Wholemeal bread

Wholemeal bread

1 h
With our easy wholemeal bread recipe, you get two delicious loaves that are equally enjoyable with jam or cheese or as the perfect side to an evening meal. However, this is not your typical bread made from wholemeal flour. Choosing cracked wheat means that you get brown bread with a unique texture and a tasty nutty flavour.
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https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/recipes/wholemeal-bread/

Instructions

  • Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and add the cracked wheat. Boil the cracked wheat with the lid on at low heat for about 15 minutes.
  • Transfer the cracked wheat to a bowl and melt the butter on the warm cracked wheat. Add milk and quark.
  • Dissolve the yeast in the mixture and add the remaining ingredients (save a little bit of the flour). Mix the dough well with a wooden spoon.
  • Cover the bowl, for instance with a lid, and place it somewhere warm for about 1.5 hours.
  • Transfer the dough to a well-floured table and knead it well. Perhaps, add the remaining flour.
  • Divide the dough into two pieces and form them into two round loaves. Transfer them to a lined baking sheet and let them proof again, covered, for about 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 200°C (regular oven).
  • Brush the bread with water and sprinkle them with flour.
  • Bake the wholemeal bread in the middle of the oven, first for 15 minutes at 200°C (regular oven), then for about 10 minutes at 225 °C (regular oven).
Enjoy!
Tips

To ensure your homemade wholemeal and cracked wheat bread has a light and soft crumb, it must be properly proofed. It is important to proof the bread in a bowl or container that allows enough space for the dough to rise considerably during its first proofing. Using a flour-dusted, cloth-covered proofing basket made from materials like cane or terra-cotta will help the loaf keep its shape and may even give it decorative markings. Always remember to cover the dough during proofing to keep the surface from forming a skin or drying out.

Tips

Proofing dough twice gives the yeast in the dough even more time to work its magic. The second and final proofing helps ensure a more complex, flavourful loaf with an airier, chewier texture.

Tips

In addition to proofing the cracked wheat bread properly, also remember to soak the cracked wheat. The longer they soak, the softer they get. If you want more texture in the bread, save a handful that you will not soak and add it with the rest of the ingredients, giving the cracked wheat bread a crunchier and more complex structure.

Questions about wholemeal bread

With this recipe for wholemeal and cracked wheat bread, you will always want to have a loaf on hand. Read on to learn more about the delicious brown bread by checking out our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this popular type of bread.

What is wholemeal bread?
Wholemeal bread, also sometimes known as whole-wheat or whole-grain bread, is a type of bread made using wholemeal flour. This type of flour yields a darker, more filling bread with a lot of fibre. It also adds a complex and mild flavour that is perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with sweet or savoury spreads or toppings.
How to make wholemeal bread with cracked wheat?
It is easy to make this wholemeal bread to get a soft and flavourful loaf. Before adding cracked wheat, remember to soak it in boiling water. This will soften the kernel while still allowing them to add some texture to the soft brown wholemeal bread. After mixing all ingredients, it is important to let the bread rise twice to allow enough air and flavour to form in the bread. Bake in the oven and enjoy!
How to bake wholemeal bread?
Bake the wholemeal and cracked wheat bread for about 15 minutes at 200°C (regular oven) before baking it for an additional 10 minutes at 225 °C (regular oven). This higher temperature ensures that the bread's crust browns and crisps up nicely while the crumb finishes cooking. Baking it at such a high temperature for the entire bake, however, would result in either a burnt interior or an undercooked interior, which is why you start with more than half the baking time on a lower temperature.
What is good with wholemeal bread?
This delicious wholemeal and cracked wheat bread may be enjoyed in an array of ways during different times of the day. Enjoy it with butter, cheese, jam, or any other kind of spread you like on bread as a quick breakfast or afternoon treat. Use it to make a cold or toasted sandwich with lunchmeats, vegetables, and cheese. Or enjoy it with a warm and filling soup or stew in the evening.
How long does wholemeal bread last?
Homemade wholemeal bread with cracked wheat will keep for 4-5 days when stored at room temperature. Storing it in the refrigerator will dry it out, making it go stale faster (usually within 2-3 days). Simply keep the loaf on the countertop wrapped in cling film or aluminium foil and stored in a bag or airtight container. You may similarly freeze the wholemeal bread – just make sure to use a freezer bag. This way it will last for up to 3 months.

Ingredients

Wholemeal bread:
Water
300 ml
Cracked wheat grains
200 g
Butter
25 g
Milk
400 ml
Quark 0.3%
200 ml
Yeast
25 g
Sugar
1 tsp
Coarse salt
2 tsp
Fine wholemeal flour
700 g
Brushing:
Water
Garnish:
Fine wholemeal flour
700 g
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Wholemeal bread with cracked wheat

Our wholemeal and cracked wheat bread recipe allows you to bake a beautiful, flour-dusted artisan bread that is sure to impress and delight friends and family alike. While the crust of the flavourful loaf is crunchy, the crumb is soft and tender. The crumb is given a complex texture by the addition of cracked wheat. The use of both wholemeal flour and cracked wheat makes this rustic loaf a treat that may be enjoyed in many ways both for sweet and savoury snacks and meals.

Why you should make cracked wheat bread

Cracked wheat, which is made by cracking whole, raw wheat berries, is full of flavour, making for a cracked wheat bread with a distinct yet mild nutty flavour. In addition to giving the bread a delicious flavour, it also makes the soft and tender crumb more interesting as it gives it a nice chewy texture. A recipe for cracked wheat bread with wholemeal such as ours yields a delicious loaf with a substantial bite that you will want to bake again and again.

Enjoy a soft and mild bread

The best wholemeal bread recipe yields a delicious and highly versatile loaf of bread. Luckily, ours is no exception. The tender yet tight crumb and mild taste of this wholemeal and cracked wheat bread make the loaves perfect for several uses. This essentially means you can enjoy your wholemeal and cracked wheat bread any time of day.

In the morning, you can relish in a slice with butter, cheese, or homemade jam like our beautiful and vibrant plum jam or blackberry jam. At lunch, you can use slices of wholemeal and cracked wheat bread to make yourself a delicious sandwich with lunchmeats or vegetables, for instance, a tasty club sandwich. And in the evening, you can enjoy the bread as a side to hearty meals like stews and soups; for example, our potato soup is a classic option that goes perfectly with brown wholemeal bread.

Shake things up with seeds and nuts

You can easily experiment with our soft wholemeal bread recipe by adding different seeds and nuts to give it even more texture. You cannot go wrong with a classic seed mix with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, and linseeds. Adding some of these to the dough itself and sprinkling the rest on top will give your loaves even more deliciously nutty flavours, an additional crunchy texture, as well as an enticing appearance.

If you decide to add nuts to this wholemeal and cracked wheat bread, nuts such as walnut, hazelnut, almond, pecan, or a combination of the four, are quite tasty. The nuts add a substantial crunchiness to the crumb as well as a slight sweetness or bitterness, depending on which nuts you decide to go for. You can also add raisins, as these are also delicious with the nuts, wholemeal, and cracked wheat.

With added seeds and nuts, this wholemeal and cracked wheat bread is still well-suited to savoury and sweet toppings alike so there is no need to not experiment with adding both to the dough and the top!

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