Whole Wheat Nutty Date Loaf

Baking bread is sheer joy! 

The smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house feels heavenly.

I tried different variations of this bread and each tasted good. Polished off to the last crumby bit with my morning tea before rushing into the dreaded weekday morning commute. The original recipe came from Nidhi Uppangala Hegde on Facebook Foodie group few years ago and I have tried incorporating it to my taste while preserving the essence of the recipe.

Recipe:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup date puree
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• some extra whole wheat flour to dust or knead.

Heat 1 cup water and 1 tbsp sugar till it’s slightly warm. Please note that the water should be just WARM and not HOT. Wait for it to cool down a little and add the active dry yeast to it. Just let it sit until frothy and bubbly. Leave it alone and do not touch or mix it, it should take 5 to 10 minutes for the yeast to get frothy.

In a big bowl combine all the dry ingredients of set 2 and stir to combine. For this step you can just use a wooden spoon instead of your hands. Now add the liquids one by one. Pour the yeasty water and mix for everything to incorporate well. Dough will be sticky but that’s ok. Cover with a wet towel and let it double in a warm place. It can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours depending how warm the surrounding is.

When the dough has doubled up, remove the wet towel and put the remaining 1 cup of whole wheat flour on to it covering the entire sticky surface of the dough. Use your hand the deflate the dough and then knead it gently till it’s not too sticky anymore. Feel free to add a couple of tbsp of flour extra if you find the dough too sticky to handle. When it’s all mixed well, pour the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil over it and knead once again.

Dust your baking tray generously with flour. Transfer the dough on to it. You can shape it the way you like or simply leave it the way it is. Bread looks pretty no matter what the shape is. Cover it with a wet cloth and keep it aside for 30-40 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven at 350F.
Remove the wet cloth and slash the loaf diagonally a few times.

Place the loaf in the preheated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. When the bread it ready, it’ll be golden on top and will sound hollow when tapped.

Take out the hot bread out of the oven, Remove from the baking tray and let it cool completely before you cut it.