Making your own bread needs a little extra effort but the fragrance and the taste of the freshly baked bread at home will make it worth while.
This was my first experience baking bread and hence I have tried with basic ingredients. Using just the whole wheat flour will make the bread dense – suggest adding all-purpose flour (or Maida) till you are comfortable with the measurements or getting the right consistency.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
– All purpose flour/maida – 1 cup
– Whole wheat flour/atta – 2 cups
– Active dry yeast – 1.5 tsp
– Honey – 4 tsp
– Organic cane sugar – 2 tsp
– Regular salt or rock salt – 1.5 tsp or as desired
– Yogurt – 2 tbsp
– Refined (Sunflower/Rice bran/Olive) oil – 2tbsp
Optional:
– 1-2 tbs of roasted (pumpkin/sunflower/flax) seeds or raisins or walnuts etc.,
– 0.5 cup ground oats
Method:
a. Yeast proofing:
1.Mix ½ tbsp sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit at room temperature for 10-12 mins.
2.The frothy texture indicates that the proofing is complete
Tips:
- If the yeast does not proof, then discard the mixture and try the procedure again. The yeast may be expired if proofing does not happen.
- For more information on yeast proofing, refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proofing_(baking_technique)
b. Mixing/Kneading the ingredients
2. Add flours along with other ingredients to the bowl of yeast mixture (after the yeast solution bubbles and is frothy).
3. Mix well and knead to a smooth and soft dough. Use warm water to knead the dough. Use extra wheat flour or oil as required to get the right texture.
4. The dough should be slightly sticky.
5. Rub oil on the whole dough and keep covered with a damp kitchen towel and lid for up to 1 hour.
c. Leavening the dough
1. Lightly punch and knead the dough again and leave for 1 more hour until leavened.
2. Roll a single log of the dough with the edges tucked town on both the sides
3. Grease the loaf pan and add the tucked edges of the rolled dough facing downwards
5. The dough should have risen as indicated in the picture.
6. Preheat the oven at 200 C for at least 10 minutes
7. Place the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
8. I used a convection oven and baked extra 3 mins at 180 C to get the right consistency.
Tips:
– Place the loaf pan on the wire rack
– Place a small cup with water under the wire rack to retain the moisture in the bread
– Cover the surface of the bread with aluminium foil or butter paper if the bread turns dark brown or black.
d. Yummy brown bread ready!!
1. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and allow it to cool by placing it on a wired rack.
2. Slice the fluffy and soft bread. It is now ready to be served.
3. Store your bread slices in the bread box.
Share your comments after your successful baking experience 🙂
To download the steps in pdf format, Kindly refer to the Instructable link http://www.instructables.com/id/Brown-Bread-Baked-in-Convection-Oven
To Indulgence... 
Wow! Looks fabulous!