50/50 Honey and Seeded Loaf

This bread is one of the nicest I have made, and can be made from all strong white flour if you like. The beauty of home cooking is you can chop and change recipes to suit yourself ... they are not written in stone! This version consists of half white flour and half wholemeal flour. This is one of the first ever 'home-made' things I made and I'm glad I did!

MAKES 1 LARGE LOAF OR 

2 MEDIUM LOAVES

Ingredients

225g strong white flour

225g wholemeal flour

1½ teaspoons fine sea salt

7g sachet of dried baker’s yeast

2 tablespoons mixed seeds

2 tablespoons dried fruit (optional)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

275ml lukewarm water

A splash of milk to glaze

A teaspoon of sunflower seeds to sprinkle

Method

• Pour the strong white flour, the wholemeal flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, add in the yeast and the seeds (and fruit if using) and give this all a good stir around.

• Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil, honey and water and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. The dough should be soft but not sticky.

• Form the dough into a ball in the bowl, then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth.

• Place the dough into a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm spot in the kitchen until it has doubled in size. This normally takes about an hour.

• When the dough has risen ‘punch’ the air out of it in the bowl, then move onto a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly for a minute. Divide the dough in half (if making two loaves) and shape however you please.

• Place the dough onto an oiled baking sheet and cover again with the tea towel until it has almost doubled in size.

• In the meantime preheat your oven to 200ºC. When the dough has almost doubled in size brush a thin layer of milk over it, sprinkle with the sunflower seeds and bake for about 25 minutes until golden in colour. To know if your loaf is cooked through tap the underside – there should be a hollow sound.

• Cool on a wire rack … if you can resist temptation long enough, although not many can with home-made bread!