Recipe: Honey Wheat Bread

This bread is easy to make and also delicious, especially when toasted and served with butter. It's very soft on the inside and just a touch sweet.

Honey Wheat Bread
Adapted from this recipe and multiple other sources. 

Ingredients (for 1 large loaf)

2 tbs dark brown sugar
2 tbs boiling water
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 tbs butter, margarine or vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cups bread flour
Extra 1 cup bread flour
1 cup plain white or wholemeal flour
1 tbs cocoa powder
2 tsp instant yeast (or 7g active dry yeast)
1 tsp salt
Ground oatmeal, semolina or cornmeal for dusting

Dissolve dark brown sugar in boiling water. Combine with warm water, oil and honey; stir well. Mix in bread flour. Sprinkle cocoa, yeast and salt on top. Mix with a wooden spoon until well-combined. Leave to sit in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Gradually add plain and extra bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is soft and just slightly sticky.  Place on a lightly-floured countertop and knead for 5 minutes. Place in a lightly-greased bowl. Lightly brush or spray the top of the dough with oil, cover with cling wrap and leave either in a warm place for 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator overnight, until the dough has doubled in size.

Place dough ball onto a lightly greased countertop and roll out evenly using a rolling pin. Fold over the top edge and roll the dough tightly. Pinch the seam closed. The roll should be about 8-9 inches long to fit into the loaf pan; flatten any excess dough on either end, pull them up to create two flat sides and pinch the seams.

Roll the loaf in ground oatmeal. Place in a lightly-greased loaf pan. Leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, until the dough has risen to about an inch above the rim of the pan.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place dough in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from pan, place loaf on its side on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Tip loaf over to the other side and allow to cool completely.

Notes

The original recipe called for caramel colour to be used for darkening the bread. Apparently, browning essence also works well. I used dark brown sugar because that was what I had in my kitchen; the result was a light-brown loaf.