White Bread Loaf (Bread Flour Mixed with Rice Flour)

My first attempt of making this bread was around 4 years ago, and I was probably still in the early stage of finally able to make decent and edible bread loaf. I was still not so confident of making bread, so I only baked bread when i had enough motivation and determination, but most of the time, we bought the bread from the bakeries.

Even for this recipe, I had to try several times to be satisfied with the result. The first one was very good actually, soft and moist even after 2 days (and there was no leftover after that), but the shape wasn’t good and the seal came out and made the bread cracked. But anyhow, it was still delicious and by far was the best and softest white bread that I had ever made (4 years ago, it was still considered really good in my standard. It really helps to bake the bread dough in a bread pan and not in a cake pan, at least you will have a good shape of bread.

I found this recipe on Instagram and was quite surprised to see rice flour as one of the ingredients. Well, I’ve made bread rolls using this recipe before, but since the original recipe was for bread loaf, I thought I had to try it. We loved it and it was soft but crisp on the skin sides just the way we liked it.

When I tried to think it over, I probably underbaked the previous bread, so that was why it turned out not so good after 1 day (and sometimes deflated too). So my advice is to bake the bread for at least 35 to 40 minutes and start preheating the oven when the dough has reached the top of the baking pan.

Ingredients:

350 gr bread flour
45 gr rice flour
1 egg + cold fresh milk = 270 ml
30 gr sugar
6 gr instant yeast
55 gr salted butter

For Glazing and Topping:

egg wash: whisk 1 egg with 2 tbsp of milk
butter, in-room temperature
black sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

Prepare a 450 gr bread pan or 19 x 11 x 10 cm (for this amount of dough, do not use the lid as it will overflow) lined with parchment paper
Attach bowl and dough hooks to the mixer and add sugar, egg and milk, both types of flour, instant yeast and start mixing with low speed
When dough clings to the hooks and cleans sides of the bowl, add butter
Continue mixing until the dough is smooth, elastic, and bounces back when you press the dough with your finger. The dough should be in windowpane stage. I only use low speed in my mixer to knead the dough
Place dough in a bowl and cover with cling wrap and a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Note: lightly grease the bowl and the dough with oil so the dough won’t be sticky to handle and shape. To see if the dough has risen enough, simply poke your finger into the dough, and if the fingermark stays, then it has finished rising
Punch the dough to release the air, then divide into 4
Roll each dough into a smooth round shape and roll into an oval long shape
Fold 1/3 of the dough to the centre and press (the top side). Then fold the other 1/3 of the dough (the bottom) to cover the folded area and press again.
Flip the dough (so the folded area is now at the bottom side). Roll flat and stretch to about 30 cm in length. Flip the dough again and roll tightly into a cylinder.
With seal facing down, place the dough in the loaf tins to have the 2nd round of proofing, for about 60 to 75 minutes
Brush with the mixture of whisked egg and milk on the surface, then sprinkle some black sesame seeds
Bake in a preheated 170 C fan oven for 35 to 40 minutes and until the top turns brown (bake in the lowest shelf of the oven to prevent the top to get brown too soon)
Remove from the oven and brush with butter, then transfer onto a wire rack
Let cool completely before slicing and serving it