White Bran Bread

White bread isn't so good for you all round - and although in the grand scheme of things I reckon homemade white bread (with good quality flour) is a lot healthier than shop bought white bread, I still think brown bread is best... unless of course your homemade white bread is also packed with Oatbran, as with this loaf. This bread recipe is really delicious, and goes particularly well with a slice of cold lean ham and some Colman's Mustard. It is also an ideal breakfast bread, and definitely sets you up for the day, in the best possible way.

Ingredients

  • 475g Strong White Bread Flour
  • 50g Oatbran
  • 10g Maldon Salt
  • 5g Rape Seed Oil
  • 1 sachet Allinsons Yeast
  • 375ml Warm Water

Put the Flour, Rape Seed Oil, Salt, Yeast and Bran in a bowl – and then add the Warm Water

Stir – and then once the dough comes together – knead for 15 minutes or so

Leave the dough in a bowl for an hour somewhere warm, covered with a clean tea towel

After an hour – knock the dough back into shape and knead for a few minutes

Coat the dough lightly with a little Flour, and then put it in a loaf tin, covered again somewhere warm for an hour

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 220˚c

After an hour the bread should be one and a half times the size it was… Put it in the oven for 15 minutes before you turn the heat down to 200˚c for a further 35 minutes (add a bowl of water to the oven to create some steam for the crust)

When the time is up – the bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when you knock it… Leave the bread to cool on a rack for half an hour before slicing (it will collapse a bit if you don’t wait for it to cool down!)

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