I never thought I would post a recipe for machine made bread. It’s a bread machine. How difficult can it be, right? WRONG!!! I tried many recipes, oh so many recipes that promised success, but every one of mine were complete failures. I almost reached the moment of giving my machine away when I tried this recipe. What I feel makes this recipe work is that the ingredient quantities are in grams not cups and therefore very accurate. Every loaf I have made since using this recipe has been perfect! I learnt – not all cups of flour are made equal!
Ingredients
283g lukewarm water
25g olive oil, butter or vegetable oil
85g honey, 78g maple syrup or 45g white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
397g flour, unbleached stoneground without additives or preservatives
35g sunflower, sesame or flax seeds, or a combination (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
Instructions
Grease the bottom part of the pan with coconut oil or butter where the kneader attaches to the pan, it helps to release once baked. In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in the order the ingredients are listed above.
Select wholemeal setting, or basic loaf setting if your machine doesn't have the option. Choose your preferred crust colour and 450g loaf size if available. Start. My machine takes 3 1/2 hours to complete.
Remove from machine and pan onto a cooling rack until completely cool.
To bake bread in the oven:
In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in the order the ingredients are listed above. Place pan in machine and choose the dough setting.
Once it has finished, remove from pan and place in buttered and floured 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Gently press down with your fingers to deflate. I put olive oil on my hands before removing from machine pan to stop from sticking to my fingers. Let it rise, covered with tea towel, until doubled or as you would like it to look when baked, about 25min. If you have forgotten about it and it has over risen, pat it down super gently to the size and shape you want. This has worked for me surprisingly.
Bake the bread in a preheated 175°C oven for 35 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, remove it from the pan, and cool it on a rack.
Storing bread: If you want to keep your bread fresh for longer place it in a sealed plastic bag.
My machine has just beeped to say it is done. The photograph above is this beautiful gem cooling. I used only flaxseed this time.
It smells heavenly!
Notes
I put the water in a glass jug and in the microwave on high for 40 seconds The salt must not touch the yeast before starting which is why I add it to the liquid I use an even mixture of wholemeal, brown and white bread flour Add the flax, sunflower, sesame seed mixture to either side of the flour, leaving the centre for the yeast Create a small pocket in the centre of the flour to add the yeast