This transitional whole wheat bread is perfect for when you want to get your whole grains, but still want a bread that is mild enough for sandwiches. The loaf is 56% whole wheat flour and 44% bread flour, and the recipe includes milk, honey, and just a little bit of butter.
The dough is super easy to work with, and rises beautifully both prior to baking as well as in the oven. Ah, the joys of "oven spring," where I sit on a stool in front of the oven window to stare at my baking bread.
The bread requires a little bit of planning. The day before baking, you mix both a soaker of whole wheat and milk, and a biga of bread flour, water, and yeast.
Soaker? Biga? Biga is an Italian term for a preferment... meaning you take some flour and water and add a little big of yeast and let it develop flavor overnight or maybe a bit longer. It can also be referred to as a sponge. A soaker is a mixture of grains and/or seeds with a liquid left overnight in order to soften the grains/seeds and develop more flavor. Once the soaker and biga have been given enough time to develop, they are combined with the rest of the dough ingredients to make the bread.
To view and print the recipe, go my post on the Grain Mill Wagon site.
Disclosure: I am participating in the Grain Mill Wagon Challenge and received a WonderMill grain mill as part of the challenge. And, yes, I milled my own whole wheat flour! How cool is that?
For the recipe, click here.
Hi Karen! First time popping by your blog and I was in love with the photo of the bread! It looks really stunningly beautiful! Wish I can have home-made bread everyday for breakfast!
ReplyDeleteJasline, you can! Once you get the hang of it, making bread can be part of your routine. I find it very therapeutic and it doesn't make a mess if you use a scale. Go for it!
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