Health Bread

Sponge
2 cups milk
1 ½ tablespoons dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
1 cup barley flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached bread flour

Scald the milk. Add the honey and let the mixture cool to 110 degrees F. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it soften for a few minutes. Then stir in all three kinds of flour and either beat 100 strokes with a large spoon or use an electric mixer on medium speed for about a minute.

Let rise at 90 degrees until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Dough
To make the dough, add to the sponge:

1 cup cooked wheat berries
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
½ cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds (hulled)
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons salt
About 1 cup whole wheat flour
About 1 cup unbleached bread flour
Additional melted butter (about 2 tablespoons) for brushing on loaf during baking (see note)

Knead, adding more flour as needed in about a 50/50 ratio of whole wheat and unbleached bread flour, until the dough is smooth and elastic. (The chunks of stuff won’t make for a smooth ball of dough, but the dough itself should be smooth.)

Let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Deflate and let rise until doubled again. Shape into a loaf (see notes) and let rise for 30 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees F to an internal temperature of 200 degrees. (See notes)



Notes:

I baked this in a round cloche. With about an hour left to go on the rising, I preheated both pieces of the empty cloche in a 400-degree oven.

To shape the loaf before the last rising, I used baking parchment to line a bowl of approximately the same diameter as my cloche.

When the loaf had risen, I removed the dough and paper from the bowl and trimmed the paper close to the edge of the dough.

I removed the bottom section of the cloche from the oven. Using a large spatula, I transferred the uncooked loaf to the cloche. Then I removed the top of the cloche from the oven, covered the loaf with it, and returned the cloche to the oven. (To handle something this heavy and hot, two good oven mitts are recommended.)

I baked the loaf for 30 minutes covered, removed the cover, and brushed melted butter onto the crust.

I reduced the heat to 375 and baked to an internal temperature of 200 degrees, about another 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Loaf

Sourdough Wheat Sandwich Bread

1. Mix 1 cup water and 1 cup whole wheat flour in a mason jar. Shake well. Loosen the top a little so air can get in. Keep at a temperature of about 80 degrees for 24 hours.

2. Mix 1 cup San Francisco sourdough starter (See note below), 1 cup milk and 1 cup whole wheat flour in a bread bowl. Add 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Beat 100 strokes with a spoon or a couple of minutes with an electric mixer. Add the whole wheat starter from step 1. Cover with a bowl cover or plastic wrap.

3. Put in a warm place (about 85 degrees) until very bubbly.

4. Mix 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons gluten flour, 2 teaspoons diastatic malt powder, and 2 teaspoons brown sugar with 1 cup whole wheat flour.

5. Add to the sourdough mixture in the bowl. Mix well.

6. Add whole wheat bread flour to make a soft dough. Knead in ¼ cup soft butter.

7. Knead in more flour carefully to make a firm dough.

8. Let rise at 85 degrees until doubled. Deflate. Let rise until about doubled again.

9. Form into a loaf. Let rise again in loaf pan at 85 degrees F. When the bread has risen to the top of the pan, remove it from the proofer and smear the top all over with soft butter.

10. Bake in a non-preheated 365 degree oven.

11. Loaf is done when it reads 190 degrees, or 200 degrees if you like a bread with a slightly drier crumb.

Notes:

When you remove the mixture of whole wheat flour and water from the proofer (step 1), it should have developed bubbles and a sour odor.

You may use either a bread proofer or a box with a heating pad set on low. Or, if you have a reliable warm place that will keep your bread mixtures at about 85 degrees F, use that. See my discussion of warming boxes--click here.

For "San Francisco Sourdough Starter," I use the Sourdough International starter, mixed and fermented according to the manufacturer's directions.