Fresh bread is simply one of the most ingenious foods in the world. So simple, so unpretentious. You can bring out the most expensive, rarest and finest luxury specialities – but nothing beats a slice of delicious bread with butter.
And now, of course, one can argue about the nutritional value of white or brown bread. White bread was demonised for a long time (which, incidentally, has since been refuted). I love white and light bread, but whatever you say, wholemeal bread is simply more nutritious. While only the endosperm of the grain is used in white flour, wholemeal flour also includes the outer layer and the germ. More fibre and long-chain carbohydrates. Keeps you full longer and makes more sense. So far, so good.
Not all wholemeal bread is the same
Many years ago, when there wasn't such a wide range of wholemeal bread available in supermarkets and bakeries, what I call ‘grain bread’ was sold under the name ‘wholemeal bread’. It was very coarse bread. You can still buy it today, usually packaged in a plastic bag and with a shelf life of about five years in the refrigerator. It's not bad, no question about it. But for me, it was never a bread I particularly enjoyed.
Fortunately, the era of healthy bread eventually arrived. At last, it was possible to buy wholemeal bread that was actually fine-pored, light and delicious. And not something that required a diamond drill to remove the grains from your teeth.
Make your own wholemeal bread
I don't want to call myself a trendsetter. I wasn't even considered ‘cool’ as a teenager. But it's been about eight years since I started baking my own bread. With homemade sourdough and really good results. So long before the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020 and the bread-baking hype, when there wasn't a crumb of yeast to be found on any supermarket shelf in the whole of Austria.
Homemade sourdough bread is a hit, BUT. It takes time. And with a full-time job, we're talking about really tight timings for the sourdough starter, pre-ferment and main dough. It's fun, but in my opinion, it's impractical for the average person.
And then there are those rare recipes that are quicker than a sponge cake, are real wholemeal bread and taste so delicious that you swear you will NEVER buy wholemeal bread again. I can say from my own experience: I swore, I failed. Of course, you still buy bread, but it's still something special to conjure up your own loaf from the oven every now and then. For some reason, bread gives you an archaic feeling of freedom. True to the motto, ‘I can bake bread, I can now survive in a cave! Affluent society, no one needs you!’
If, after trying this recipe, you decide to move into a cave, please publish a newsletter. On stone slabs for collection, of course. I am a guaranteed subscriber.
Of course, I am also delighted to see all the other bakers who, like me, continue to strut through life in 10 cm heels even after successfully baking their own bread. Chest out, naturally, because we too are now capable of surviving in caves, even if we voluntarily decide not to live that life.
If you liked my wholemeal bread, why not try my delicious Wheat sourdough bread! 🙂
Wholemeal bread with pumpkin seeds
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C top/bottom heat.
- Chop the pumpkin seeds.
- Mix all ingredients together and knead into a dough using a food processor or hand mixer with dough hooks.
- Grease the loaf tin with butter. Pour in the batter using a dough scraper; it will have a rather sticky consistency.Leave covered in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Bake in the oven for 50 minutes.
