Thursday 15 December 2016

Mia Bakes: Soft & Fluffy Wholegrain Fruit & Nut Loaf (BM Recipe)

Despite telling myself I'm happy with my dense and heavy wholegrain loaf, I couldn't help but keep googling for 'soft and fluffy wholewheat bread recipe' and was just disappointed over and over again when all of the recipes I've clicked in with titles similar to "softest and fluffiest healthy wholemeal bread" pretty much just had 10% wholemeal flour and 90% refined bread flour.
Erm, how can you even call that a healthy wholemeal bread when by ratio, it's effectively still a refined bread?

And so (out of spite?) I decided, let me reverse that and use 10% refined flour! HAHAHA, okay I'm kidding. But I really started adding small amount of all purpose flour into my wholegrain loaf because that 3/4 full pack of AP flour has been sitting in my baking cabinet for a while now and I feel that if I don't finish it, weevils will grow soon, so.... yeah, you got it.

 

Anyway, for this SOFT and FLUFFY wholegrain loaf, you'll need:

185ml (cold) milk
28ml honey
(I wanted to put 30ml but 28ml was all I could squeeze out)
200g wholemeal flour
25g dark rye flour
25g all purpose flour
3.5 tsp vital wheat gluten
(I might have added more per 1/2 teaspoonful hence you may use up to 4 tsp)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Abt 4.5g instant yeast
(if you're using mayer BM12, it's 1 full small measuring spoon + slightly less than 1/4)
30g unsalted butter
choice of chopped dried fruits & nuts 
(i used sunflower seeds, and a mix of raisins and cherries)

First up, add in your wholegrain flours and cold milk into the pan and let it sit for 30 to 45 minutes
Then, add in all your ingredients, except butter, and start your machine on mix dough function. Add in your butter only when your dough starts to form a ball. As different brands/batches of flours will have different hydration levels, do keep an eye on your dough and make sure it's hydrated enough. Eg. if it's sandy and tough like a beach ball, add in more liquid (preferably by the 1/2 teaspoonful) and if it's watery and formless, add in more flour.
Upon completion of the mix dough function, check your dough for windowpane stage, It won't stretch as thinly and beautifully as a 100% refined flour loaf, but it should stretch  and thin out quite a bit. If the dough is still lacking in elasticity, restart your machine on mix dough function again for another round of mixing.
After your dough is done mixing, restart your machine on graham or multigrain function and let the machine do the wonders! Oh, do remember to add your chopped fruit and nuts during the machine's feeding beep, too!



Giving you a 'bend test' to show that this loaf is really soft and fluffy. :)

Till then,
Mia Foo

16 comments:

  1. You have got to be kidding. After describing everything, you forgot one thing. You did not say how it tastes! LOL. I am hungry now, you know. So, if you are still up, share some!

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  2. Wow! Total healthy stuff!
    The bread has raised well and I feel like digging my teeth into it.

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  3. I will pass your recipe to my teen daughter whois taking culinary arts. Going wholegrain is a healthy way to enjoy bread

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  4. Is it good for diabetics like me? What is the calories count? It looks tasty though!And , do you think it would be great if you inserted a video in the post?

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  5. Another baking series. Everytime i see this it makes me want to bake some too. The bread surely looks fluffy. And i like puffy and fluffy breads! However, im not a fan of fruits in bread. But with nuts? By all means please! So, how does it taste? It looks good to me! :)

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  6. Now that's one good-looking loaf right there! I like how persistent you are in finding out the best proportion of ingredients to make soft and fluffy bread. Did you scrimp on the chopped fruits and nuts though? I can't barely see the chopped goodies. I'd go to town if I were you.

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    1. yeah, totally regretted adding so little chopped fruits. :(

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  7. Oh my, you make me crave! Care to share a piece or two hahaha! I want to taste if it is as delish as it looks!

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  8. I can live alone having bread as my meal, I keep on saying that my old soul was a baker for me loving bread so much. We recently got a new oven to discover dishes we can create and also to bake goodies and bread too. Thanks for thr recipe. :)

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  9. This morning, I tried your recipe, it turned out to be a beautiful genuine wholemeal bread much to my delight. Tq Mia. All this while, it had been quite elusive.
    But, the bread failed your bend test probably gluten was not added as it was not readily available in my area.

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    1. hello! i'm glad you're happy with your bakes using my recipe! vital wheat gluten is very important if you want your bread to pass the 'bend test'! if getting your hands on some is impossible, you may want to try out the yudane method with up to 40% of your flour.
      yudane method here: http://molly-mia.blogspot.sg/2015/12/mia-bakes-red-tea-chia-seed-yudane.html

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  10. YOU are right! It is really strange when people call it "Wholemeal" when it is just 10% of wholewheat is all you added! I did experimented with 25% wholewheat (in a recipe I found online) and the result was satisfied - the bread was soft. Now I am into trying yours- But I have 2 questions here:
    1. can I omit ACV? What is the purpose of adding that?
    2. I dont have a bread machine, only mixer. Will that do?

    Thanks and waiting for your reply soon

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    1. Yeast like an acidic environment, so the vineger is stimulating for them and makes them more active. Vinegar is also a dough conditioner that improves the texture of the final baked good. You can leave it out if you wish, or replace it with vitamin c. Yes, you can do the same without a bread machine, but you might need to give your dough more time to rise during proofing.

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    2. Thank you so much for your detail explanation!!!

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  12. HI Mia,

    I am going to try the bread tomorrow. I dont have BM. How long should I allocate the proofing time? Is it until double in size? And what is the oven temperature and how long should I bake the bread for?

    Thanks.

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