I needed bread in a hurry last night. I had intended to give the chocolate bread a try when next I was baking, but I didn't have time to make the sponge. So instead I flipped a bit further through the book and settled on this high-fibre quick bread recipe.

Using chemical leaveners rather than yeast meant it was ready in about an hour. And, while it does have quite a bit of sugar in it, it also contains a hefty quantity of wheat bran and no added fat. So it comes out sweet, but quite lean. And the molasses makes it pleasingly dark and fragrant.

Hilo Bran Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 375g flour
• 150g wheat bran
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 1/2 c. milk
• 6 Tbsp. molasses

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
2. Combine the flour, bran, sugar, and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
4. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk and molasses and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and let stand for 10 minutes.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-45 minutes.
8. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.