warm.  The crust will soften as it cools.