Serves: Makes 4 (1 pound) loaves
Source: The New Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day
For best results, weigh the flour.
Ingredients
- 260 grams whole wheat flour (2 cups)
- 425 grams all purpose flour (3 cups)
- 140 grams old fashioned rolled oats (1 1/2 cups)
- 13 grams ground flaxseed (2 tablespoons)
- 65 grams pumpkin seeds (3/4 cup)
- 100 grams sunflower seeds (3/4 cup)
- 35 grams sesame seeds (1/4 cup)
- 10 grams granulated yeast (1 tablespoon)
- 15 grams salt (1 tablespoon)
- 40 grams vital wheat gluten (1/4 cup)
- 680 grams lukewarm water (3 cups)
- 170 grams honey, agave syrup or barley malt syrup ((1/2 cup)
- 55 grams olive oil, melted unsalted butter or coconut oil (1/4 cup)
***Note 1: If omitting vital wheat gluten, decrease water to 2 1/2 cups.
Instructions
- Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk tougher the flours, rolled oats, seeds, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten in a 5 quart bowl or lidded (not airtight) food container.
- Combine the liquid ingredients and then mix them with the dry ingredients without needing, using a heavy spoon or dough whisk.
- Cover (not airtight) and allow dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
- The dough can be used after initial rise, though it is easier to handle cold. Refrigerate dough in a lidded (not airtight)container and use over the next 7 days. The flavour will be best if you wait at least 24 hours after refrigeration.
- On baking day, dust the surface of refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 pound (grapefruit size)piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go.
- Elongate the ball into a narrow oval. Allow the dough to rest, covered loosely with an overturned bowl on a baking sheet lined with parchment and dusted with cornmeal for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you are using fresh unrefrigerated dough,
- Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat oven to 400 degrees, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty metal broiler tray on any other oven rack that won’t interfere with the baking bread.
- Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with water. Sprinkle a few seeds on top (sunflower, pumpkin,and sesame seeds) and slash the loaf diagonally with 1/2 inch parallel cuts, using a serrated bread knife.
- Slide the loaf directly to the hot stone or place the parchment lined baking sheet directly on the hot stone. Pour 1 cup of water in the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake or approximately 40 minutes or until richly browned and firm. Carefully remove the loaf from the parchment lined baking sheet and move it directly to the baking stone about 2/3 of the way through the baking time. Smaller loaves require time adjustments in resting and baking time.
- Allow bread to cool before slicing.
***With convect bake, baking time was about 35 minutes for my first loaf.