Tuesday, May 17, 2011

whole wheat bread, again

 I have been on a mission to make whole wheat bread that doesn't suck, that my kids will love and my husband won't complain about.  I finally caved and got a new cook book all about whole wheat bread.  This is one of the three I bought a few weeks ago.  It doesn't suck.  The book that is.  You'll have to read the rest to find out about the bread.


This Morning while Elsie sucked her thumb, Annie and I got started on the bread.  The book I'm using is actually the second book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.  I have the first book they came out with about bread and use it all the time, so I'm familiar with the process. 

Put all you dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.

 And all your wet ingredaints in another bowl 
(I use a small pitcher, because it's easier to pour into my mixer).

 Finally, you combine the two, until just mixed.

It gets really sticky.

Let it rise, and then use it right away or refrigerate it for later.  
I stuck it in the fridge till I got home from work.

When I came back from work I got the bread dough out.
I put the dough in a greased bread pan and let sit on the counter for 90 minutes while I did laundry and other yucky household chores.  (I'm comparing how it bakes in a ceramic pan vs. the non stick.  The book calls for non-stick, but I am not so keen on the chemical leaching of non-stick into my kids food). 

Bake for 40 min. @350

The bread smells awesome, and tastes great.
Both pans worked great, so Mom, you can have your bread pan back. (note: if you use ceramic or another non-non-stick pan, let it cool almost completely before removing from pan. The moisture released as the bread cools helps it release from the pan). 

 So thank you Jeff and Zoe for yet another awesome cookbook.
Annie loves the bread,  but of course Texas complained that it was to heavy.  Curse you, commercial bread companies and your chemically leavened foam bread.

I also made this today while baking the sandwich bread.  Super easy to assemble for a great lunch or snack.  Potato and pea stuffed flatbread.  It's in the book.
Best part of these books, no kneading the dough, at all.

2 comments:

Jill said...

My John complained about the heaviness w my wheat bread too:) if it's a yeasted bread you could try adding a tablespoon more of yeast and/or try adding a tablespoo. Of gluten- but I don't know your feelings toward gluten :)
I experimented with those factors until I got a thumbs up :)

lauren gray said...

I've been considering ordering this cookbook for awhile. . . Maybe I will finally do it, since you're happy with the results.

 

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