Long time back I read an article in newspaper regarding wheat flour bread in Bangalore bakeries. That time I didn’t know much about bread baking but according to the article bakery baked wheat flour breads are actually not made from whole wheat flour. And even some popular brands in breads cheat customers with their wheat flour bread. Wheat flour breads are not very popular, so very few selected bakeries bake them on customer’s demand only and they are costly too.
Don’t know about the authenticity of the article, but when I started learning baking bread myself, I learnt about the difference of bakery bread and homebaked bread. You can read the ingredients of store bread on the pack and now see what ingredients you are using to get a homebaked loaf….. Flour, water/milk, yeast, butter/oil, salt and suger….that’s all…..so choice is completely yours!!
I guess that for the last one year I didn’t buy my breads and buns from the market!
Baking all purpose flour or maida bread gives us immense confidence in the process of baking homebaked bread, and after learning successfully white sandwich bread you automatically move to bake wheat flour bread.
But again second step should be to try first half maida and half wheat flour bread. And finally you can switch over completely to wheat flour bread.
(In my blog there are recipes with all purpose flour breadWhite Sandwich Bread and mix flour bread tooBread with wheat flour along with all purpose flour (maida)).
To bake wheat flour bread, the best flour is if you get your own milled flour. In Jaipur, my home town, when wheat crops are ready in the nearby villages, farmers come to Jaipur to sell wheat. That time my parents buy wheat for whole year. My father used to take 20 kg wheat every month to get it grinded for flour to the nearby mill.
Once in Bangalore I tried to replicate the same and bought wheat. When I opened the pack, wheat had holes and inside the holes were dead insects….. which means that it was completely laced with pesticide.
After that I am always buying packed Ashirwad Aata, though not sure about the quality of packed packs also.
The recipe which I have given here will give you a very small loaf.
As a beginner you can try this recipe, and later can go for bigger loaves.
Before we start the process of baking, remember some tips for baking bread.
Tips:
Wheat flour absorbes more liquid than all purpose flour (maida).
Don’t follow blindly the quantity of liquid given in the recipe because the absorbing quality of your wheat flour might be different than mine.
In the same way timing for proofing the dough might not be the same for you as given in the recipe. If my kitchen has cold temperature, proofing will take more time compared to a warm kitchen. So if your dough has doubled in 50 minutes, start with the next process.
Don’t be lazy for kneading the dough.
Buy one serrated bread cutting knife, you will get beautiful slices!
Bread can be baked in microwave also on convection mode.
Ingredients :
Wheat flour 2 cups (250ml cup)
Milk powder 2 tbsp
Instant active yeast 1/2 tsp
Salt 1tsp
Sugar 2 tsp
Oil/butter 1+1/2 tbsp
Water milk mix 1+1/4 cup
I have used 7 by 3 inch bread tin.
Except water milk mix, all ingredients should be on room temperature.
Process :
In a big broad vessel add all dry ingredients.
Prepare half water half milk mix…it should be slightly warm. You can use only water to knead the dough but my preference is always 50:50 milk water ratio. Milk helps to keep the bread soft.
Now slowly start pouring this mix in dry ingredients and prepare dough. Do not use whole water given in the recipe now. We just need to collect all dry ingredients and prepare dough. You still have enough liquid to knead this dough.
Start kneading the dough by pouring little quantity of water. While kneading, you will notice that dough keeps becoming hard because wheat absorbes a lot of liquid. So keep on adding one tbsp at a time and continue kneading for 15-20 minutes. This dough will be sticky; so keep on greasing your palms with oil or butter.
After 15-20 minutes of kneading, dough will be very smooth – add some oil/butter.
Place this in an oil greased bowl, apply some oil on top of the dough to avoid it drying and cling wrap the bowl.
Keep this bowl at some warm place for first proofing/till the dough doubles in size. If my kitchen is cold then I keep this dough in switched off microwave.
Proofing time is never fixed. If your kitchen is cold, it will proof in 1 hour to 1+1/2 hour but during summer dough might be double in 45-50 minutes. So my suggestion is that don’t follow any fixed time – sometimes within that fixed time dough gets over proofed or not proofed properly. After 50 minutes poke your finger in the dough – if this hole doesn’t fill up, your dough is ready to start for next process. But if it fills up, dough still needs some more time for proofing.
When first proofing is over, place the dough on clean oil greased kitchen counter and punch it gently.
Knead it softly and spread it in a rectangular shape.
From the top start rolling tightly and shape it like a log.
Pinch and seam the ends of log.
Place it in a well greased bread-tin keeping seam side at the bottom.
Brush it with oil to avoid drying; cover it (I always cover it with a bigger tin) and keep the tin at a warm place for second proofing.
Second proofing gets over in 20 to 30 minutes.
Ten minutes before second proofing gets over, start preheating oven for 10 minutes at 190 degrees. Give milk wash on top of the log. Place the tin in the oven and bake it at 185 degrees for 30-40 minutes. If top of the bread is becoming brown very fast, then follow the tenting method I have given in my earlier post of sandwich bread.White Sandwich Bread
Follow same temperature if you are baking in microwave convection. If your oven or microwave is very small in size then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees.
At the end of baking time, tap the top of the bread – if it sounds hollow, bread is ready.
If you have greased the tin properly, you can de-mold the bread immediately and place it on a cooling rack till it cools down completely.
But if you are not able to de-mold the bread immediately, don’t worry. Still keep the tin on cooling rack for 10-15 minutes; then clean the edges of the tin with a knife and bread would be de-molded easily now. Apply butter on hot bread to keep it soft and let it cool down completely.
Once bread cools down completely, don’t start slicing it. I know it is very difficult to subside the excitement, but you will end up with crumbled bread slices. Instead, cling wrap the loaf nicely and keep it in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours so that crumbs settles down.
Generally, I bake bread in the daytime and keep in the fridge till 10 pm. Then I cut the slices, cling wrap them and keep them back in the fridge.
In busy morning schedule bread is ready with slices for sandwiches, toast them or just have it with butter!!
Hi Deeksha I tried your whole wheat bread.Amazing.I got very good result.thank you so much
Thank you very much Geetha, so happy to hear feedback from you!!
Hi Deeksha tried the whole wheat bread but forgot to pre heat the oven. How important is that step.
Hi Sakshi, thank you for trying this recipe. How do you feel about your baked loaf without preheating, are you satisfied? My suggestion is that now once again you try the same recipe without forgetting to preheat your oven. You bread loaf will tell you the difference. Your own experience matters most it will give you more satisfying answer.
Hai, Thank you for the wonderful recipes. I have an query, will the softness of bread remain fine if it is placed in fridge.
Thanks a lot Praveen.
Wrap the bread nicely with cling film and it will remain soft as fresh baked. After slicing the bread I cling wrap the slices and keep it in the fridge. It remains perfect.
Hi
Is this 7 by 3 inch tin?
Hi Prema
yes it is 7 by 3 inch tin…
Thank u for the wonderful receipe. It came out beautifully
Hi Anandhi,
Thank you so much for your feedback!
I am so glad that you loved the bread.
Hi what quantity should i use for 8 by 4 tin.thanks
Hi Sukrita,
Thank you very much for visiting the blog. I guess you can try with slightly more than 3 cups of flour, see the result and if you are not satisfied, adjust the quantity as per your experience.
Hi o m back with a doubt , I m planning to try this tomorrow. But checked my cup shows 1 cup = 240 ml . Could you suggest me how to go about it ? Sorry to trouble with this types of doubt . Thanks
Hello Shanthala, it is really good to see your enthusiasm!
There is not much of a difference in 250 /240 ml. You can increase little bit flour by guess. While kneading if you feel that flour needs slightly more water than written in the recipe, don’t hesitate to add. Absorbing quality of flour is always different, so always reduce or increase water as per the requirement.
Thanks a lot , hope to succeed. Will post you what ever the out come is .
Shanthala, I succeeded after trying continuously probably for 15 days. Can’t remember how many loaves I tried. Each bake was a lesson. And patience and effort didn’t go waste. I am sure you will succeed!!!
Baked , it could not de- mould it n the base got stuck to the tin , I had nicely oiled the tin but bad luck 🙁
Sorry to hear that Shanthala. Probably got over baked from the base or dough was too wet. Next time either use parchment paper or sprinkle some flour in the tin after oiling it.
Ok thanks . How do I send pic to you so that you can have a look at them . Will try soon . But much better then the 1st try
1st proofing took 1 hr and checked the proofing by finger press method
2nd proofing took 30 mins
I have MR 40 rc-ss,
> used the oven thermometer reader and time was set to 180 (so my over temp setting was 200 )
> had kept it in lower rack
> two rods with fan for ten mins and switches to down rod ( in my oven there is no down road with fan setting )
> baked for 30 mins
Guess will follow oven timing and not the thermometer and will keep in middle rack and try . Should I use 2 rods with fan or only bottom rod as in the oven bottom rod with fan is not there .
If you have any suggestions on my oven setting it would be more helpful.
Thanks
Shanthala, I am little confused here. You set the oven at 180 but thermometer showed 200..?
Or if you you fixed the temperature by 180 degrees, and baked on lower rack, then this was high temperature for the bottom of the bread to get stuck or burn. If using lower rack then reduce the temperature and bake for 15/20 minutes and change the tin to middle rack and increase the temperature till you finish the baking. If top of the bread is not nice brown, then switch on high rod only and bake carefully till you get brown top. If you don’t have the option of using only top rod, then just increase the temperature till the brown top is done.
I have 60 litre MR, so settings are slightly different. But always use fan with both rods on for even baking.
I am happy that you are satisfied with your efforts. You are sure going to achieve the best from your passion!!!
Thanks will do that . Will update once I slice the bread if it was good or not.
What I mean was if I set the temperature using thermometer then I have to set my oven to 200 . Not sure if the thermometer whc I have is right . Whn I try next time will keep my oven temperature to 180 without using thermometer and will keep in middle rack with 2 rods and fan mode and adjust accordingly.
Thanks once agin for you patience and guidelines. Hope I can bake bread with out any hassles next time . The milk and water quantities also I didn’t use full lil was left as added step by step . Knead the dough for 20 to 25 mins till I felt it’s was soft and used starch n pull method and bang method in between . Will try once more . I just don’t want give up 😊 and might trouble you in between hope you don’t mind .
Shanthala, you are doing fine. Slowly with multiple bakes you will know which settings will work for you. Knowing your oven settings are very important for successful bakes and that comes with multiple use. Enjoy your baking adventures!!!
I sliced it came out good , the bread was baked nicely inside and it was soft and spongy .
Enjoy your success with your wonderful fresh, homebaked bread ❤️😊
Hey, will definity try. What’s the height of the bread pan? My bread pan dimensions are 10*4.5*2.5 … How do I tweak this recipe?
Hi Priyanka, you can check other recipe for wheat bread
https://deesplatter.com/2019/01/12/wheat-flour-sandwich-bread-2/
Hi di wonderful recipes… Di can i knead wheat flour in food processor.
Thank you very much Sumi for visiting the blog and appreciating the post ☺️.
You can prepare dough in food processor but kneading should be manual.
Helll ma’am , needs some inputs .. my breads are cracking from side , top is perfect . Could you plz let me know where I am going wrong ? No clue as this is 3rd time happening like this.. making sandwich 1 recipes
Bread tearing happens either because of oven temperature issues or over proofed dough.
Ok ma’am will check it out
Oven temperature was 180 as used thermometer and proofing no idea 🙁 use to get clean ones , doubled the quantity to bake in two tins .. next time will make single n try again .. thank a lot
Try to use deep pans, they work well for wheat bread.