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Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

Honey and Walnut Bread

by

…after my recent funk I woke up this morning with the urge to bake but I wanted something nice and safe to get me back into the kitchen… I opened the cupboards for some inspiration and a bag of walnuts fell out and scattered everywhere giving me a sign to use it as an ingredient and also a not so subtle nudge to have a tidy up…

… I decided to go for a walnut and honey loaf which i’ve based on Dan Lepards Easy White Bread from his brilliant Short and Sweet book… he does have a separate recipe for honey and walnut bread but I didn’t have all the required ingredients and anyway, I know this bread works well for me and I reasoned that it was the kind of recipe I could add to without compromising the texture… and boy was I right… i’ve ended up with a glorious loaf that is just the right side of sweet without making it a tea-time treat (sorry girls) and nutty enough to satisfy my cravings for texture…

Honey and Walnut Bread
400g strong white flour
1 teaspoon fast action yeast
1 teaspoon fine salt
250ml warm water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp crushed walnuts
oil for kneading
– put the four, yeast and salt in a bowl, add the olive oil, honey and nuts, pour in the warm water and stir everything together into a sticky, shaggy mess, cover the bowl with a cloth and leave it for 10 minutes
– lightly oil your work surface, turn the bowl over and empty the dough onto the surface and very gently knead the dough 8 times (that’s 8 classic ‘stretch then heel of hand then quarter turn… repeat…) then cover and leave for 10 minutes.
– repeat this gentle ‘knead and leave’ technique 3 times
– then after the last gentle knead return the dough to the bowl, cover with a cloth and leave it to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
– pre-heat the oven to 200C fan
– sprinkle your work surface with flour, turn the dough onto the surface and pat it down into an oval shape.  Roll it up tightly and lay it seam down onto a floured baking tray.  Let is rest again for a further 45 minutes.
– brush the top of the dough with beaten egg, sprinkle with crushed walnuts and bake for 35-40 minutes.
eat and of course enjoy!

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Comments

  5. Karen S Booth says

    We, Kate and I, will hold out for a tea time treat, in the meantime, make sure some of that bread is around for my visit next week! LOOKS fab darlink, I have a love of all things nutty…..
    Karen

  8. Ruth Ellis says

    Yum! I love slightly sweet bread with slightly salty butter – this looks like an ideal candidate for that treatment. Delicious. And your post has given me a jab in the ribs to tidy out my baking cupboard soon – it's a chaotic disgrace!

  9. C says

    Sounds like a great pairing – the chunks of nut must be really good in there. I imagine it's great with a chunk of good cheese!

  12. Nicoletta says

    Amazing this loaf!!!!! Well done Dom!!!!! I love bread (really???? do I???) but I never tried with walnuts…I'll have to try this recipe!

  15. Choclette says

    Finding a bread that works for you and then playing with it sounds a more than reasonable thing to do, especially when you come up with a bread as delicious as this looks. Glad your funk is over.

  16. Jacqueline says

    Oh yum, that looks good. You know when something falls out of the cupboard at me, I don't think it is fate, I just curse and get annoyed. Maybe that is my mistake.

  18. Susan Lindquist says

    I love that you are confident enough at bread baking to play with the bread recipes! And I'm with Gary … toasted with a good slab of soft butter, this bread would send me over the moon! Funk? What funk?

  21. Janice says

    How did I miss this? Looks fab and you know walnuts are brilliant for lowering your cholesterol and honey is good for you too, so it really is a super healthy loaf.