Basically it’s the guide I wish I’d had when I bought my Komo Classic grain mill. My hope for this book is to take you from being a baker with big questions and hesitation about your freshly-milled whole wheat flour to an enthusiastic, confident baker who canât wait for an opportunity to bake fresh, nutritious, delicious goodies. It will include yeasted recipes like breads + sweet recipes like quick breads, cookies, and cakes.
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I haven’t been very exploratory with different breads lately, but I have continued to make minor adjustments to my go-to whole wheat sandwich bread. My goal was to make a soft and tender bread (i.e. avoid a dry texture), so I used canola oil and honey (instead of butter and sugar) with a combination of milk and water for hydration.
Another thing I’d like to try is soaking my flour in an acidic mixture as instructed here. It has me curious about the impact on health, digestion, and texture of the baked goods.
Basic whole wheat sandwich bread that's soft and tender.
Potlucks are a good opportunity to make something that I don’t normally make. For a recent holiday potluck with friends, I wanted to make something that would work at room temperature, and would contribute to the main meal rather than after-dinner sweets.
I’d made a tomato-topped focaccia a couple of years ago that turned out very well, so I decided to make that again with a couple of adjustments:
Rustic Bread, Pain a l’Ancienne Method from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Bread Making course on Craftsy.com
The smell of this bread baking was incredible! I couldn’t wait until the potluck to eat a slice. And I’m glad I did because I learned that it’s much tastier fresh out of the oven, rather than a few hours later. It’s still good later, but not as impressive as oven-crisp.
The dough was very wet, and I think I used too much water. The bread has irregular wholes which was cool to see.
The texture right out of the oven was moist, but worked. The next day, the texture suffered a little bit â it got a little chewy and the flavors dulled some. To add more flavor, I’ll top with some shredded mozzarella and warm under the broiler.
Next time, I’d pull back on the water, and instead of adding 140 gm extra, start with 50 gm and see if more is needed. And this is a lot of focaccia â which was OK for a potluck, but for just two of us I’d cut the recipe in half and bake in a small pan.
When you’re in the mood for a substantial, enriched whole grain sandwich bread, this is a great one to try. It has more sugar and oil than my standard basic wheat bread â which is probably why I love it so much!
An enriched whole grain sandwich bread that's substantial and versatile.
I’ve started making two loaves of sandwich bread at a time instead of just one. As long as I’m putting in the effort to make one, adding another isn’t much more work, and it’ll last longer, too.
For this batch, I doubled Margaret’s Favorite Bread and increased the milk since I’ve been getting such good results with higher hydration for the wheat I grind in my grain mill. I also changed up the kneading process and did an overnight fermentation in the refrigerator.
I love the result of these modifications! The loaves are soft and tender, but hold together well. And the flavor is great, too. It’s simple and versatile, but not bland or boring.
A traditional whole wheat sandwich bread made with hard white wheat flour ground in a countertop grain mill.
I loved the Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread I made awhile back so much that I wanted to try it again, but with an extra rise and extra hydration.
Since I forgot to take a photo, my daily drawing practice is doing double duty
Love! One loaf had a hole through the center â I must not have rolled it up tight enough. But the bread is fantastic.
Doing the stretch and fold in place of 20 min. of kneading was great. I didn’t experience any ill effects of letting time do the work in place of the long knead. Might have been due to the increased hydration.
Somehow I have a memory of biscuits that are tender, buttery, a little chewyâŚI think my memory is based on the Pillsbury refrigerator biscuits. So I set out to research how I might recreate that type of biscuit, but with whole grain flour (and no preservatives).
My research led me to the possibility that a biscuit made with yeast might get me close.
Adapted for whole grain flour from Angel Biscuits using oil, not shortening
I really like how these biscuits turned out, both the flavor and texture. They’re slightly more bread-like than I had intended, so next time I may adjust the formula a little to change the crumb.
For the Monkey Bread, I wish I had used way less dough. While baking, they puffed up to fill the baking dish and there wasn’t enough sugar mixture for my taste. The ratio was off, but they did taste yummy. Next time, I’d use about 8 oz of dough with this amount of buttery sugar topping, and bake a little less so they’re more ooey gooey.
I’ve been experimenting with different bread recipes lately that include cold, slow fermentation (overnight in the refrigerator) and increased hydration.  I use Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day for direction â the All Purpose Sweet Dough was fantastic, and the texture of the Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sandwich Bread was wonderful though the flavor wasn’t my favorite.
The thing I like most about this technique is that I don’t have to knead for so long. With the whole grain wheat flour I mill at home, it needs either about 20 minutes of kneading by hand, or this long fermentation to really let the grain soak up the liquids and develop the gluten.
With the Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sandwich Bread, the flavor tasted a little off to me as I had adapted it. So this time I used Reinhart’s Everyday 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread recipe as written, except I increased the hydration to accommodate the whole grain flour.
Everyday 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread from Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart
These loaves are huge! I thought for awhile that there was too much yeast, and that the oven proofing was too much. They rose so high above the pans during baking that I was just certain they were going have a weak crumb and be full of air space inside.
So when I cut into them and found they were just fine, I was really happy! The crumb is soft and tender, and not crumbly. It’s just like the texture of a store bought loaf.
Each loaf weighs 1 lb 10 oz, and I think this recipe would work better divided into thirds if using a loaf pan like I did, so the pieces aren’t so tall.
I wasn’t wild about the flavor â I think I’m tasting all of the yeast. The recipe called for more than I typically use, and I think it affected the flavor.
Next time, I’d use half as much yeast and divide into three pieces.
I was so happy with how the Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread I made a little while back turned out, but I thought I could make some improvements to the crumb with a few tweaks. I was re-reading one of my favorite bread books, Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, and really wanted to try the slow, cold fermentation since I’m using whole grain wheat flour. I also wanted to increase the hydration based on Reinhart’s substitution guide:
“As a general rule, you need to increase the liquid by about 1 tablespoon (.5 oz / 14 g) for every 2 ounces (56.5 g) of whole grain flour you substitute in place of white flour.”
These loaves are very soft and light, and the crumb is a lot like that of a store bought loaf. I’m amazed at the fact that they’re made with whole grain wheat flour!
The flavor is very good, but not quite as awesome as the Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread. My guess is that it’s either because of the inclusion of yogurt, or the overnight fermentation.
Next time, I’d like to try using all milk instead of yogurt + milk, keeping the overnight fermentation.
I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of my library’s Kindle version of Artisan Breads Every Day. Whenever I check it out (I really ought to just buy it already) I uncover new things to try.
This week I had my eye on the Cinnamon Buns and Coffee Crumb Cake, using the All Purpose Sweet Dough. But of course I had to adapt the recipe for my whole grain wheat flour that I mill at home. Reinhart’s suggests increasing the liquid by 1 tbsp for every 56.5 gm of whole grain flour used in place of white flour.
I cut the recipe in half, so for me that would mean an additional (scant) 1/2 c of milk. But I did the math wrong (shocker!) and actually added 3/4 c extra milk.
Cinnamon Buns and Coffee Crumb Cake, using All Purpose Sweet Dough from Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart
Cut original recipe in half; made 6 cinnamon buns and a small crumb cake
Formula
Day 1: Began mixing as directed (flour, salt, and sugar mixed together; whisked yeast into original portion of milk until dissolved; then combine everything) with paddle in stand mixer for 1 min. Switched to dough hook, mixed 3 min., adding some of the extra milk, rested 6 min. to let the whole grain flour absorb the liquids. Added a bit more milk, and mix 3 more min. Added the rest of the milk, mixed, then moved to counter to bring the dough together with stretch and folds since it was very wet. Did 4 stretch and folds, with 5 min. intervals.
Placed in oiled container and refrigerated. (Within two hours, the dough had more than doubled and overnight it was pressing against the lid.)
Day 2, Cinnamon Buns: Removed 1/2 of dough, covered, and rested 20 min. Rolled out into 6 x 15 rectangle. Sprinkled with 1/4 c brown sugar mixed with 3/4 tbsp ground cinnamon. Rolled up, cut into 6 slices, and set in parchment-lined and sprayed bread loaf pans. Let rise for a couple of hours, then baked at 350° for 10 min., rotated pans, baked an additional 15 min.
The whole grain cinnamon buns rising in pans
The whole grain cinnamon buns after baking
The whole grain cinnamon buns drizzled with glaze
Cooled for 5 min., then drizzled the white fondant glaze on top. I basically used the glaze recommended in the book: 85 gm powdered sugar, 1/2 tbsp light corn syrup, 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp cream + 1 tbsp milk).
Day 4, Coffee Crumb Cake:Â Sprayed a medium baking dish (slightly less than 8×8) with non-stick spray and lined with parchment. Dimpled the dough out to fill the bottom of the dish with oily fingers and let rise for a couple of hours.
Made crumb topping from the book, using soft white wheat flour in place of all purpose, and using a dash of cloves and nutmeg for additional spices.
Topped the dough with the crumble topping and baked 23 min.
This was such a fun baking experience for a few reasons. One, I pushed the hydration farther than I normally dough, and really liked the outcome. Two, I got to make two different things from one batch of dough. I love the way the recipes in this book help whole grain flours really settle in and absorb the liquids by taking advantage of slow, cold fermentation. And three, the results were delicious.
The cinnamon buns were best right out of the oven, although I think I overdid the cinnamon. If I try them again, I’d try white sugar and less cinnamon. The cinnamon got too slimy and overpowering between the soft, tender spirals of dough. Speaking of the dough, my accidental overcompensation of liquids actually resulted in a really dreamy texture — for whole grain flour, anyway. It almost had the texture of regular cinnamon rolls, where the dough sort of peels off in big delicious flakes.
The next day, I preferred the leftovers with a little salted butter to add oomph since they no longer had that just-baked freshness. And I didn’t care for this glaze, but I think that has more to do with my dislike of powdered sugar.
I was really happy with the crumb cake! The long, cold fermentation gave the dough an almost sourdough-like flavor, and I love how each piece is soft and moist, not like a crumbly cake. My only complaint, not enough crumb topping ;) I like reheating the leftovers under a low broiler for a few minutes to warm them back up a bit. This also caramelizes the topping a little.
I’d like to use what I learned here and do more with cold fermented doughs and higher hydration levels to compensate for the whole grain flours.
The milk in the refrigerator was starting to smellâŚiffy. Not so bad that it warranted tossing, but not good enough for pouring into my oats. And from what I found online, this is a fine state for baking recipes. I wasn’t able to find anything conclusive about whether it’s close to sour milk, or buttermilk, but historically people found things to do with milk that’s starting to go downhill, and so I made that my mission.
This recipe for Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread sounded fantastic, and I loved that it was adapted from a Macrina recipe. When we visited Seattle several years ago, we had a couple of wonderful breakfasts at neighborhood bakery within walking distance from our hotel. It was such a happy memory that I developed a fondness for Macrina recipes.
Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread from orwhateveryoudo.com
Apart from the fact that I let these rise for too long, resulting in a very delicate crumb in the middle, this bread is fantastic. It was exactly what I was craving — thick, dense, chewy sandwich bread that’s not too sweet but has plenty of character. I think the oats have a lot to do with this.
So far I’ve only had it with butter, and toasted with peanut butter. It was awesome both ways. I haven’t worked out how the other slices will be usedâŚthey had to be sliced rather thickly because they were so delicate in places. But in any case, I look forward to pulling a nice big slice out of the freezer from time to time.
In addition to catching the dough before it had risen too much, I think this dough would also benefit from an additional rise time. Normally that’s what I do (per my whole wheat bread book) but since this was my first time making this particular recipe I wanted to follow it on that point. I’ve read that the additional rise time before shaping helps develop the gluten structure.
Update: While I still think an additional rise will help with gluten structure, the flavor of this bread (especially toasted) is so incredible! Every once in awhile I remember that I have it in the freezer and get excited all over again because it’s such a wonderful bread.
