How To Make Bread Mighty Right For Your Health & Fitness

1) DU PAIN & GAINS

Doughn’t believe the killjoys. There are myriad ways to liven up your diet with leavened love and not withstand some adding extra padding to the breadbasket above your belt buckle. “When you combine organic flour with some quality yeast you can get a great, nutritious product,” says Michelin-starred chef Keith Goddard. “And it still costs next to nothing.” By turning your kitchen into a boulangerie, you not only avoid the preservatives lurking in supermarket loaves, you also stand to gain enough benefits to pack a foot-long, from probiotics for better digestion to disease-fighting polyphenols. Want a slice of the action? Here’s how to get on a roll without touching an oven mitt.

Louisa Parry

i) RYE

This dense, nutty bread is lower in gluten than your average wheat loaf. Plus, Swedish scientists found that rye is both more satiating and less fattening, packing four-times the fibre with 20{7b6cc35713332e03d34197859d8d439e4802eb556451407ffda280a51e3c41ac} fewer calories. Still think white is right?

Louisa Parry

ii) SOURDOUGH

The 26.2-miler of bread-making, this loaf requires a degree of commitment. But its lengthy fermentation process, packing in lots of healthy bacteria, makes sourdough great for digestion – as well as winning you top baker’s props.

Louisa Parry

iii) SODA

Going Irish is an easy upgrade: this bread is incredibly quick to prep (“You don’t even have to knead it,” says Goddard) and, unlike its demonized namesake, requires no added sugar. It’s also lighter than rye with a clean, alkaline flavour. Great with smoked salmon.

Louisa Parry

iv) GLUTEN-FREE

Whether you’re officially intolerant or just a sucker for hipster trends, gluten-free blends come in all shapes and sizes. Heavier, more fibrous flours such as brown rice are often balanced out with fluffy potato starch, which helps to bind everything together.

2) FLOUR POWER

Try to look further than the first bag of Homepride you see in the supermarket. Artisan producers have been making flour for centuries and, as Goddard says, “Better raw materials make for a better product.” He recommends shopping around – starting with French and Italian suppliers – and buying organic for improved flavour. And if it’s gains you want from your grains, a 2014 Food Chemistryreview found that proteins in organic flours are more digestible. Always store your flour somewhere dry in an airtight container; wholegrains spoil more quickly.

If you’re a baking novice, a bread machine will produce a quality product without the fuss (£150 lakeland.co.uk). This Panasonic model has settings for rye and sourdough – incorporating a long fermentation process – plus a scratchproof diamond fluoro-coated pan and blades, so it won’t get battered by seeds and grains.

If you don’t manage to slice your way through the whole loaf in a day or two (a task made easier with this corrosion-resistant stainless steel bread knife, £55 johnlewis.com) you can resurrect stale bread by brushing it with water and baking it in a preheated 180°C oven for three minutes.

03) EARN YOUR CRUST

Each of the recipes below can be made in a breadmaker. As a general rule, you want to add the liquids first, then the dry ingredients. Don’t let the yeast touch the salt. Once you’re done, store your loaf in a bread bin (£32 wellindal.co.uk) – just don’t wrap it in clingfilm (or put it in the fridge) as this accelerates the rate at which its starches recrystalise (translation: it’ll get stale faster). No more pretending you were just making croutons.

Louisa Parry

i) LOW-GI MALT RYE

INGREDIENTS

• Water, 400ml
• Malt extract, 2tsp
• Raw honey, 2tsp
• Extra-virgin olive oil, 2-3tbsp
• Rye flour, 200g
• Wholemeal flour, 150g
• Unbleached strong white flour, 150g
• Dried yeast, 2½ tsp
• Salt, 2tsp

METHOD
Tip your ingredients into the breadmaker in the order suggested, and use the rye setting, if your machine has one; the basic cycle, if not. This recipe is sweetened with malt and honey, instead of table sugar, so it’ll have a gentler impact on your blood glucose. “Rye needs to go with powerful food,” says Goddard. “Cheddar would be good, as would smoked meat or mackerel – things that have a bit of depth.”



Louisa Parry





ii) LEAN MACHINE SOURDOUGH

INGREDIENTS

To make 1 cup of starter:

• Warm water, 2 cups
• Active dry yeast, 2¼ tsp
• Wholewheat flour, 3 cups
• Sugar, 1tbsp

For your loaf:

• Lukewarm water, ¾ cup
• Vegetable oil, 2tbsp
• Starter (above), 1 cup
• Salt, 1 ½ tsp
• Sugar, 1tbsp
• Wholegrain flour, 3 cups
• Active dry yeast, 2 ¼ tsp

METHOD
First, make the starter: dissolve the yeast in water, then add flour and sugar and stir well. Let it ferment for four days (like we said: marathon bread – though you can consider this version a sly shortcut). Once that’s done, add it along with the rest of the ingredients to your machine and select the wholegrain setting, or sourdough cycle, if your machine has one. “Sourdough is best eaten with a bit of butter or extra-virgin rapeseed oil”, says Goddard. “The flavour is so light and interesting that you don’t want to mask it.”



Louisa Parry

iii) CARB-LOADER’S SODA

INGREDIENTS

• Plain wholemeal flour, 250g
• Plain white flour, 250g
• Bicarbonate of soda, 1tsp
• Salt, 1tsp
• Buttermilk, 420ml
• Sultanas, cup
• Rosemary, 2 sprigs

METHOD
You could just whack this lot in the machine (use the ‘quick’ function) – but baking soda bread is simple enough to satisfy even the laziest of chefs. Simply mix in a bowl, pop your dough on a tray and score across the top. Bake for 30 minutes at 200°C. “A bread machine can’t get the same crust; for that you need hot air,” says Goddard. Sultanas will provide potassium and sugars to help replenish cells and glycogen stores after your next sweat session.



Louisa Parry

iv) GLUTEN-FREE FLAX LOAF

INGREDIENTS

• Lukewarm milk, 1 2/3 cups
• Eggs, 3 large, beaten
• Apple cider vinegar, 1tbsp
• Vegetable oil, 3tbsp
• Honey, 3tbsp
• Brown rice flour, 1½ cups
• Potato starch, 2 1/3 cups
• Whole flaxseeds, 1/3 cup
• Xanthan gum, 1tbsp
• Salt, 1 ½ tsp
• Instant yeast, 1tbsp

METHOD
“Brown rice gives a nuttiness to the bread, as well as plenty of fibre”, says Goddard. Don’t be intimidated by xanthan gum: it’s a natural ingredient produced by fermenting sugar, and improves the structure to make up for the lack of gluten, which is what gives bread its elasticity. Throwing flaxseed into the mix will punch up the polyphenol content. Use the gluten-free or basic setting. “This loaf would go nicely with a bit of smoked salmon and cream cheese”, says Goddard.