100% Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread: HBinFive

Happy New Year!  I’m starting the year off with a healthy bread. This 100% Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread is one of the breads the HBinFive Bakers made for the January 1st Bread Braid.  It’s a very simple, but delicious bread. 

It smelled so good while it was baking. There’s just something about the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven.  Some friends came over about the time I put the loaves in the oven so I thought it was only fair to give them one.  Actually, I had planned to give them a loaf anyway so I was glad that the aroma tantalized them and that they gladly accepted the loaf and some Strawberry Jam to go with it.

This 100% whole wheat bread includes some ground flaxseed for extra nutrition.  Adding flaxseed to bread is a great way to ensure you’re getting omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. 

We’re not supposed to post the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes’ recipes due to copyright issues, but I will say that this recipe is the same as the 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil except the 100% Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread calls for 1/2 cup of flaxseed instead of 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Both recipes are great!

For this bread, I used a mixture of freshly milled white whole wheat flour from hard white winter wheat and whole wheat flour milled from hard red spring wheat.  If you want more information on home milling your own grains, click here.

I mixed the dough two days before I planned to make this bread.  That’s one of the benefits of using this method.  After you mix the dough, let it sit on the counter for 2 hours, then place it in the refrigerator and use it to make bread over the next 10 days (or the amount of time specified by the particular dough you’re making).

On bake day, I took the dough out of the refrigerator and divided it into two pieces. I had only made one-half of the recipe so it was enough dough for two loaves. I shaped each piece into a ball and covered them and let them rest on the counter for about an hour until the dough warmed to room temperature.

 

Then, I flattened the dough out into rounds so I could shape them into torpedo-shaped loaves.

 

I folded the top half of the dough to the middle and pressed the seam down with my fingers.

 

Then I folded the bottom half up to the middle and pressed the seam with the back of my hand to make sure it stayed closed.

 

Then I turned the loaves seam down on parchment paper and let them proof for an hour. The loaves didn’t rise much during the proofing which is normal for the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes’ breads.

 

Right before baking, I scored the loaves with three slashes.

 

Then I covered the loaves with plastic while I preheated the oven to 400º F/200º C with a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan underneath.

 

Once the oven was preheated sufficiently (about 30 minutes), I placed the loaves (parchment paper and all) on the baking stone and poured a cup of hot water in the steam pan.  I baked the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes until they were richly browned and firm. Then I placed the loaves on a cooling rack to cool before I gave one away.

 

We sliced the other loaf and enjoyed it toasted with cheese along with some Garden Fresh Tomato Soup made with the last tomatoes from my garden. I know it’s way past growing season but the tomatoes didn’t get the message. When the weather turned cold, I removed them from the vines and let them ripen inside.  Both the soup and the bread tasted great. 

 

 

About the HBinFive Baking Group
The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the  Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the new HBinFive baking group, check out Michelle's blog.

100% Whole Wheat Bread: BBA

The 41st bread in the BBA Challenge is 100% Whole Wheat Bread. Some of the other bakers in the challenge commented that this bread was not one of their favorites, but I still had high hopes for it because I really like to make whole wheat bread and I thought using freshly milled grains would make a difference.

The book states that the best way to evoke flavor in whole grain breads is to give the enzymes enough time to break out the sugars trapped in the starches. This can be done by using a large amount of pre-ferment, such as a poolish or soaker. This formula utilizes both types of pre-ferments so I thought certainly this combination would produce a good loaf of whole wheat bread.

 

So, I set out to make a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread.

 

Making the Soaker and Poolish

For the soaker, I used fresh coarsely-milled whole wheat flour from hard red spring wheat and mixed it with spring water. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature overnight until you’re ready to bake the bread.

 

For the poolish, I used freshly milled whole wheat bread flour milled from hard red spring wheat and mixed it with some yeast and water. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, until it bubbled.  Then put it in the refrigerator overnight.

 

Making the Dough

The next day, remove the poolish from the refrigerator 1 hour before you plan to bake the bread to take of the chill.

Stir together the dry ingredients. Add the poolish and the soaker, and the liquid ingredients and mix the dough until it forms a ball, adding more water or flour as needed. 

Transfer the dough to a counter sprinkled with whole-wheat flour and knead the dough until it forms a firm, supple dough.  This will take about 10 to 15 minutes by hand.  The dough should be tacky not sticky.

Fermenting the Dough

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and roll it around in it to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Ferment at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Shaping the Loaves

Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape them into sandwich loaves as shown. Flatten the dough with your hand and fold in the edges to make a rectangle about 5 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches long.

 

Roll up the dough one section at a time, pinching the crease with each rotation to strengthen the surface tension.

 

Pinch the final seam closed with the back of your hand and rock the loaf to even it out.

Keep the surface of the loaf even across the top. 

Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. The ends of the loaf should touch the ends of the pan to ensure an even rise.

 

Proofing the Loaves

Mist the tops with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Proof at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough nearly doubles in size and is cresting above the lip of the pans.

Baking the Loaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with the oven rack in the middle of the oven.  Bake the loaves for about 30 minutes.

 

Then rotate them 180 degrees for even baking.  Continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes longer. The finished bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom and be golden brown all around and firm on the sides as well as on the top and bottom.

When the loaves are finished baking, remove them immediately from the pans and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.  I brushed the loaves with melted butter, then let them cool.

Then I sliced the loaf and tried a piece with peanut butter because that’s one of my favorite taste tests.

I thought this bread was ok, but it’s not one of my favorites from the book. The bread seemed rather dry to me even with the soaker and the poolish. I used freshly milled grains so I thought it would improve the flavor and the texture, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.

I’ve been wowed by several of the other breads in the book so this was a bit of a let down.  However, I guess they can’t all be keepers. I don’t think I’ll be making this one again since there are other whole wheat bread recipes that I like a lot.

Hopefully, we’ll have better luck with the next bread: #42 Potato, Cheddar and Chive Torpedos.

 

Happy Baking!
Cathy