Wholemeal Rye Rolled Oat & Honey Bread with Chia Seeds

How long has it been since I last made loaf bread???  Too long back. And so... it is time to make it again. Buns aside. And yes, this loaf bread was good. So soft and fluffy, with a nice bite to it from the little chia seed bits.

Array of photos up for display as I am keeping this post short.  Have been busy since I started my new job and when I get home each day, it is just bathe, dinner and laze on the couch not wanting to do anything else!

I wanna gradually pick back the momentum soon and get back my life and then keep up with my blog postings.  Give me time. :)

Wholemeal Rye Rolled Oat & Honey Bread with Chia Seeds

A
50g bread flour
35g boiling water

B
150g bread flour
40g wholemeal flour
20g rye flour
1.5 tbsp chia seeds
40g honey
3g salt
5g instant yeast
87g water
30g egg
30g butter (room temp)

C
1 tbsp fresh milk
3 tbsp rolled oat

1. Add the boiling water from A into flour and mix until well blended to form a dough. Cover and set aside to cool. Keep it into refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
2. Break up gelatinized dough from A into bread machine, place liquid ingredients from B (egg and water) into bread machine followed by remaining dry ingredients (except butter) and set it to mix and form a smooth dough. (For my Kenwood BM250, I put it to mix on Function 8 to mix for 10min)
3. Add in butter when a smooth dough has been form and let it mix to form a smooth shiny dough. (I reset my BM and added in butter, set it to mix again on Function 8 for 15min)
4. Remove dough and knead to window pane stage. You may flour your work top to ease the sticky kneading stage but not too much. I used about 1 tbsp of bread flour.
5. Place dough into a mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap or clean moist dish cloth and set aside to proof for 40min or till double the size.
6. Punch out air from proofed dough and divide into 3 equal round portions. Cover with moist cloth and let it relax for 5min.
7. Flatt dough and roll up swiss roll way, place into greased loaf pan. Repeat for remaining dough.
8. Cover with moist cloth and set aside to proof for 50min or till double the size.

9. Brush dough top with fresh milk and sprinkle rolled oat over.

10. Set to bake at 160deg C for 20min, then 170deg C for 8min to form golden brown crust. Remove from oven and let cool before slicing. Store in airtight container to retain softness for longer.

(Above temperature and baking time was based on my Rowenta oven. I used the convection mode.)

Mini Wholemeal Hotdog Buns

I took a short 3 weeks break from bread making because I was kind of on a roll cake craze. 

Back with buns for breakfast. Wanting to clear those hotdogs lying in my freezer, I used them in my buns and made them into mini sized buns.

Love how these mini buns turned out. Soft, fluffy and cute looking. Gonna make more mini buns from now on! Plus more varieties in one batch bake too :)

Mini Wholemeal Hotdog Buns

Gelatinized dough

50g bread flour
35ml boiling water

1. Place flour in a mixing bowl.
2. Add hot boiling water and mix with wooden spoon to form a rough dough.
3. Cover bowl with cling film and leave dough to cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and up to 48 hours.


Basic sweet bread dough

(Yield roughly 490g dough)

150g bread flour
50g wholemeal flour
40g sugar
10g milk powder
4g instant yeast
1/4 tsp or 3g salt
87ml cold water
30g cold egg
30g butter, room temperature

7 chicken franks (hotdogs), sliced into half to make 14 pcs 

Buns

1. Tear gelatinized dough into smaller pieces into the bread machine. Add water, beaten egg and top with flour And milk powder. Place salt and sugar on opposite corners of bread machine, make a small deep hole in centre of flour and spoon in instant yeast. Gently cover yeast with some flour and set BM to work. I use Function 8 fory Kenwood BM250 for this step. 

2. When dough has come together and is more or less a smooth dough, add in softened butter. I restarted my BM on Function 8 again and let BM mix till well incorporated with dough and is smooth and soft. I then remove dough and hand knead till dough reaches window pane stage, where you get a thin translucent membrane when dough is stretched. (This more or less tells you that you will get soft and fluffy bread and buns!)

3. Shape dough into a ball, leave to proof for 40 min or until doubled. 

4. Punch down dough to rid excess air, then divide dough into 14 equal portions at 35g each and roll it round and set aside for 5 min to let it relax for easier rolling. Slightly shape round dough into a tear drop shape and roll it flat and long.

5. Place half a hot dog on wide side of flattened dough and roll up. Repeat for the remaining dough. Place each dough about 1.5cm apart on a greased baking tin.


6. Cover with clean moist cloth and leave to proof for 40min or till doubled in size. 

7. Brush bun tops with whisked egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp water, sprinkle some white sesame on centre of each dough and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 12 to 15min or till slightly golden brown. 

8. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

Fragrance of freshly baked buns filled my kitchen

Mini wholemeal hotdog buns with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Simple. Pure bliss :)

Yoghurt Wholemeal loaf with Chia seeds & Raisins (Straight dough method)

Yet another loaf of bread. Baked 2 loaves and delivered one to my parents. 

Love how soft this loaf is even when it was made using the straight dough method.  I made this yoghurt loaf before and did this again, with some changes to the recipe.  Added a tablespoon of wholemeal flour, threw in chia seeds and raisins to give it some bite. Yummy!

Had it on the 3rd day and it was still soft.  I love pairing it with coffee and jam :)

Yoghurt Wholemeal loaf with Chia seeds & Raisins 

(Straight dough method)

240gm bread flour 

60gm + 1 tbsp wholemeal flour 

4.5 tsp skimmed milk powder 

1.5 tbsp castor sugar 

3/4 tsp salt 

2 tsp [12gm] instant yeast 

2 tbsp chia seed

raisins (as desired)

125ml warm water 

70ml yoghurt 

1 tbsp [15gm] butter

1. Using a food processor or mixer, pour in water and add in yeast in the mixing bowl.  Leave for about 5 minutes to froth.  Then add sifted flour, milk powder, salt and sugar.  Start machine to knead ingredients on medium speed into a soft dough [about 5 minutes].  Add in yoghurt, continue kneading for another 5 minutes.

2. Then add in the butter.  Continue kneading till dough is soft and smooth [takes about 20 minutes].  Remove mixing bowl and cover to proof for about 20 minutes or until double in size.

3. Punch down dough and roll into a ball.  Roll flat in rectangular shape, fold to centre from left and right, then roll flat into a long rectangular shape.  Roll up swiss roll, seal the edges and put into a greased Pullman's tin.  Leave to proof for 40-50 minutes [or until it rises to 80% of the tin]. 

4. Preheat oven at 180 degrees C and bake bread on lower rack for about 25-30 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and baking tin immediately to cool on rack before storing.

Off it goes to my parents!

Wu Pao Chun's Matcha Red Bean Toast

I have a colleague in office who loves baking and cooking as much as I do. Some 2 weeks back she asked if I knew anything about Wu Pao Chun's Champion Toast and also if I have tried baking it.  

There have been much ravings about this loaf and I saw many food bloggers baking these loaves. I bookmarked this but no action taken thus far.  Now that my colleague brought this up, I thought it's time that I bake one.  

This bread is good in the sense where there is no need to prepare the sponge dough a day before. I can make this bread at anytime I want to. The bread is soft due to the amount of milk used. Best of all, no need for egg! Easy peasy.  A must-try indeed :)

Wu Pao Chun's Matcha Red Bean Toast

Recipe by Baking Taitai

(I used my leftover azuki beans instead of white chocolate)

198g Fresh milk 

270g Bread flour 

30g Organic wholemeal flour 

10g Matcha powder (can replaced with Cocoa powder)

14g Organic raw sugar (can replaced with castor or fine sugar) I used 30g castor sugar

1 tsp Salt  (about 3g)

1 tsp Instant dry yeast (about 3g)

14g Unsalted butter　

100g White chocolate chips I used 45g azuki bean paste

*I reduced the amount of sugar as the white chocolate chips are sweetened. 

Breadmaker loaf method:  

1. Place all ingredients based on the sequence listed above (except butter) into the breadmaker pan. (Note: Place sugar on the left side and salt on the right side. Make an indention at the centre of the flour and add instant yeast, make sure it does not touch the wet ingredients below.

2. Select pasta program. (Kenwood BM250 - select program '9' , this cycle takes 14 minutes to complete.)

3.  At the end of program '9', select basic loaf program and add in the butter. (Kenwood BM250 - select program '1'，750g loaf and light crust , this cycle takes 3 hrs and 18mins to complete.) 

Update：If you are baking the bread in the oven, at the end of program '9', select dough program, add in butter. (Kenwood BM250 - select program '8', this cycle takes 1 hrs and 30 mins to complete.). 

4. Add in the white chocolate chips at the end of the 2^nd kneading cycle. (Kenwood BM250 will sound an alert for adding the ingredients at the timing 2:56.)

If baking in oven, remove 1st proof risen bread dough and knock out air. Divide into 3 equal portions and leave aside for 5min to let the dough relax before rolling it out.  Spread azuki red bean paste over dough and roll it up like a swiss roll.  Put dough into a greased loaf tin or Pullman tin and let proof for 1 hour or till 3/4 of tin. Bake in preheated oven at 180deg C for 20min or till done. 

5. Remove the dough paddle at the last stage of kneading so that the bottom of the loaf will not have a big hole.  (Kenwood BM250 -remove at 1:42) 

6. Shape the dough back nicely after paddle is removed, close the lid and leave the dough to rise。When baking is done, remove the bread immediately from the baking pan to prevent shrinking and sweating. Cool it on a wire rack for about 30 mins before slicing

7. Store in an air-tight container and consume within 2-3 days as homemade bread does not contain any preservatives.

Chocolate Cinnamon Wholemeal Bread

Needed a chocolate fix, hence I made a chocolate loaf bread with some extra bites.

The cranberries and almond flakes were actually not meant to be the bread toppings. I had wanted to incorporate them inside the bread!!! Guessed it right? Yup, I was too engrossed with punching down the dough and rolling it up for final proof that I forgot to add the dried fruits and nuts.  Laziness got the better of me, and so I decided to just make do with it and sprinkle them on top after a milk glaze and finally sent it to bake. I thought the "decorated" loaf looked good! Heehee!

15 minutes into the baking time, I took a peep. The heavily laden loaf top sank. My heart sank too!  Oh well, not my day. Fortunately, the end product did not look too bad especially for one with a sunken top.  Softness stayed till the 3rd day, and this was all that matters, at least to me :)

Lesson learnt. Never use dried fruits on loaf tops!

Recipe by Kimmy-cookingpleasure
I made some variations (in blue) to it though.
I halved the recipe to make 1 loaf.

Cinnamon Walnut Loaf Bread

Ingredients for Overnight Dough

150 gm bread flour

150 gm plain flour

3 tsp instant yeast [actual is 3.5 tsp]

250 ml water

• Mix all ingredients in a mixer bowl into a soft rough dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to proof for several hours or overnight at room temperature. 

Ingredients for Bread Dough

300 gm bread flour [I used 270 gm bread flour and 30 gm wholemeal flour]

2 tbsp milk powder (I used cocoa powder)

1 tsp cinnamon powder

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp  salt

80 gm chopped toasted walnuts (I used 2 tbsp almond flakes and 2 tbsp of dried cranberries)

150 ml water [keep some first, if all is used, the dough may be sticky and difficult to handle]

60 gm butter [I used about 50 gm]

Soak the dried cranberries in water for 5 minutes, drain and leave aside for use.

1. Add all the ingredients [except butter and walnuts] to the overnight dough.  Knead until well combined and dough is soft for about 10 minutes then add in butter.  Continue kneading until soft, smooth and elastic.  Knead a further 3-5 minutes and dough does not stick to the fingers when touched or window pane stage.
2. Shape into a ball and cover with a clean cloth to proof for 15 minutes or until double in size. Punch down dough.
3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions.  Roll and fold each portion into thirds, then roll into a rectangular piece.  Sprinkle all over with chopped walnuts (almond flakes and dried cranberries) then roll up  tightly like swiss roll style into a roulade.  Seal the edges well.   Place in baking tin [Pullman's tin] and leave to proof in oven for an hour or until double in size [almost reaching the rim of the baking tin]. 
4. Bake in preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 30 minutes.  Remove to cool on rack immediately after baking.