Okay, after the semi-fiasco last weekend, I am determined to try to bake bread again, and succeed!
I chose the Walnut Whole Wheat Bread recipe (with my own modifications) on page 188 of the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book for my experiment this weekend.
I had to forgo the nuts (since I didn’t have any pecans nor walnuts in the house) but I replaced with just under a tablespoon of dried rosemary – it was all I had left in my jar. After all was said and done, it was probably the perfect amount, because we eat a lot of nutbutter and jelly sandwiches, and any more rosemary might have been too overpowering.
Like last weekend, I used the dough setting on my Breadman Bread Machine. I was disappointed because there was no pause button on the machine. I was hoping to pause for 20 minutes to allow an autolyse, but it wasn’t possible.
The dough looked wonderful while it was kneading. So much better than the gloppy soup from last weekend. And it was so much easier to handle in my hands after the rise too!
My Modified Ingredients List for 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Rosemary:
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp of molasses (instead of brown sugar in original recipe)
- Approx 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp lukewarm water – the molasses is mixed with the water so will total 1 cup (I didn’t use OJ, so it was replaced with the 3 T of water)
- 12 oz or 3 cups – mixture of traditional and white whole wheat flour.
- 1.25 tsp salt
- 2.5 tsp instant yeast
- Approx 1 T dried rosemary
My Detailed Instructions:
- I measured the 2 T oil and poured it into the bread machine pan.
- In a glass pyrex measuring cup, I poured about 1/2 cup very hot water from the tea kettle, then measured the 2T of molasses. It’s nice to use the spoon after the oil, the molasses just slides out!
- Then I added enough cool water to total 1 cup.
- I then added the 3 extra T of water to replace the OJ
- Poured that into the bread machine pan.
- I measured 12 ounces of whole wheat flour, using both traditional and white. (3 cups)
- Added the 1.25 tsp of sea salt.
- Carefully poured the flour & salt into the bread machine, making sure the salt was toward the bottom of the pan.
- Made a little “well” in the flour, and added in the 1.5 tsp instant yeast.
- I turned on the machine, and it mixed for a few minutes, then I poured in the 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary herb.
- I allowed the bread machine to knead – 30 minutes
- Then the machine performed the “first rise” for 60 minutes. The little window was steamed, but I could still see the progress fairly well, especially toward the end of the rise. I was tempted, but I didn’t open the cover!
- This week, I am trying the glass pyrex loaf pan, instead of my 2 qt cast iron pot. I cut a piece of parchment paper for the loaf pan, so I hope that helps with sticking this week. We’ll see.
- When the first rise was finished, I greased my hands and a plastic cutting board, and transferred the dough to the board. It looked marvelous this week. So much less sticky than last time.
- I gently flattened it, softly squishing the air out of the dough, and formed a large rectangle. I folded into thirds, then into thirds the other way. Flipped it over and kind of rolled/stretched it into a longer log shape. I will take photos next time!
- I placed it onto my board again, and covered with a towel to allow to rest for about 5 minutes.
- Then carefully, transferred it to the loaf pan with parchment.
- I made a homemade proof cover with a large round plastic Rubbermaid container, and allowed it to sit for about 30 minutes until it crowned over the pan about an inch. It was a really quick rise! And a huge difference from last weekend, (linked photo) when it was a blob growing over the pot edges.
- Preheated my counter top oven for a few minutes, and put the loaf into the 350° oven for about 13 minutes, then checked on it to make sure it wasn’t burning. Caught it just in time! It smelled yummy, the rosemary really smells great
- I made a aluminum foil tent and placed that on top of the pan and set the timer for 15 minutes. I also moved it to the lower rack in my counter top oven.
- Another 5 minutes on the timer, and I switched on convection for the oven bake setting.
- Took out the pan from the oven, and stuck in my thermometer, it only registered at 180°, so I put it back in, and set the timer for another 5 minutes.
- Yay, thermometer registers 190° – it’s finished!
- Let it sit for a few minutes before transferring the bread onto a cooling rack. It only stuck a tiny bit on the edges without the parchment. But otherwise, it released beautifully.
The crumb looks great, only a little bit of crumb/crust separation. Not perfect, but close to it, at least by my standards! I am very happy with the outcome! And it really tastes great. The amount of rosemary really turned out to be perfect, not too overpowering for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I will definitely try adding the nuts next time. The possibilities are endless!
