We Knead To Bake 10 - 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

The group has been baking breads with much success that now we thought we were ready to graduate to somewhat difficult breads. Some members had requested Aparna that we bake whole wheat breads and she obliged. Thus this month we were set the task of trying Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread. 
 

Adapted from Peter Reinhart's book Peter Reinharts Whole Grain Breads we made small workable modifications. Peter Reinhart’s recipe uses a soaking procedure and the Biga/ sponge and that is the secret to the softness and texture of this bread. 

Soaking  whole grain flours overnight, especially whole wheat flour, breaks down the phytates in them, aids mineral absorption and makes them softer and more digestible. It is also important to knead the dough well to develop whatever little gluten there is in the whole wheat flour.

 While this bread is not difficult to make, it requires a little bit of planning. The Soaker (at room temperature) and the Biga/ Sponge (refrigerated) have to be made and rested for at least 12 hours. After this they can be kept refrigerated for about 2 days before baking them into bread. 

The first change was to use water to make the Soaker instead of milk because leaving dough mixed with milk on the kitchen counter overnight might spoil in tropical temperatures. However, as milk contributes to the softness of bread, we used milk instead of water in the Biga/ Sponge which would keep with the refrigeration.

Next change was to add little vinegar to the Soaker and the Biga/ Sponge. Vinegar tends to increase the acidity of the dough which, within limits, helps gluten development and contributes to the texture. We also added oil to the dough. All these helped to make a 100% whole wheat loaf which was better and softer in texture.

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

(Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads)

Ingredients:

For The Soaker:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 to 1 cup water at room temperature

1 tablespoon vinegar (apple cider or plain)

For The Biga/ Sponge:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

3/4 cup milk (or a little more)

1 tablespoon vinegar (apple cider or plain)

For The Final Dough:

All of the Soaker

All of the Biga/ Sponge

1 1/2 teaspoon Vital Wheat Gluten (optional) ( I did not add any)

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup whole wheat flour (and a few tablespoons more if required)

2 teaspoon instant yeast

1/8 cup oil (or melted butter if preferred)

2 tablespoon honey

Method:

Soaker:

Mix all of the ingredients listed together in a bowl until all of the flour is hydrated.  I found that I needed more than the original 3/4 cup of water suggested and used around 1 cup. This may vary from flour to flour. The Soaker should be somewhat like reasonably firm bread dough in consistency. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. 

Biga/ Sponge: 

Mix all of the Biga/ Sponge in a bowl and knead together well till a soft ball forms. Again you might need more than the originally suggested 3/4 cup of liquid; I needed a little more. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. This will keep for up to 3 days. 

Two hours before you plan to mix your dough for the bread, remove the Biga from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. You might find your Biga rising a little during this time.

Divide the Biga and Soaker into small pieces (about 12 pieces each) using a sharp knife or scraper and put them in the food processor bowl.

You can knead this by hand too, but the dough will be tacky and a little difficult to manage. 

Do not be tempted to add more flour, when it is time to, than necessary.

Add the remaining ingredients for the dough, (except the 1/3 cup flour) and knead for about 3 minutes.  Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add flour as needed (as much as only necessary) to the dough and  knead for another 3-4 minutes.

The dough should now come away from the sides of the bowl. It will still be a little sticky but  manageable. It is important to not add too much extra flour during this step so as not to dehydrate the dough. 

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until almost doubled (about 1 1/2 hours). Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough out into a rectangle with a width that just a bit less than your loaf tin. See that you do not tear the dough. Roll it up and shape into a loaf.

Place your loaf in a greased and floured loaf tin (a 9” by 4” loaf tin) and let it rise until it is just higher than your loaf tin. I did not have a tin that has much height. So I baked them in smaller loaves.

Bake the loaf at 180C (350F) for about 40 to 45 minutes until the top is a nice deep brown colour and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Let the loaf cool completely before slicing it. 

Refrigerate the loaf if not consuming immediately.

Using Vital Wheat Gluten will help give a better rise.
The dough needs to be kneaded well and it is important to be careful while shaping the dough into a loaf.  Ensure that you do not tear the risen dough as this will tear the gluten “cloak” that would have developed. 

This bread was one of the difficult ones I have tried. I was not able to work the dough so well as it requires to be. On one trial I added a bit too much flour that the bread had cracked on top and the crust was falling apart when I sliced. It took me few tries and I cannot say I could perfect it yet.
To check on other members' breads have a look at Aparna's post
http://www.mydiversekitchen.com/2013/10/we-knead-to-bake-10-100-whole-wheat.html

   

 

 

 

 

We Knead to Bake - 8 -2 Laugenbrezel (German Style Soft Pretzels)

 

This is the post I wanted to put up as a follow up of yesterday's Hard pretzels. Many of the members of the We Knead to Bake group had expressed that they preferred the soft pretzels and hence Aparna suggested that we follow the recipe already in her post from an earlier date. It was a simple recipe that many of us vouch for a keeper recipe. Everyone of us who had tried seemed to love their texture and taste.

It also was the family's choice, though they liked the hard ones the second time I baked them. we found that they kept well and tasted better the day after. However, the soft pretzels are best consumed fresh.
It was again a weekend agenda when the daughter was willingly helping in shaping and taking pictures, making my workload less.
Without much ado, I shall share the recipe. I have tried Aparna's recipe which she in turn had adapted from My Recipes. She has taken time to read and share the information available on pretzels in her post. I skip that and request you to check her post for an interesting read. There are many recipes that use butter or eggs and this one has neither. Hence, you can still bake them even if you were short of such ingredients.

 Soft Pretzels with Sesame seeds




Ingredients:
31/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon salt

For the soda bath:
6 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda

For dusting the baking sheet:
1 teaspoon cornmeal or semolina

For the topping:
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
(she has used black sesame seeds also, but I did not want a very crowded top on mine, so did not use)

Method:
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk and allow the yeast to activate.
Meanwhile take the flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk them together.
Once the yeast is frothy, add it to the flour mix and gather them in a dough.
Turn this on to a surface dusted lightly with flour. Knead into a dough that is smooth and elastic. It may feel a bit sticky. If needed add a little more flour. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes of kneading.
Transfer the dough , after shaping it in a ball, into a large oiled bowl. turn the dough in the oil to coat it with oil. Cover and allow it to rise until double in volume. This may take an hour or just slightly less.
To check if the dough has risen, gently press two fingers into it. If the indentations remain, the dough has risen sufficiently.
Turn it on to the work surface and deflate the dough, knocking much of the air out.
Cover again and rest for 5 minutes.
Divide the dough in 12 equal portions.Work with one portion of the dough at a time, while keeping the rest covered in a damp cloth.
Roll each portion into an 18 inches long rope with tapered ends. shape the pretzels as suggested in my previous post.
Keep the shaped pretzel dough on a tray that has been lightly greased and cover it to prevent drying.
Once all the pretzels have been shaped, keep them covered and allow to rise for 10 minutes. They do not rise much.
Prepare the baking trays with lining a sheet and lightly greasing the sheet on top. Sprinkle the semolina/ cornmeal on this surface.
Keep the 6 cups of water for boiling in a large utensil. When the water has come to a boil, add the baking soda. Allow the froth to settle and keep the water simmering.
Gently slide a pretzel dough into the water. Allow it to cook on one side for 15 seconds before flipping it quickly to the other side. Let this side cook for 15 seconds too. The pretzels will cook and swell. do not leave them in the water for longer as they may become very slimy.
Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer them on to a wire rack that has been lightly greased with oil.
Repeat the procedure for all of the shaped pretzel dough.
Place them on the prepared tray. While keeping the oven to preheat to 220 Degrees Centigrade, brush the top of the pretzels with milk and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
Bake for 12 minutes or until the pretzels are deep golden brown.

Remove the baked pretzels and cool them on wire racks.
Serve them with a dip of choice or fresh and plain.
This recipe makes 12 pretzels.

We Knead to Bake - 8 - 1 Crunchy Hard Pretzels

Having skipped a few months in between and making up for those meant that I had a set breakfast idea for Monday mornings. I scheduled all those baking experiments for the week end when I assigned some jobs to the rest of the members at home. Thus I had baked the Torcettini di Saint Vincent and the Bialys baked, though yet to be posted in this blog.
The advantage of baking with this group is that you get to read a lot of discussion focused on the given bread of the month. You come across unexpected tips that may help you. Most importantly, we are introduced to baking breads that I have never come across nor have the patience to look for.  Also Aparna, our group's mentor, shares a lot of information about the history of the bread, the origin and such.
During the month, when a fair number of members have attempted the baking, we start nagging for a glimpse into the next one. We play guessing games and have our fun. Repeatedly, members were showing interest in Pretzels. Hence Aparna decided that we bake them this August, the eighth bread of the year.

She had given us the recipe for these hard pretzels, while giving us an option of trying soft pretzels from an earlier post in her blog. Pretzels were something, I have only had at an Auntie Anne's Pretzels outlets and the hard salty pretzel sticks that used to be sold like biscuits. So I approached baking them with a lot of misgivings initially. I did not have to, for they turned out great in taste while the shape could have been done with some patience. Not to be discouraged, I baked them again, this time shaping them better while having the taste just as great.
The soft pretzels will follow today's post, in a day, not to crowd two recipes in one post.
The recipe I am sharing here is as Aparna had given. I reduced the proportions to bake fewer in number.

Crunchy/ Hard Pretzels
(Adapted from Alton Brown's recipe)
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of warm water (40 Degrees C/ 110 degrees F)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour ( and a little more, if necessary)
2 teaspoons salt ( you may want to decrease if you are planning to add pretzel salt or coarse salt while baking)

For the soda bath:
6 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda/ sodium bi carbonate

Eggwash (1 yolk added to 2 tablespoon water and whisked) ( optional)
Pretzel salt or coarse salt crystals

Method:

Add the warm water to the yeast and sugar. Leave aside for a few minutes until the yeast is frothy indicating that it is active.

Add salt to the flour and to this add the yeast mixture.

Knead until you have a soft elastic dough that is smooth, slightly sticky to touch, but pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is very sticky, add a few more teaspoons of flour only.

Shape the dough in a ball and place in an oil coated bowl, turning the dough around so as to coat it slightly with the oil. This helps in the dough not drying on the surface.
Cover the bowl and allow the dough to double in volume. This might take about an hour or so.

Take the dough out and deflate it knocking all the air out.

Dust the working surface lightly with flour. roll the dough out in a 12"X12" square. Using a pizza cutter, divide the dough into 36 smaller square pieces. It is easier dividing thus, than pinching out exact portions.

Oil your palms very lightly to prepare to work on the bits of dough. Work only as many as you will be able to bake in one batch, keeping the rest of the dough covered.Also use oil in frugal quantities, or else you will not be able to roll them well.

Working on one square piece, flatten it a bit and tightly roll it into  a cylinder thinner than a pencil.

Roll this out in a 15"long rope. Make a U shape with tapering ends. Bring the two ends to cross at about 4 inches from the ends forming a circular shape with 4" long arms.Cross the lower arm over the upper and flip them on top of the circular base. This will resemble the chest area of a person who has crossed arms to touch the opposite shoulders.

Place the shaped dough on a greased tray leaving 1/2 an inch space between them.

When you are ready with your batch of shaped dough, cover the tray with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying.

Now prepare the baking trays first before doing the soda bath.

Line the trays with baking sheets. Lightly smear oil on the lining.

Place a large non-aluminium  utensil filled with six cups of water on the stove. when the water boils, add 2 tablespoons sodium bi carbonate. Allow the mixture to froth and when it is done, lower the heat to simmer.

Carefully slide a pretzel into this soda solution. Allow it to cook on one side just for 10 seconds and turn it over. cook again this side for 10 seconds only. Remove this from the water with a slotted spoon and place it on a tray.

Repeat this with the rest of the shaped pretzels.The pretzels will cook in the water and swell.

Do not allow them to stay in the water for longer for you will end up with a slimy dough.

Arrange the pretzels in the baking tray.

Give the egg wash if you are doing so. 

You mat add the salt crystals to them at this point too.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 Degrees C and bake the pretzels for 40 to 50 minutes until they are crunchy brown.

You may instead make pretzel sticks. For this, at the stage for rolling, use lesser dough and roll out very thin sticks of required length and bake them for a lesser time at the same temperature.

You may also make pretzel bites. In this case, do not roll out the 12" sided square. divide the dough in four porions and roll each portion into a rope of 1" diameter. Cut each rope into 1 1/2" bits. Proceed with the soda bath and then bake. Again the baking time has to be adjusted whilethe temperature is 180 degrees in this case also.

Stay tuned for the next post on Soft pretzels.
Please check Aparna's post where the other members have also shared their links with their Pretzel baking experiments.