Freshly baked bread must be one of the nicest smells in the world. Baking bread from scratch is also one of the most satisfying things in the world. I feel like, if you can master the art of bread making you are winning at life.
This recipe was actually taken from Paul Hollywood’s book – How to Bake. I wanted to test out the KitchenAid’s dough hook and I thought that the simple wholemeal loaf was a great place to start!
It was so so simple to make and actually was one of my favourite loaves of homemade bread. For years I used a bread maker to make homemade bread. Bread makers are fantastic, hassle free and can be left completely to its own devices. Just input ingredients and turn on. But there was something really nice about making bread with my KitchenAid. I guess I felt more involved with the process and therefore happier when this beautiful loaf was cooked!
I am going to be truthful..This smelt so good that I actually couldn’t wait to take photos of the whole loaf – we ate a couple of slices before I was able to photograph it! Sorry…not sorry.
Anyway – here is how I did it! Full credits to Paul Hollywood, this is his recipe. Mr Hollywood, you aren’t as great as Mary Berry, but heck you really know how to make delicious bread! The actual instructions are what I did to make my bread. Paul gives instructions on how to make this by hand (no mixer) in his book.
Ingredients:
- 350g Strong Wholemeal Bread Flour
- 50g Strong White Bread Flour
- 8g Himalayan Pink Salt
- 7g Quick Instant Yeast
- 30g Unsalted Butter
- 265ml cool water
- Olive oil for greasing the bowl.
Method:
- Add the flours to the KitchenAid mixing bowl, on opposite sides place the salt and the yeast. Do not mix together – the salt will kill the yeast.
- Add the butter and 3/4 of the water. Turn on the mixer (setting 1) and mix the ingredients – I used the dough hook. Slowly add the rest of the water. You should by now have a rough dough.
- Knead the dough on medium for about 5 to 8 minutes. The dough may seem sticky initially, but after kneading, it should transform into a soft, silky dough. Have faith – it will happen!
- Once you have a smooth ball of dough, place into an oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place (my sunny living room on a summer’s day was an ideal setting!) Leave to prove for at least one hour. It can be longer – I left mine for about two hours.
- Oil a loaf tin. I used a big loaf tin – a 2lb loaf tin. It meant the loaf was not as deep as shop brought bread, but that was fine. It was better for us as our sandwiches were smaller!
- Remove the dough from the bowl – it should have doubled in size. Knead by hand for a few minutes. Then shape into a rough oblong shape, ensuring any seams are on the bottom. Place this into the tin and cut three slashes into the top.
- Bake at gas mark 6 for around 30 minutes. In this time, the loaf should rise and be a beautiful golden brown. Once fully baked, it should sound hollow if you tap the bottom of the loaf.
- Leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack – if possible. It wasn’t possible for us. We ate some and slightly burnt ourselves. We regret nothing.
Thanks Paul Hollywood! Enjoy this recipe guys!
The Brighton Kitchen 