Want to produce a beautiful home-baked loaf in no time? Then you have arrived at the right place. What sets home-made bread apart from readymade bread is that what you bake at home can be controlled in terms of health and nutrition. And when the healthy bread bake recipe calls for easy ingredients and merely 30 minutes in the kitchen, life gets even better.

First things first, before planning to bake healthy bread keep the following things in mind:

• Use white or brown whole wheat flour, instead of using refined flour. This will not only save you from unwanted calories, but whole wheat flour is also lighter, which will ensure that your bread bakes up lighter when compared to the plastic bag readymade bread.
• Do not hesitate to use a little extra yeast, if you think that your dough isn’t rising to the satisfactory level. Read the instruction on the yeast container and do a ½ tablespoon cheating. This will help your bread rise to spectacular heights.
• Another absolute secret tip for a fluffy and not-so-dense loaf is to knead it properly. Knead the bread for 10 minutes or so, which will make sure that the dough is compact and also super elastic.
• Always keep the bread on a more sticky side when kneading, rather than the dry side. However, make sure it is not too sticky. The moisture present in the dough will help the yeast make little air packets that will aid in fluffing up the bread.

So, now that we know all the tricks, let us dive into the lip-smacking recipe of baking your own healthy bread:

Ingredients

• 4 cups of white whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cup of warm water
• 2 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon yeast (preferably homemade)

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, including the yeast.
2. Now slowly add oil and water to the dough and knead it well.
3. Knead the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to overnight, depending upon the time.
5. Now, punch down the dough into small loaf pieces. Or preferably, just bake one large loaf piece.
6. Now, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place it in the baking dish. Let the dough sit there for 30 to 60 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and firm to touch.
7. There you go, your healthy homemade bread is ready! Bon appétit!

*Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images