WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

I always dreamed of baking breads .To me baking is all about making something healthy and nutritious, not just all the cakes,pastries,muffins,cookies………and what not that all the food blogs are so full of. The nice aroma which fills the home…..and the smile upon our loved ones .
well…..coming to the recipie,  after so much browsing i finally came acroos this whole wheat bread, which is so soft inside and a bit crusty on the outside. Actually its a rustic bread but i baked it in a cake pan and it came round :).
and what surprised me was it needs no oil or butter anything and neither it needs any kneading. still, its so soft. It tasted better than the local bread which we buy. Here is the recipie

You can use half all-purpose, half whole wheat flour if you want.

 

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
adapted from farida’s AZcookbook

makes 1 loaf of bread.

Ingredients:

• 5+3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal (optional, you can omit it and i used sesame and nigella seeds)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3+1/2 cups warm water

 

Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl combine the whole wheat flour, salt and if using, flaxseed meal.  Sprinkle the dry yeast into the warm water and let sit for 5 minutes, or until frothy. Add the yeast water to the flour. Now,stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, until all the ingredients have well blended. The dough will be sticky and lumpy and this is absolutely how it should be. If, however, it is too sticky, add more flour, but do not overdo. Cover the bowl – you can use a  tray, an inverted cake pan, or plastic wrap. Set the dough aside to rise, for 1 +1/2 hours, until it has almost tripled in size and the surface is somewhat bubbly.

Shape the dough: sprinkle your work surface with flour . Using a wooden spoon or your hands , dump the dough onto the floured surface. Now fold the dough once, like a book, then repeat – the direction does not matter. Put  the dough seam side down and cover with a clean bowl. Let the dough rise under the cover for another 30 minutes.

Prepare your pot: While the dough is rising, put your cast iron pan,  lid on, into the oven and preheat your oven to 470F. Let the pan sit there for 30 minutes while the dough is rising.

Bake the bread: Now the dough is ready to bake. Remove the hot pot from the oven – be extra careful  as it is really hot and may burn you! Transfer the loaf into your pot, seam side up – this will make for beautiful rustic cracks on the baked bread. Cover the pot  with the lid and send it into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, without opening the lid of the pot. Then remove the lid (it is hot! hot!) and bake the bread for another 10 minuter or until the top is golden brown. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and invert the bread onto a cooking rack. Let the bread cool completely before slicing it – otherwise it will be soggy. Be patient and you will enjoy it more!

 

you may also like MULTI GRAIN BREAKFAST BREAD , CINNAMON ORANGE RAISIN BREAD , BEET ROOT BREAD  ,  WHOLE WHEAT CHALLAH

 

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