Although I tend to push the boundary of wholesome, whole grains when making bread, sometimes it’s nice to just have a light, white loaf.  This is basically what I’ve made, but with the umphhh of rolled barley for flavour, texture and health.

Ingredients

450 g (1 lb) white bread flour

150 g (5.5 oz) rolled barley flakes

1 Tb (or 1 sachet) active dry yeast

2 Tb sugar

1/2 Tb salt

1 Tb olive oil

200 ml (6.5 fl oz) whole milk

150 ml (5 fl oz) water

 

Mix the ingredients in a bread machine or by hand, and let rise to 2-3 times the volume.  Knead and place into a greased loaf pan.  Using a knife, make a few shallow (1-2 cm, 0.5″) cuts across the dough.  Let rise for 30-60 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room (I pre-heat our second oven at approximately 40 C (100 F), and leave the dough to rise in the oven, turning the oven off once the dough is in, for 30 minutes).  Bake at 180 C (350 F) for about 30 minutes, until browned on top and sounding hollow when tapped.  Let cool slightly, then remove from loaf pan and cooled on a wire rack.