Easy High Fiber Brown Bread

Friday, July 21, 2017

Easy High Fiber Brown Bread

The Staff Of Life ...

An easy and fast recipe for a good, high fibre brown bread with a light, open structure and excellent keeping quality. Oats gives a subdued, nutty flavour and guarantees brilliant toast (if any bread is left over by then). Extra wheat bran serves as a tonic for an unpredictable digestive tract subjected to irregular and on-the-go meals in this fast paced, modern life.

Baking brown bread has a completely different aroma from that of white – or any other kind of bread, for that matter – bread. Brown bread in the oven reminds me of patient farm yards, the smell of sun dried hay bales, sheaves of freshly harvested wheat and sun-drenched cows ponderously coming in from the fields for the evening’s milking. It is the smell of “I belong here” and being part of a wholesome and timeless enterprise guided by the great cycle of the seasons.

EASY HIGH FIBER BROWN BREAD

– PRINT RECIPE –

Recipe yields:	Preparation time:	Baking time:	Difficulty level:
10 – 12 Slices	± 150 minutes	45 min	Easy

Brown Bread Flour, Wheat Bran & Rolled Oats

Special Equipment Required:

1 x Electrical mixer in the Kenwood Chef or Kitchen Aid class

1 x Loaf pan, ± 2.5L capacity (30cm long x 10cm wide x 8cm high)

Ingredients:

Instant yeast	10g
Sugar	15ml
Warm water	100ml

Rolled or instant breakfast oats	50g
Warm water	100ml

Brown bread flour	700g
Wheat bran	60g
Sunflower oil	50g
Salt	10ml
Warm water	300ml – 350ml

Egg	1
Milk	45ml

Method:

1. Activate the yeast: Combine the yeast and 15ml sugar in a measuring jug or bowl. Add 100ml of warm water – not hot – and mix thoroughly. Set aside on a warm, undisturbed area of the kitchen counter for the yeast to activate. The yeast will foam and rise up within 15 minutes. Stir the head of yeast foam back into the liquid before use.

2. Hydrate the oats: Combine the oats and warm water in a small bowl. Set aside for 15 minutes or until needed.

3. Combine the activated yeast liquid, hydrated oats, brown bread flour, wheat bran, oil and salt in the mixer bowl. Transfer all the yeast liquid from its container to the mixer bowl.

4. Mount the mixer bowl in the mixer, attach the dough hook and start mixing on slow speed. Add the third portion of warm water in small additions. Mix until the dough come together around the hook in a somewhat sticky ball. Use a plastic spatula to scrape the dough down as necessary into the bowl. Add extra flour if the dough is very wet and sticky.

5. Remove and cover the mixer bowl with a lightly oiled film of cling wrap or a plastic grocery bag. Set the bowl aside in a warm, draft free area of your kitchen and allow to rise until the dough doubled in volume, approx. 45 – 60 minutes, depending on ambient temperature.

Collage of Pressed Out, Rolled and Pan Inserted Dough

6. Lightly oil an A3 page sized area of your kitchen counter surface. Knock the dough back when ready, turn out onto the oiled surface and knead lightly by hand for 2 – 3 minutes until firm. Press the dough into a rough rectangle approximately the length of the bread pan. Roll the dough up, starting at one of the long edges, into a rough roll. Fold the ends in underneath to neaten the roll and place it – ‘seam’ side down – into the well greased bread pan. Use your thumb (or the handle of the spatula) to press a deep furrow along the middle of the dough along the length of it. This will prevent the bread from rising lopsided or bursting open in the oven.

7. Re-cover with the oiled plastic film and set aside to rise again until the dough rises over the top edge of the pan; approx. 30 – 45 minutes depending on ambient temperature. Do not be tempted to allow the dough to rise too far out over the top of the pan. During baking, the over-risen bread will overflow the pan’s sides and the middle will sag to form an unsightly, saddle-like depression in the centre of the loaf.

Risen, Sliced Dough in Pan Ready for Egg Wash

8. Combine the egg and milk and mix thoroughly. Paint the egg wash gently and liberally over the top of the risen dough for a good browning of the bread on top when baked.

9. Bake 15 minutes at 200°C (390° Fahrenheit) in a pre-heated convection oven or at 210°C (410° Fahrenheit) in a normal, static oven. Turn the heat down to 165°C (330° Fahrenheit) for the convection oven and bake a further 30 minutes. Bake 40 minutes at 180°C (355° Fahrenheit) for a normal, static oven. The bread will be ready when it sounds hollow when knocked on top, or a skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan on a wire cooling rack. Use oven mitts and turn the bread out. Allow to cool to room temperature under a dry tea towel.

Oven Baked, High Fiber Brown Bread in Pan

Comments:

¨ The dough can be proofed in the stove’s warm drawer or inside an oven at its very lowest temperature setting. Switch both off after reaching temperature and before putting the dough in for the first rise.

¨ Unfortunately, this recipe is not suitable or gluten intolerant persons or those suffering from wheat allergies.