Posted by Suzanne McMinn on April 24, 2008 @ 5:05 am
Tags: honey, whole grains
Breads, The Farmhouse Table
Just look at all that fun stuff!!!! The clerk at the store said, “Are you going to make some bread?” YES!!!!!
A few people have asked about making whole grain Grandmother Bread, and about using honey instead of sugar in the recipe. So, of course I had to play around with it and see what worked. Keeping in mind the principle of simplicity in Grandmother Bread and based on my past experience baking with whole grains, I did some experimenting-and had one result with which I was satisfied, and one with which I was not. Here’s the good one!
How to make Whole Grain Grandmother Bread:
2 1/2 cups very warm water (sometimes I use 3 cups to make larger loaves!)
1 package yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey (I like it sweet-you could get away with 1/3 cup if you prefer)
5-6 cups flour-one part whole wheat to two parts all-purpose, plus 1/4 cup wheat bran
In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, honey, and salt. Let sit five minutes. Stir in first three cups of flour (and the wheat bran) with a heavy spoon. Add the next cup of flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. The 5-6 cups flour is approximate–add more flour a little at a time and begin kneading. Continue adding flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled. (Usually, about an hour.) Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead briefly before dividing in half. With floured hands, shape dough into loaves and place in two greased loaf pans. Tear off two pieces of plastic wrap and grease with oil spray (to prevent it from sticking to the loaves as they rise) and cover loaf pans. Let rise till loaves are tall and beautiful! (About an hour, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.)
Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven. Makes two loaves. Recipe can be cut in half or doubled.
This strategy-cutting the whole wheat with all-purpose flour, worked wonderfully, and is in line with my past experiences using whole grains in bread-baking. Whole grains can create heavy loaves if not cut by the lighter weight of white flour. The above recipe could be replicated using various combinations of other whole grain flours such as oat, barley, soy, rye, brown rice, flaxseed, etc. One part whole grain to two parts all-purpose flour allows for the introduction of healthier grains and nuttier tastes without taking anything away from the open texture and light loaf quality that makes Grandmother Bread what it is. I found exchanging sugar with honey worked fine, too.
What you don’t want to do to Grandmother Bread is add oils, milk (or other dairy products), or eggs-this would alter the texture and density of the bread to something that is not Grandmother Bread at all. (And I do bake various breads this way-they’re just not Grandmother Bread.)
I was really pleased with how this whole grain variation on Grandmother Bread came out, and slicing it showed it would make perfect sandwich bread, just like the original Grandmother Bread, and it was great toasted with honey, too.
I can’t wait to try it next time for Stuffed French Toast! And I wouldn’t hesitate to use this whole grain variation to make all the other Grandmother Bread-based recipes you can find in the full Grandmother Bread post.
My other experiment involved using the same approach as above (replacing the sugar with honey) only I used a 10-grain flour without cutting it with all-purpose flour. The result was similar to other experiments in the past when I’ve used whole grains in bread-baking.
Using straight whole grains produces a heavier loaf (left) that doesn’t rise, bake, or slice nearly as well as when the recipe is cut with all-purpose flour (right). See the difference in the two loaves above (baked using the same measurements and in the same size loaf pan).
I’ll stick with one part whole grain to two parts all-purpose-and I’ve found a brand new favorite for my Grandmother Bread recipe collection! And if you do any experimenting, let me know! I’d love to hear about it.
P.S. The honey I used was pure honeycomb honey from the farmers market and it’s TO DIE FOR.
Update: See the cure for what ails 100% whole wheat bread in How to Make Homemade Dough Enhancer!
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6:25
am
suzanne, throw in some dough enhancer next time you make the 100% whole wheat. it does *wonders*. i’ve been making 100% whole wheat (white wheat) bread for years and have found that i always have flatter bread if i don’t use dough enhancer.
looks good! :o)
6:52
am
Thanks, Tracey! I’ll try that next time and report back!
7:29
am
The closest I’ve come to making bread is using a bread machine. Hmm, I should dig it out. My mom still makes her own bread, though, most of the time.
Yours looks yummy! Open a B&B, Suzanne.
-Kim
7:48
am
Suzanne,I made your French bread recipe yesterday for the first time (actually, the dipping sticks) and yum-o! It was easy and the whole family enjoyed them! My thanks to you.
I was planning on trying Grandmother Bread this weekend and I was just wondering about using whole grains. I am not an experienced bread maker so I was not sure about substitutions, but to my pleasant surprise, you have done the experimentation and have discovered for me what works well and what doesn’t. Thanks for saving me the task!
I love , love , love your blog!
8:17
am
Suzanne, your bread looks so delicious. But I don’t have time to make it. When you figure out how to make money from your farm, let me know so I can stay home, make money and grandmother bread!
9:33
am
Looks delish!!! I was thinking you could come on over and make it for me . . .??
9:38
am
Is that 52 with the satellite cable? I love the bread. I like to experiment with baking new things. I am glad it turned out. I try to eay mostly whole grins and whole wheat so it is good to have the new version. We are in the midst of terrible storms here in Texas. The last two rounds we in Lancaster, have managed to miss the tornadoes thank goodnes. Howling wings and pouring rain with hail that piles up like snow though. Me - I hate summer though and prefer the fall and winter. Hey - put some of your great pumpkin butter on that bread!!! Next time I am going to try to make sweet potato butter. I have 2 jars left of the pumpkin.
Sara
9:40
am
so much for my typing - it is still early here after the storms and I am only on my second cup of coffee - might need three today.
10:00
am
Hi Suzanne,
You’ll never believe what I saw in the middle of the road yesterday. A Chicken! And believe me I’m not making this up. I just think it’s ironic!
10:10
am
No, that’s not 52. That’s the “big Italian guy” that the satellite guy brought with him to dig the trench! He said he brought a “big Italian guy” because we had to have such a long trench for the cable from the dish!
10:24
am
I’m finally hooked - I’ve got to try this new version of the bread tomorrow. It has grains and honey in it - PERFECT!
10:48
am
Yummy! I do a lot of baking with whole grain flours, but I cut them 2 pts whole grain flour to 1 part all-purpose, or even 3:1, sometimes. I like a heavier loaf….feels more substantial in my hand, I guess. If I do use all whole grain flour, I find that a longer rise time helps A LOT…and a slightly wetter texture to the dough.
Of course, I commit the major baking blasphemy of using a mixer to mix my doughs, so a wetter dough isn’t a sticky mess on my cutting board/counter/hands.
12:32
pm
I’ve actually never made bread before. I think the whole yeast thing is what is holding me back, I’m afraid I’ll kill it or something. But your recipe seems pretty straight forward and you have given great instructions.
Thanks.
1:08
pm
Thanks for the whole grain adaptation - Looks wonderful and I will be trying it.
Suzanne, re the Satellite Internet. I am a Satellite Internet user - I have a bit of experience/cautionary tale/suggestions. Maybe it is not the same provider, but there were some things I didn’t understand.
I had no other choice for high speed internet and I’m thinking you might not either…at any rate, if you’d like
to email me….
1:25
pm
Suzanne, I think opening a B&B sounds like a wonderful idea!
So which kind of bread does 52 like better? They both sound delicious to me!
3:32
pm
Yummmm, that would go wonderfully with the Ham I made earlier this week. *G*
4:23
pm
Sounds delicious!
4:48
pm
Suzanne… I actually used the Grandmother Bread recipe a while ago with 100% White Whole Wheat from King Arthur. I decreased the water and added vital wheat gluten. It was great!
7:47
pm
I love your grandmother bread recipe; now I can’t wait to try this one!
9:19
pm
I just wanted to echo April- I’ve been baking whole grain for while, and King arthur’s white wheat is a slightly lighter wheat with all the nutritional benefits o regular red wheat. I usually use 1/2 white and 1/2 white wheat, but you can go even heavier on the whole wheat and it works. Lora Brody’s bread dough enhancer is a great addition too. I love bread!!
10:57
am
oops! I should have said I decreased the FLOUR! I usually end up using almost 1/2 to 1 whole cup less flour than a recipe calls for when using 100% whole wheat.
1:57
pm
Sounds YUMMY!! Try substituing 1/4 c. Bob’s Red Mill Flaxseed Meal for the wheat bran. It’s really good (slightly nutty) and is REALLY good for your skin, hair, nails, complexion and is especially good for women…monthlies, change of life, etc. I make our everyday bread w/it 1) because it tastes good and 2) because my 20 & 17 year old daughters won’t take a TB of Flaxseed oil a day like I do. This was how I got them to “take” flaxseed and it turned out that they - and my hubbie - LOVES it. So it’s been our everyday bread for a couple of years!
Blessings from Ohio…
5:28
pm
I tried both kinds of Grandmother Bread…we LOVE them both! I personally like the white, but my hubby is certain that the whole grain one is better for you. So, I guess I’ll rotate recipes, but Grandmother Bread is a keeper in this home!