Whole Grain Loaf Recipes

SEEDED WHOLE GRAIN LOAF

Steps:

• In bread machine pan, place all the ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available. Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).

WHOLE-GRAIN BREAD

Steps:

• Stir whole-wheat flour, bran, and 1 cup water in a bowl. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Stir milk and 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Stir in yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Put whole-wheat flour mixture, milk mixture, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, the cornmeal, 3 tablespoons oats, the ground flaxseed, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook; mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add 2 1/2 cups bread flour; mix until dough is tacky, but not sticky, about 2 minutes (if dough is too sticky, add more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time). Continue kneading until dough is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes more.
• Coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Add dough to bowl; turn to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour (or refrigerate overnight; bring to room temperature).
• Turn out dough onto a work surface; shape into a loaf about 9 inches long. Using a spray bottle, mist with water; sprinkle top with remaining 2 teaspoons oats and the whole flaxseed. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray. Transfer loaf to the pan, and cover lightly with the plastic wrap. Let stand until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mist oven with water; place loaf in oven. Bake 5 minutes; mist oven again. Continue to bake, rotating pan once, until well browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Unmold bread onto a wire rack; return to oven, and bake directly on oven rack 5 minutes more. Remove from oven; let cool completely on rack.

WHOLE-GRAIN MORNING LOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 10-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Wrap apple in paper towels; squeeze out liquid.
• Whisk together the flours, wheat bran, wheat germ, baking soda, spices, and salt.
• Stir together apple, yogurt, applesauce, honey, eggs, and vanilla with a rubber spatula in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture. Fold in dates and nuts. Pour into pan. Sprinkle with flaxseed.
• Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Unmold.

WHOLE-GRAIN GREEK MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Put the bulgur in a small bowl, cover with hot water and soak until softened, about 1 hour. Strain and set aside.
• Toss the cucumbers, tomatoes, half the mint, 1 tablespoon of the oil, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan lightly with cooking spray and set aside.
• Pulse the onions into a paste in a food processor, scraping down the bowl as needed. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion paste and any onion juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste begins to brown (it will still be light), about 10 minutes. Add the cumin, cinnamon, allspice, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper and continue cooking until the onion-spice paste starts to look dry and is fragrant, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Add the onion-spice paste, bulgur, ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, remaining chopped mint, 1/2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper to a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan; sprinkle with the pine nuts if using and press in. Bake until the meatloaf begins to pull away from the sides, is browned on top and registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 35 minutes. Slice the meatloaf into 1-inch-thick slices and serve hot with the cucumber-tomato salad and dollops of Greek yogurt alongside.

WHOLE-GRAIN ARTISAN FREE-FORM LOAF

Steps:

• In bowl of a 14-cup food processor with dough attachment, or heavy-duty stand mixer with paddle, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and wheat gluten. Add 4 cups lukewarm (100 degrees) water and mix just until well blended, about 2 minutes; dough will be very wet and loose.
• Transfer dough to a container with a slightly vented lid, or a bowl covered loosely with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, about 2 hours; longer rising times (even overnight) will not harm dough. After rising, cover securely and refrigerate, and use dough over the next 14 days. Do not punch down or knead dough at any time.
• To bake: Prepare a baking peel by sprinkling liberally with cornmeal, or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Tear off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) mass of dough, and dust very lightly with flour. Quickly shape into a ball, stretching surface so that it is smooth. Stretch ball gently to elongate it, and place on baking peel. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 90 minutes for refrigerated dough, or 40 minutes for fresh unrefrigerated dough.
• Thirty minutes before baking, heat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone placed on middle rack, and an empty broiler tray on a lower rack or bottom of oven. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint top of loaf with water. Sprinkle with seeds if desired. Slide loaf onto pizza peel or place on baking pan and put in oven. Quickly pour 1 cup hot water into broiler tray in oven, and close door. Bake until richly browned and firm to touch, about 30 minutes; adjust baking times as needed for larger or smaller loaves. For best texture, allow bread to cool before serving.

NO-KNEAD WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in honey; add butter, salt and whole wheat flour. Beat on low speed until well-blended. Stir in all-purpose flour. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Stir 30 strokes with a spoon; pour batter into a greased 8x4-in. loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until batter reaches edge of pan, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

WHOLE-WHEAT CHOCOLATE CHIP LOAF CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter a light-colored metal 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. Line the pan with a strip of parchment paper that hangs over the two long sides.
• In a large bowl, vigorously whisk eggs and brown sugar until light and smooth, about 30 seconds.
• Add the sour cream, melted butter, oil, vanilla extract and salt, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the baking powder and baking soda.
• Add both flours and all but one 1 heaping tablespoon of the chocolate chips. Stir with a rubber spatula until combined and no streaks of flour remain.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the reserved chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon of granulated or turbinado sugar and a sprinkle of salt. Bake until golden and puffed, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean or with a bit of melted chocolate, 50 to 60 minutes.
• Carefully run a thin knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan not protected by the parchment paper. Set the pan on a rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Then, use the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan and set it back on the rack to cool completely. Keep leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

WHOLE GRAIN SOURDOUGH RUSTIC COUNTRY LOAF

Steps:

• Combine salt with flour in a mixing bowl, then add water and mix either by hand or with a dough whisk until fully incorporated into a "shaggy mass."
• Add starter and mix / squish by hand until fully incorporated. The process of incorporating the starter is a bit of primary kneading and should result in the dough smoothing out some, but don't go nuts. As soon as the starter is fully incorporated, you're done.
• Cover mixing bowl and let sit.
• First Bulk Fermentation Period
• The first (of three) bulk fermentation period is at room temperature which for me is 73 - 75 degrees F, and lasts about 10 hours.
• At about an hour in, do 5-10 minutes of hand kneading (see notes and video below) until the dough develops some strength and elasticity and becomes noticeably smoother. Cover and let sit.
• Every 1-2 hours (exact timing is not important - really!) do a short round of stretching and folding to re-develop the dough's elasticity (see notes and video below). Then re-cover and let sit.
• Second Bulk Fermentation Period
• After about 10 hours, or whenever the dough has risen to about 1.5 times its original volume, put the covered bowl of dough into a cold (~40 F) refrigerator and let sit (for me, this is overnight) for about 10 hours.
• Third Bulk Fermentation Period
• Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature again.
• As the dough warms up, resume periodic stretch and folds. Dough should be feeling progressively more lively, developing a bit of sour aroma, and eventually starting to bubble some.
• This final bulk fermentation period is the hardest to put a time length on. Getting it right matters, and it will totally depend on how active your starter is, how warm your kitchen is, and a whole host of other mostly invisible things. You are shooting to finish this period when the dough has risen to 2 - 2.5 times its original volume and ideally is actively blowing a few bubbles. I've had this take anywhere from 4 - 8 hours depending on this and that. Your mileage may vary. Try not to overshoot this - you'll probably have a better result erring on the too soon side than the too late side.
• Shaping and Proofing
• (See notes and video below)
• Prepare a lined proofing basket by generously flouring the inside and set it aside.
• Lightly flour a large work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
• Wet your hands, punch down the dough and then stretch and flatten it into a large thin rectangle.
• Fold dough in half from top to bottom and press top into bottom, flattening again but not as big as the initial rectangle. At this point, you want the height of the dough rectangle to be right about the length of your proofing basket (no more than that).
• [Optional] Lightly flour the top of the dough (and your hands).
• Start at one end and roll the dough rectangle into a cylinder.
• Keep track of the seam and transfer the dough cylinder into the lined, floured proofing basket seam-side up.
• Cover and let sit for 1 - 1.5 hours.
• Baking
• From 30 - 60 minutes after transferring dough into proofing basket, pre-heat oven and clay baker to 450 degrees F ~ about 20 - 30 minutes.
• Uncover dough and transfer from proofing basket into base of clay baker, score top of dough, cover and bake at 450 F for 25 minutes.
• Uncover clay baker, reduce oven temperature to 400 F and bake uncovered for another 20-25 minutes (or until desired crust color develops).
• Remove bread and place on cooling rack for at least a couple hours before cutting.