Ingredients
• 225g coarse wholemeal flour
• 30g wheatgerm
• 30g pinhead oatmeal
• 30g sesame seeds
• 170g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 90g butter, melted
• 330ml buttermilk
Method
Preheat a fan oven to 210 degrees Celsius. Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
Take a large mixing bowl and place all the dried ingredients inside. These are the 2 flours, seeds, wheatgerm, oatmeal, baking soda and salt if you’re using it. Using a fork, mix the dried ingredients together until they’re combined.
Make a well in the centre of the dried ingredients and crack in the 2 eggs, pour in half the buttermilk. Using the fork, stir everything together until it starts to clump. Pour in the rest of the buttermilk and stir once more. You will end up with a very thick batter. It doesn’t look one bit like bread dough!
Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and put the loaf tin into the hot oven.
Bake at 210 degrees for 20 minutes. Then, turn the heat down to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 45 minutes.
After this time, check the bread is cooked by inserting a skewer into the deepest part of the loaf. If it comes out dry and clean then the bread is baked. If not, return it to the oven for another 10 minutes before testing again.
Once the bread is cooked, take the tin out of the oven, and lift the bread from the tin carefully (it’s very hot). Wrap in a damp teatowel and place it on a cooling rack. This will soften the crust to make it easier to slice. If you prefer a crispy crust, turn off the oven and put the bread back onto the rack in the oven while it cools.
Once completely cold the bread will keep for 3 days in a bread bin, you can freeze it for up to 3 months if well wrapped. You can also slice the loaf, then freeze individual slices which will keep for up to 1 month. If cooking for one or two people I recommend this method of baking, slicing, then freezing.
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