This easy recipe for a basic malted brown loaf will become your to go recipe whenever you make bread.
Good bread is one of life’s greatest pleasures, I think that the Pythons got in wrong in the Life of Brian, and really it should be the bakers who are blessed. With just a little skill, and practise, it really is very easy to make good bread at home, the trick is to use all your senses to assess the dough – sight, smell, touch, taste and the sound it makes when you knead it. Bread is visceral, you need experience to know when it is ready for the next stage of the baking process. Recipes are very useful but flour, yeast, proving temperature, water, style of kneading all make a huge difference to the proving and the finished loaf. But please do not be scared of making bread – it is both satisfying and rewarding and is a skill that will stand you well for the rest of your life – the only downside being that you will start to look down at commercial bread and wonder why you ever bought or ate it.
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Basic Malted Loaf
Ingredients
- 300 g whole meal flour
- 300 g malted white bread flour
- 400 g lukewarm water
- 1 tsp dried instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a mixing machine. Using the dough hook, knead at a low to medium speed for eight minutes. Or, if not using a mixing machine, mix the ingredients and then knead on the countertop for 10 minutes, until smooth and pliable.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the machine, or place the dough in a large bowl, cover (a disposable shower cap is perfect), and place in a warm location (near a radiator) for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
- Using a spatula or scraper, get the dough out of the bowl and roll into a cylinder shape the size of your loaf tin. Butter the loaf tin, and place the dough in it.
- Cover the tin with a plastic bag or shower cap and put it somewhere warm, but not hot, for a second raise for about 45 minutes.
- Place in a pre-heated oven at 220°C for 40 minutes. The loaf is cooked when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
For an even easier no yeast bread, make my emergency bread.
Sarah | Boo Roo and Tigger Too
Thank you for the recipe, I’m hoping to try to make new breads this year
Helen
I love home-made bread, and am fortunate to have some to make it for me.
Priya
Such a gorgeous looking bread. I love baking and would love to try this one out. Bookmarking!
Helen
I love a good loaf!
Sarah
I love how simple this is! Makes me think I should start making my own bread :0
Helen
Go for it. It is such a good skill to have.
shelby
I was just thinking about making homemade bread this morning! Brings back good memories when I smell a loaf baking in the oven! I have not tried a malted loaf before, very interesting!
Helen
SO often Ed gets a loaf in before I get up – lovely to wake up to freshly baked bread
Annie @ Annie's Noms
I completely agree that good bread is one of life’s pleasures; I’m addicted to bread, especially fresh out of the bread machine. There’s nothing like that smell of homemade bread! This malted loaf looks fabulous!
Helen
We’ve never had a bread machine, but do like having something to knead it.
April @ Girl Gone Gourmet
This looks like a good all-purpose bread – perfect for sandwiches, I bet. Although, I’d like to toast a piece and top it with some tomato and avocado :)
Helen
Of that sounds good. I love avo on toast.
Cathy @ Planet Veggie
I knew I shouldn’t have looked at this post – now I want one of those machines, fab!
Helen
It is a really good machine. Perfect for a busy family.
laura dove
I am gluten free and salivate over the thought of real bread! This looks so good, I’m sure my family would love it but I would be far too jealous to watch them sit and eat it!!
Mary Burris
My mother used to make bread every Monday. It was the best tasting bread ever.
MAry
Helen
Home made bread always is the best.
Kara
I love baking bread and there is nothing better than that warm bread smell. Sadly my bread maker died last year and I’ve fallen out of the habit of making my own. I think I need to invest in this
Helen
Kara, with your large family you would love a Cuisine Companion.
Dean of Little Steps
I can almost smell the fresh bread! Do the love the smell :) We love a fresh loaf and use our breadmaker to make them :) I must say that Tefal cuisine companion looks like a fab product!
Helen
Love fresh bread. The Cuisine Companion is a good machine.
Grant R
This looks so much better than our old bread maker, which leaves big holes in the bottom of the loaf. I can almost smell the fresh bread…..
Helen
the secret is in the hand finishing of the loaf. Knead by machine, shape by hand.
Emily
That looks delicious Helen! Definitely need to make my own bread more x
Helen
It was amazingly good!
Janie
Looks like a pretty cool toy! I’m new to the world of multi functional kitchen gadgets so already have a kitchen full of gizmos.
But for those just setting up home, or with a small amount of kitchen storage space this sounds perfect to buy instead of having a cupboard full of different single use items.
Janie x
Helen
It is a good solid machine, needs a few tweaks, but it has real potential.
Fi Ni Neachtain
I’ve never made my own bread before but you’ve really made me want to now, there’s something so wholesome about it isn’t there? Your food photography is fantastic by the way.
Helen
I love homemade bread – once you start to make it you will never buy any again.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
What a brilliant machine! I love the way the house smells when homemade bread is baking, yum!
Helen
It is a really useful piece of kit. Needs a little refining but it has potential.
Carrie Henderson
THat’s a good looking loaf, and so much easier than doing all the kneading by hand. Not as easy as a bread machine, though, but a more versatile machine!
Helen
It is certianly far more useful than a bread machine. We really like kneading by machine and then shaping by hand.
Francis
That looks like a useful looking machine.
Helen
It really is!
Sonya
I really must try baking, but it seems so difficult. I bet that loaf is nice with butter and marmalade, though.
Helen
Go for making some bread! It really is very easy.
Sonya
That looks like a versatile heated blender. I like the different blades.
Helen
those blades are super swift to swap for one another.
Rachel
This looks absolutely amazing, what a great companion to have in your kitchen if it helps to produce something like this x
Helen
I think that is is more aimed at families, but it is like having another pair of hands
Lilinha
I usually bake sweet bread, such as brioche, but your malted loaf looks delicious and I should definitely try it! :)
Helen
I’ve not made brioche for ages. I must bake one!
Marie
This looks great, im really bad at making bread unless its soda type bread but i will have to give this one a go. :)
Helen
I think the hard thing is knowing when it is ready to be knocked back or baked. A class really does help.
Steph
I absolutely love fresh bread! I haven’t made any in a long time as we usually take a walk into the village to the bakery instead.
Helen
Well if you have a good local bakery then it is worth supporting them.
Ana De- Jesus
Well hello gorgeous! I love a good malted loaf and quite frankly would eat this by itself because I bet it is that good!
Helen
There is nothing like a lovely fresh loaf of bread is there?
Hannah Budding Smiles
Oh you just can’t beat freshly baked bread, this looks delicious!xx
Helen
Love freshly baked bread!
Urvashi Roe
Having an artisan bakery avross the road from my house is not conducive to making bread anymore but I do pop on a loaf from time to time and I love the malt version you have here. I tend to use my kitchenaid for kneading. It’s easy and fast. I’ve never heard of this gadget. So versatile. I think it would be perfect for my cousin who starts uni soon. They are so lucky nowadays aren’t there? I went to uni with a frying pan, saucepan, plate, bowl and some spoons!
Helen
It is perfect for our cold kitchen in the winter for proving dough.
Ren Behan
Looks perfect – and the recipe looks straightforward. I don’t have a cuisine companion but I’d love to try this in any case.
Helen
Love a good homemade loaf of bread
Christine | Vermilion Roots
I love homemade bread, and this cool gadget will certainly make it fun and easy!
Helen
We love the Cuisine companion. So easy to use and not just for bread.
Debi at Life Currents
That Cuisine Companion gadget looks cool. It looks nice and compact, and I love that it has different accessories.
Helen
It is really really useful, not quite perfect, but if you do not want the sous vide functionality it is an excellent gadget.
Lucy
I love baking bread! This whole grain loaf looks perfect for sandwiches. I’ll have to check out the Cuisine Companion, too. It sounds like it really streamlines the process!
Helen
It is a really good, once you have one a cooking food processor becomes an essential!
Beth @ Binky's Culinary Carnival
I would love to this a try. I have an antique blender/ cooker but have never used the cook setting. It doesn’t have any of the other attachments either. I love that you can bread with it, seems like it will save a lot of time, which is key!
Helen
It is the best thing for making risotto with rice, or any other grains, I have been storming through the stockpile of different grains since having it.
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
That machine looks interesting! It does so many functions…I’ll bet I could find a lot of uses for it. I do like to let the bread machine do the hard kneading work for me, and this looks quite useful. Thanks for your honest comments about its many pros, and just a couple of potential cons.
Helen
I look forward to seeing what they do it if and when they update it. It is interesting how these machines are popping up.
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs
I totally agree that freshly baked bread really is the best. But I am TERRIBLE at making it and my OH needs nagging to bake us a loaf. My biggest issue is proving so I am VERY impressed that the Tefal Cuisine Companion has controlled proving temperatures! Might it just solve all my bread making problems?!
Helen
If you are struggling do a bread course – bread varies so much according to temperature and the weather and you have to know how it feels for it to be right.
Oliver
Omg I haven’t baked bread in ages and I’ve always loved a malted loaf! Bookmarking this! Thanks for sharing!
Oliver x
Helen
I love baking bread, so relaxing.
Flo
400g of water? Or 400ml?
Helen
400g or 400ml are exactly the same amount