Peerless Bread & Jam’s recipe for Whole Wheat Bread
This recipe is based on the Slow-Rise and Sourdough Whole Wheat Challah recipes in Maggie Glezer’s book, A Blessing of Bread. It works well with either a yeasted starter or a sourdough starter. For a lighter textured bread you can sift your Breslin Farms Whole Wheat Flour to remove some of the bran – the nutrients and flavor from the wheat germ will remain.
Makes 2 loaves.
Starter:
1/4 t. instant yeast OR 1/4 c. very active, ripe sourdough starter
1/2 c. + 2 T (150 g, 5 oz.) water
1 1/2 c. + 2 T (230 g, 8 oz.) Breslin Farms Whole Wheat Flour*
Dough:
2 1/2 c. + 2 T (600 g., 21 oz.) water
3 T (40 g, 1.5 oz.) vegetable oil (optional)
2 T (30 g., 1 oz.) honey (optional)
5 1/2 c. (770 g, 27.5 oz.) Breslin Farms Whole Wheat Flour*
1 T + 3/4 t. (18 g, 3/4 oz.) salt
*Sift, if desired, before weighing or measuring.
Mix starter ingredients together and knead briefly to form a soft dough. Place in a small container (like a quart yogurt container), cover, and let ferment at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours. The starter should triple and then begin to deflate.
To mix the final dough, combine the water and ripe starter in a large bowl and stir to break up the starter. Add the vegetable oil, honey, and Breslin Farms Whole Wheat Flour, and mix until combined. This dough should be quite soft and easy to squeeze. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Now add the sale and knead by hand or machine until the dough feels soft and smooth. Cover and let the dough rise for 2-4 hours at room temperature. It will not necessarily double in bulk, but should slowly push back when you poke an indentation in it with your finger.
Divide the dough in half, form into the desired shape, and place on an oiled baking sheet. Let the loaves proof for another 2-3 hours, until the dough barely pushes back when poked.
One hour before baking, place a baking sheet on the rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. When the loaves are ready, spray or brush them with water and place in the oven on top of the preheated sheet. Bake for about 1 hour, rotating the breads half way through the bake.
Loaves are done when they sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. For best flavor and texture, we recommend cooling the bread completely before slicing.
Recipe developed by Lauren Bushnell of Peerless Bread & Jam in 2011.
BRESLIN FARMS 