This delicious country bread recipe tastes wonderful spread with your favourite topping and is also a great way to use up leftover bags of flour.

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loaf of bread with slice removed topped with butter and jam

Allinson's

Allinson’s Very Strong Wholemeal is the ideal bread flour to create a delicious wholemeal dough. Whilst you can substitute white bread flour and wholemeal bread flour like for like when it comes to quantities in a recipe, it is worth noting that wholemeal bread tends to give a slightly denser and moist texture with a little less rise and springiness. This is due to the bran in the flour reducing the effectiveness of the gluten. Nevertheless, we guarantee that you will have a super tasty loaf.
If you prefer, why not use a 50/50 blend of half white and half wholemeal bread flour for a lighter loaf.&nbsp;

Allinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour

This bread flour is blended with malted wheat flakes, rye flour &amp; malted barley flour. It is ideal for granary style loaves and has a rich texture and nutty flavour. Suitable for hand baking &amp; bread makers.

Allinson's country grain bread flour

Salt

Yeast. The secret ingredient to help your dough rise to the occasion. Allinson’s Easy Bake Yeast is available in handy portion-size sachets and an economical tin. This versatile yeast is suitable for hand baking and popping in your bread maker, giving your dough a one-time quick rise and eliminating the ‘knock back’ stage, meaning a time saving solution to bread baking. No activation necessary, simply add to your ingredients and away you go (your yeast will activate when it mixes with the wet ingredients)
For an even faster yeast, try Allinson’s Time Saver Yeast, the same principles as Easy Bake Yeast with a speedier proving process.&nbsp;

Allinson's Easy Bake Yeast

Honey

Sunflower oil

Warm water

A loaf for an experienced baker, this Hearty Country Bread recipe makes a large wholemeal loaf which is perfect for a family picnic or to serve as a side with a warming stew.

Hearty Country Bread Recipe | How to Make Hearty Country Bread

Put the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl and mix to a dough with the honey, oil and water.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.

Learn how to knead dough by hand. We use Allinson's strong white bread flour for our dough. Once you've mastered how to knead dough, you can loads of bread recipes!

How to knead dough

Shape and put into an appropriate greased tin.

Leave to prove until double in size. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas mark 7).

Bake in an oven and immediately turn the heat down to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6).

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Follow our easy method to create the perfect country bread and the video on step two runs you through kneading by hand if you are new to it.
If you enjoyed this recipe, we think you'll love our <a href="/recipes/chilli-pepper-and-feta-bread">chilli pepper and feta bread</a>.

Used a mixer and came together after about 8 to 10 minutes but still slightly sticky. Decided to prove twice and got a good rise. Great tasting bread especially toasted. Would recommend.

I've made a lot of bread and wanted to do something slightly different. I followed the recipe exactly. This dough was very very wet and took a lot of handling to make it workable. It did rise ok but i had my doubts.

Came out well - I especially liked the video. Not sure what to do with the baking sheet and tea towel - neither is mentioned in the instructions!

Hello,

Thanks for your message, the baking sheet can be used if you want a 'free form' loaf rather than using a traditional tin. The tea towel would be used to cover the dough whilst it is proving so the bread does not form a 'skin'.
 Hope this helps,
 Happy Baking!

Followed the instructions to the T I think but my bread is really sticky. I used a food processor and mixed for around 5 minutes then let if rest for an hour or so and cooked for 30 minutes 
Is there something I should have done differently ?

Hello,

We would recommend using a dough hook for approx. 8 minutes or to knead by hand for 10 minutes. We would not recommend using a food processor.

Hope this helps
 Happy Baking!

Thank you for contacting us, we will amended this recipe. 
 Happy Baking!

Hearty Country Bread

About the bake

Method

Step 1

Step 2

How to knead dough

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Ingredients

Utensils

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