Malted Walnut Bread

This is my favourite bread to serve with cheese or soup. I make it with both blitzed walnuts to
give it a real bitter/sweet nuttiness and chopped walnuts for a good crunch. Slightly sweet with the addition of malt extract but it truly enhances this lovely bread.

Recipe.

500g of strong wholemeal bread flour. I used Duchy Estate (I sure the Prince of Wales will be pleased)
a 7g sachet of dried fast acting yeast
1 heaped tbsp malt extract
100g of walnuts blitzed to a rough 'flour'
50g walnuts roughly chopped
1 heaped tsp salt
1 tbsp rapeseed oil (or olive oil)
350ml warm water

either make in your mixer with a dough hook or by hand

Warm the  your mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, yeast, and oil, quickly mix together
Add the malt extract to the warm water to dissolve it and pour most of it into the flour mix.
Mix to a sticky pliable dough adding a little more water if needed.
Either knead in your mixer for around 7 mins or by hand for approx 12.
Now add the blitzed walnuts and mix in well, then the chopped walnuts.
adding the nuts any earlier will produce a greasy bitter finish to your bread.
cover the bowl with greased cling film and leave in a warm place to prove for around an hour or until doubled in size.
Return to your work top and knock the dough back
Roll and shape into a long baguette.
place on a floured oven tray, cover with greased cling and leave to rise for approx 30-40mins.
Once well risen slash a few slits through it with a very sharp blade.
Sprinkle over with a little more flour
Bake in a preheated oven 200c/400f/gas 6 for 10 mins
Turn down the oven to 190c/ 375f /gas 5 for around another 20 minutes or until when the base loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Leave to cool
Freezes well for around a month or store in an airtight container for 3/4 days maximum.