Whole Wheat Bread, a simple brown bread made from whole wheat flour without any all purpose flour. I have been baking this bread at home for months now, you might knew already this if you have followed me on IG. 

It's such a fool proof recipe and yields perfect loaf for every SINGLE time. Ever since i have started baking this bread, the ingredients list from the store bought bread really scary me to buy one of the those. 

Seems like i'm in the beginner phase of bread baking and comparing every commercial bread with the home made ones, guess it takes time to get over this !!! 

Coming to the today's recipe, it's a basic recipe of wheat bread with only handful of ingredients. Honestly i had so many failed attempts in making whole wheat bread before. All these years of cooking & baking, the one thing that i have learned through this journey is that the staple foods made from the basic ingredients are the hardest one to nail. 

Often we(including me) blame the recipe and claim that it doesn't work easily. It's like saying that i have used the same quantity of rice and dal but my idli doesn't turn out soft or have used the same brand of aata but my rotis/chapatis are not soft.  More than the ingredients and techniques, it's the personal experience and repeated attempt only we learn a lot. 

So if you're beginner in baking/cooking, don't lose hope with your failed attempt, as like always i say, if i can do it, you can also do it.  Ok, before move on to the recipe, i'm trying to comprehend all the answers to the frequented questions that pops up in my head when i had started baking breads initially.  Hope this helps to all beginners and if you have any more questions, do leave it in comment.

Is Whole Wheat flour same as Atta used in Roti/Chapathi?

No, i don't think so !!! The whole wheat flour that i'm using in this recipe has lot of bran and the texture is slightly coarse compared to the aata/indian wheat flour.  
Indian Wheat Flour/ Aata is more smooth in texture and it's completely free of bran. 

How do get dome shape in bread loaf?

Right loaf pan and proper proofing is necessary to get that dome shape. While proofing the dough second time in the baking pan, the dough should rise above the pan about 1 inch before going into the oven. 
Even if your dough is well proofed but your pan is way too big, then the dough would not have chance to rise above the pan, so it doesn't have that dome shape.So proper pan is must for getting that classic dome shape on the bread

Do i need dough making machine to make this bread?

Absolutely not !! You can make super soft breads by kneading with your hands alone. Think of it as arm workout of the day :-)

Is it as soft as store bought wheat bread ?
To be honest, it's soft and so flavorful but not as soft as commercial ones. Heard that adding wheat gluten helps to make bread as soft as store bought, haven't tried on my own. If i do, will let you guys know !!! But think of all those preservatives and unknown ingredients that goes into the store bought bread, so i would prefer home made bread than store bought on any day.

How long can i store this bread ?
It stays good for up to 3-4 days in room temperature. For more days, it can be refrigerated or even put it in freezer for even longer days.

Whole Wheat Bread | Mini Wheat Loaf Bread

Preparation Time : 2 hr | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Makes : 2 mini loaf 
Recipe Category: Bread | Recipe Cuisine: General
Whole Wheat Bread, Honey Wheat Bread, Mini Bread Loaf, Mini Bread,Mini Wheat bread Whole Wheat Bread, a simple brown bread made from Whole wheat flour without any all purpose flour.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Water(room temperature) - 3/4 cup +2 tbsp
Instant Yeast - 3/4 tsp
Honey - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Melted Butter - 1 &1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

In a bowl, add water, yeast & melted butter.

Next add the honey and mix it all well together.

Then add the salt and flour  and mix it well  until it all comes together as a single mass.

Transfer the dough into the working surface and knead for 10- 15 mins until the dough is super smooth and non sticky.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with cling wrap and set it aside for 1&1/2 to 2 hrs or until it's doubled.

After 2 hrs, remove the cling wrap and punch out the gas from the dough and transfer into working surface.

Divide the dough into two, take one half of the dough and spread it gently with rolling pin.

Fold the dough from one end to another and place the dough log into the baking loaf pan.

Do the same for the other half of the dough.Cover it with cling wrap and set it aside for 30 mins. Preheat the oven @ 375 F.

Put the bread in the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 F. Bake it for around 25 mins or until the bread sounds hallow when tapping.

Slice and serve. Healthy home made Whole wheat bread is ready. 

Related : How to make white Sandwich bread 

Notes:

• You can add up to 3/4 tsp of salt for the given quantity. We don't like much salt in the bread, so reduced the amount
• I have used my mini loaf pan. The dimension is  5.75 x 3
• You can double the recipe and bake it in the regular loaf pan.
• Mix honey and yeast well before adding the salt.
• It's must to knead the dough for minimum 10 mins.
• Don't add more flour to avoid sticking. With continuous kneading it become non sticky and smooth
• I have used Miller's pride brand whole wheat flour.
  

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Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicle | Summer Treats

Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicle, a delicious and healthy popsicle without any artificial sweetener. All you need is some strawberries, coconut milk and honey, throw everything in the blender, puree and pour into popsicle mold and freeze. Yep, it's that simple, your home made strawberry popsicle is ready to devour. 

I had this popsicle recipe in mind for a while to try, so bought a pack of strawberries with the thought of making it last weekend and in the next morning, it started to snow here. Yeah, in May!!! I was brought up with the idea of not eating anything cold even when it's drizzling  outside and now it's snowing!! Had the dilemma but went with my plan anyway and enjoy it after two days when the temperature is bit better :-)    

For the past couple of days, the temperature is so pleasant here to go outside and finally spring is here !! The trees begin to sprout the leaves & buds and it's amazing to witness the whole world around you awakens and slowly everything in grey and black starts to become colorful :-)  I'm from the place(Tamilnadu,India) where autumn and spring are not in our weather seasons, hence i'm always fascinate about these seasons and after all these years still i'm at awe when the leaves fall and sprouts again!!  

Related: How to make Mango Falooda

Ok, now coming back to the recipe, the amount of each ingredients used in the recipe is up to my preference. There is no hard rule here  in making popsicle, you can add more or less of any ingredients as per your liking. Use this as guide and make as you like. Now let's check out how i have made this delicious strawberry popsicle. 

Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicle

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 6 small pops 
Recipe Category: Popsicle | Recipe Cuisine: General
Strawberry Popsicle, Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicle,Popsicle,Summer Treats, Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicle, a delicious and healthy popsicle without any artificial sweetener. All you need is some strawberries, coconut milk and honey, throw everything in the blender, puree and pour into popsicle mold. Yep, it's that simple, your home made strawberry popsicle is ready to devour.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Strawberry - 1/2 lb
Coconut milk - 1/2 can(around 3/4 cup)
Honey - 2 to 3 tbsp

Procedure

Trim the top of strawberries and chop them into small pieces. Add into the blender along with coconut milk.

Next add honey and grind them into smooth puree. Take the popsicle mold and stick few strawberries on the sides of the mold(it's purely optional).

And pour the strawberry puree into the mold and cover it with lid. Freeze it for 6 to 8 hrs.

Delicious Strawberry Popsicle is ready.
For more summer treats and popsicle recipe, check out here

Related: How to make Watermelon Popsicle

Notes:

• To remove the popsicle from the mold, keep it under running water for a while or put it in glass with warm water for a while
• Depends on the sweetness of the strawberry, you can add more or less of honey. Mine was so sweet, so i used 2tbsp of honey only.
• Instead of canned coconut milk, you can use fresh coconut milk also.
• For additional flavoring, you can add a dash of vanilla extract.

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Chia Seed Lemon Drink | Chia Seed Detox Water | Detox Water

Chia Seed Lemon Drink, a simple to make detox water at home with easily available ingredients from your pantry. When i saw the word "Detox water" for the first time, i wondered what is it ? Actually it's a infused water with fruits/vegetables and if you have it on empty stomach in the morning, it's said to help remove the toxins from the body and keep you energetic throughout the day. 

I'm not sure about all that claims about the detox water, but i wanna change my morning coffee routine to some what healthy drinks.So for the past couple of months, i have been drinking this lemon water with chia seed for twice or thrice in a week instead of my morning morning coffee and really like it, that means it deserves a post here. 

Chia Seed Lemon Drink | Chia Seed Detox Water

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 1 
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: International
Chia Seed Lemon Water, Chia seed Detox water, Detox Water Chia Seed Lemon Drink, a simple to make detox water at home with easily available ingredients from your pantry.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Chia Seed - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Procedure 

Chia Seed Mango Pudding for healthy breakfast !!

Take the chia seed in a bowl, add the water and set it aside for minimum 1 hr to bloom or until it becomes all gel like consistency.

Pour the chia gel in a serving bowl, squeeze the lemon juice and add the honey.

Mix it all well together and then add the water. Again mix it well and serve it with lemon wedges.

Tada, Simple Chia seed Lemon Drink is ready to serve. If interested in more chia seed recipes, check out this chia seed mango pudding or Raspberry chia smoothie or oatmeal recipe  

How to add chia seeds  in Smoothies 

Notes:

• The given quantity of the ingredients are based on my liking, you can add more or less of any ingredients as per your liking.
• You can soak the chia overnight in the refrigerator.  

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Strawberry Pancake with Strawberry Sauce | Strawberry Pancakes

Strawberry Pancakes with strawberry sauce is my recent favorite pancakes. One month back, while browsing through pinterest, this pancake recipe caught my attention,as strawberries has been in season for a while, immediately i tried this with little modification in the recipe as suit to our taste and we loved it.The original recipe uses egg, but we both cannot stand egg smell in pancakes, so i used my  eggless buttermilk pancakes  as guidance and make it as eggless, still it's so fluffy and spongy.
This pancakes taste best with strawberry sauce, pour the sauce over the pancakes and let it sit for few mins and allow the pancakes to soak with syrup and then have it. Really yummy on every mouthful. As the sauce has enough sweetness, i have used very less sugar in the pancake batter,but you can add more if you wanted. Ok, now, let's see the recipe. 

Strawberry Pancakes

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Makes : 8 or 9 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: American

Ingredients
Strawberry - 1/2 lb
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Butter milk - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Melted butter - 2 tbsp + extra for grease the pan
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Honey -1/4 cup
Water - 2 tbsp

Procedure

First let's make the sauce, in a pan, add roughly chopped strawberries(reserve few tbsp for batter),honey and water and mix it well. Turn on the heat and let it comes to boil, then simmer the sauce for 5-7 mins in medium flame. Switch off the flame. That's it, your strawberry sauce is ready.Now for the batter, add flour,baking soda, baking powder, salt & sugar, give a good mix with whisk, add the butter.Then add the buttermilk & milk and mix it well until the batter is smooth. Add the remaining strawberries and mix well. Heat the pan, grease with butter, pour the batter on the pan, cook on both sides on medium flame or until it becomes golden brown.Stack the pancakes, pour the sauce over it and it's ready to serve.

Notes:

• I have used whole milk here, but you can used reduced fat milk too.
• Buttermilk helps to get fluffy pancakes.
• For additional flavor, you can use cinnamon or vanilla flavor in the batter. But i want strawberries flavor predominantly, so leave as it is.
• Depends on the flour quality, you can need more or less liquid. 

 Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#79

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Watermelon Lime Popsicle | Watermelon Popsicle | Popsicle Recipe

Watermelon Popsicle, a refreshing summer popsicle made from watermelon puree with a hint of lime juice and honey.  After the discovery of my love towards lime, I'm kind of addicted to using it in almost every dish, especially in my drinks. 

The flavor of lime is awesome and it goes well with almost every drink and it gives you instant refreshing like anything.Yeah, i know, i'm sound like "Ambassador of lime"😏 .

Related: How to make Pineapple Popsicle

Ok, enough with my lime obsession, let's move on to today's recipe. Actually there is no so called "Recipe" for this popsicle, all you need to do is puree the watermelon, add honey & lime as per your liking, pour in popsicle mould and freeze. 

Voila, your watermelon popsicle is ready. But since i like this popsicle so much, i wanted to record it here. So here it is, try this delicious watermelon popsicle this summer to enjoy with your family.

Watermelon Popsicle

Preparation Time : 6 hrs | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Makes : 8 small popsicle 
Recipe Category: Popsicle | Recipe Cuisine: General
Watermelon Popsicle, Watermelon Lime Popsicle, Lime Popsicle Watermelon Popsicle, a refreshing summer popsicle made from watermelon puree with a hint of lime juice and honey.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Watermelon - 2 cups(chopped)
Lime(medium) - 1/2
Honey  

Procedure

Chop the watermelon roughly into big chunks, put it in mixie/blender jar and grind into smooth puree.

Squeeze the lime and add honey into it and blend it once again until all well mixed together.

Take the popsicle mould, pour the watermelon puree into mould and close it with lid,freeze it for minimum 6 hrs.

To remove the popsicle from mould, run water hot water for 10-15 sec and take it out

Tada, Refreshing & healthy watermelon popsicle is ready.

Related: How to make Mango Kulfi

Notes:

• Depends on the sweetness of watermelon, you may need more or less of honey,so do taste test and add honey as per your preferred taste.
• Lime give that extra zing to the popsicle and both the flavor blends very well.
• Instead of lime, you can use lemon also.
• To enhance the flavor, you can add 2 or 3 mint leaves while puree the watermelon.
• Don't have popsicle mould, then pour it in small plastic cups or tumblers and insert the ice stick and freeze
  

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