Tag Archives: whole wheat bread

SOURDOUGH RYE BREAD WITH FLAXSEEDS AND OATS

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This is that type of bread that begs for mindful eating. No sitting down in front of the TV grabbing one piece here, another there, or sharing it with friends in the middle of a loud party.  No, this is a bread that deserves attention. It is dense without being overly heavy, and its flavor is quite complex due to the use of assertive flours and flax seeds. The recipe was created by Rosa, from Rosa’s Yummy Yums, a food blog that not too long ago celebrated its 9th anniversary!  Nine years.  No small feat, folks, considering that each of Rosa’s post is a masterpiece: carefully composed text (with recipes in two languages, English and French), matched with her incredibly beautiful photography. Hers is the type of blog that just like this bread, deserves full attention.

Rosa Yum Yum BreadMade July 26th; Blogged October 13th

WHOLE-WHEAT AND RYE SOURDOUGH WITH FLAX SEEDS AND OATS
(from Rosa Mayland’s blog)

(for one round loaf; check her site for full version that makes 2 loaves)

1 heaping tablespoon of flax seeds 1/2 Tbs Flax seeds
150g whole-wheat flour
100g white flour
35g rye flour
35g buckwheat flour
100g active sourdough starter

188-200 g/ml lukewarm water
A pinch of dry yeast
1 heaping tablespoon of olive oil

20g Rolled oats
7g fine sea salt

Put the flax seeds in a small bowl and add 63g/ml of boiling water (this will make them slimy). Stir and leave to cool.

In the bowl of your stand mixer put the flours, sourdough, water, yeast, olive oil, flax seeds (+soaking water).  Mix until all the ingredients are just combined. Let the dough rest (autolyse) for 2 hours.

Add the salt as well as the oats and continue mixing for about 5-8 minutes (add a little flour if the dough is too wet), until the dough reaches medium gluten development.  Transfer the dough to a slightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough ferment/rise, at room temperature, for about 2h30 (or until doubled in size), folding at 50 and 100 minutes.

Shape it as desired (sandwich loaves, boule, bâtard, banneton, etc…). Sprinkle your loaves with flour and cover them with plastic wrap let proof for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 230° C (450° F) using your favorite method to generate steam during the initial 20 minutes of baking. Total baking time will be approximately 40 minutes.  Leave the bread in the oven for 5 minutes with the door ajar once you turn the oven off.  Cool it completely on a rack before slicing it.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

crumb
Now, if that crumb doesn’t make you sigh, there is something wrong with you… This was a very nice baking project, perfect for a weekend in which we had nothing planned, no social commitments, no need to go to the lab, just taking each hour as the hour shaped up.   If you stop by Rosa’s original post, you’ll see that she coupled this recipe with a text about the importance of slowing down, a praise for idleness. Food for thought, as usual for her posts. It is nice to be able to take a step back and do nothing. Or, if doing nothing seems like too much of a shock for  you 😉  grab your flours and make this bread. Then, slowly slice it, and close your eyes when you taste it.   Yes, it is that wonderful!

Rosa, thank you for a great recipe, and above all, for the effort you put into your blog, a pleasure to visit every single time!  See you around the blogosphere 😉

I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting event…

ONE YEAR AGO: Apricot-Raspberry Sorbet: A farewell to Summer

TWO YEARS AGO: Marcela’s Salpicon

THREE YEARS AGO: Pork Kebabs

FOUR YEARS AGO: Fondant au Chocolat

FIVE YEARS AGO: Got Spinach? Have a salad!

LUCKY KAMUT BREAD

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A few weeks ago I got smitten once more by a post on Farine’s blog  showcasing a bread made exclusively with whole wheat flour.  She used a mixture of spelt and kamut to bake a pavé style of bread that seemed perfect for a hearty sandwich.   I was quite curious about kamut flour, and thrilled to buy the last bag available in the only grocery store in town that carried it.  My adventure to procure kamut flour involved a phone call to the manager who personally held that bag for me until I could drive to the store later in the day.  That should clarify the title of this post. 😉

SPELT AND KAMUT BREAD
(from Farine’s blog, adapted from Thierry Delabre)
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247 g whole kamut flour
247 g whole spelt flour
375 g water
148 g levain at 100% hydration
9 g salt
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Mix both flours with all the water until no dry flour remains and let rest, covered, 20 to 40 minutes Add the sourdough starter and mix until incorporated Add the salt Cover the dough and let it rest, doing as many folds as necessary to obtain medium soft consistency.  I did five sets of folds, the first three 30 minutes apart, the last two 45 minutes apart.  At that point the dough was rising for 3 hours.  I let it rise undisturbed for 2 and a half hours more, by that time the dough was threatening to reach the top of the bowl.
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Remove the dough from the bowl onto a floured surface and fold it once over itself lengthwise, forming a long, non-overlapping rectangle.  Cut the dough into two pieces, and let them proof over heavily floured parchment paper for about 45 minutes, loosely covered.   Heat your oven to 450F and bake the loaves (with initial steam) for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown.    Cool on a rack.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here
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This is the kind of bread that makes you feel healthier with each bite.  It has that wholesome quality of a typical rustic loaf, but a texture with more moisture than you would expect from a bread made exclusively with whole wheat.  I  urge you to read Farine’s original post, as she describes her adaptations from the original recipe in great detail.  I always learn a lot reading her blog, she is an amazing bread baker!
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The sourdough taste in this bread was stronger than usual, but the interesting thing is that next day the bread had mellowed down considerably.  Not sure why, but the world of bread leavened with wild yeast is mysterious. And fascinating!
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Usually Phil is the master sandwich maker, but this time I hit a jackpot with my concoction:  chipotle-smoked turkey breast, provolone cheese, and a spread of tomatillo-avocado salsa.  A show-stopper!
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Farine, thanks for the constant inspiration!  My list of breads to make from your blog only keeps growing and growing… 😉
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I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting event.
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WHEN A KING MAKES A PROMISE…

Posted in Breads, Vegetarian-friendly by

HE DELIVERS!

Normally, I would shy away from baking a bread using exclusively whole wheat flour, because often they turn out dry, heavy, and not too flavorful. But those folks at King Arthur Flour know their bread extremely well, and recently highlighted in their blog their most popular recipe, a 100% Whole Wheat Bread. They promised that it would produce “a moist, close-grained, nutty, and rich bread, that slices as a dream.”    They did not lie: this is a deliciously hearty loaf, not heavy at all, with a hint of sweetness from the honey, perfect to start your day on a very “good carb-note.”



CLASSIC 100% WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
(from King Arthur website)

8 to 10 ounces lukewarm water
1 + 3/4 ounces vegetable oil
3 ounces honey
14 ounces whole wheat flour
2 + 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 ounce dried milk
1 + 1/4 teaspoons salt

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it becomes smooth. Alternatively, knead it in a KitchenAid type machine (I did that for about 7 minutes at speed 2).

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours (mine doubled in a little over 1 hour).

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface, and shape it into a loaf. Place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the bread to rise for about 1 to 2 hours, or till the center has crowned about 1″ above the rim of the pan (mine took only 1 hour to reach that point). Towards the end of rising time, heat your oven to 350F.

Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. The finished loaf will register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center.

Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan on  a rack to cool. If desired, rub the crust with a stick of butter; this will yield a soft, flavorful crust (I omitted this step). Cool completely before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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Comments: The variable amount of water given in the recipe accommodates for differences in humidity and temperature in each kitchen.  Start with 8 ounces and see how the dough behaves. It is very important not to add too much flour, or it will be too heavy.

Instead of using my regular oven, I baked this loaf on our Breville toaster/convection oven, and it performed very well. It is a fantastic appliance, one that will be used more and more in the near future.   😉

I am submitting this post to Susan’s Yeastspotting…

ONE YEAR AGO: Basic French Bread

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BBA#41: WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by

With only two breads remaining at the end of the BBA Challenge, I was hoping for something wonderful to say about Reinhart’s version of whole wheat bread.   But unfortunately, this bread fought hard for last place with the now infamous 100% sourdough rye.

I wasn’t the only participant to have problems with this recipe; you can jump to Oggi’s blog for her comments about it.  At some point I’d like to improve at breads with low to no white flour, because they consistently provided lessons on humility.   So, without further ado, here are the proofs of my crime, with apologies to Mr. Reinhart.

The dough was sticky, grainy and generally unpleasant to work with. The crumb was tight, as expected for this variety, but the taste was just plain bland.   Even my husband, who eats all my failures with a smile (while saying that I’m too hard on myself…violins playing, please) told me “if a bread isn’t even good with butter and this awesome fig jam, then something’s seriously wrong with it”.

I will be making croutons… (sigh)

Life goes on, so does the challenge. I’m anticipating the final two breads, which look like masterpieces… Stay tuned!

BBA#18: LIGHT WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by

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Unlike the other breads in the “challenge“,  I’ve made this one many times. It is in fact our default sandwich bread, that I bake on weekends and slice and freeze for later in the week.

It’s a straightforward recipe, with white and whole-wheat flours, dry milk, a little sugar, butter, and commercial instant yeast.  Knead it until smooth, allow it to rise and shape it as a loaf; let it rise another time and bake it.  Really, easy as pie!

I made it  for the first time after reading this post at Smitten Kitchen. She expressed my feelings exactly: a person who loves good bread and enjoys cooking (that would be me, and I am sure many of you, who read food blogs… 😉 ), cannot possibly settle for what is sold at grocery stores as sandwich bread.

As I explained before, we can’t post the full recipe, but if you’d like to make a great sandwich-style bread at home, that freezes extremely well, look no further, grab the book, open to page 181 and give it a try…

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You can follow the adventures of folks baking ahead of me through the challenge by clicking these links:
Carolyn and Joe, from  Two Skinny Jenkins
Deb, from Italian Food Forever
Oggi, from I can do that
Phyl, from Of Cabbages and King Cakes
Paul, from The Yumarama Artisan Bread Blog
Maggie, from The Other Side of Fifty

Eighteen breads down, twenty-five to go!
(I wonder if Peter Reinhart is still watching our adventures… 😉