whole wheat

Honey Wheat Bread

/ Shane / 1 Comment

The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.

The Reason:

I set out on a mission to find a good, spongy, soft, 100% whole wheat bread. We only use white whole wheat flour, but a lot of the bread recipes we try end up very tough or dense. This was creating a bit of a problem, because bread from the store is increasingly disgusting (i.e. high fructose corn syrup flavored foam bricks with ingredients lists that are inexplicably longer than my arm), but I couldn’t find a good substitute. So I began trying various recipes until I finally found one that was everything I ever wanted, and more.

The Journey:

The reason this recipe is “the one” is because it has a lot of sugar in it. That’s both the good and the bad, but it is a necessary evil because it’s what makes the bread light and fluffy. That sugar is yeast food, and it makes the dough rise like crazy. In fact, with a little extra rising time, you can actually split the loaf in half and make two loaves for the price of one. Lately I have been experimenting with cutting out a tablespoon of brown sugar. So far I haven’t noticed a difference.

I make the bread on the dough cycle of our bread machine, but you could conceivably do it by hand. I’ve just found from experience that I don’t mix it it enough when I do it by hand. Besides, why even have a bread machine if you’re not going to use it? (And believe me, we get a lot of use out of ours)

After the bread has been mixing for awhile in the bread maker, I open it up and scrape down the sides with a spatula to make sure everything is mixing well, and also add a tiny bit of water if it seems necessarily. I like wet dough, because it tends to rise better. Basically, every bread recipe I’ve ever tried for whole wheat flour has required me to add water to it. I don’t know if people just consistently underestimate the amount of water they need, if the recipes are really for bread flour and whole wheat needs more water, or if there’s just something about my baking environment that requires more water. But anyway, feel free to play with the recipe if it’s not coming out quite right.

The Verdict:

For artisan breads I rely on Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (perhaps there’ll be a post on that someday), but this recipe cannot be beat for a sandwich loaf. I don’t think it’s out of line to say this is the best whole wheat bread I have ever made. We don’t buy bread anymore, we only make it. In fact, I have even used this recipe to make some very excellent hamburger and even brat buns!

The Recipe:

The original recipe was from the Internet, but I can’t find it anymore.

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • sprinkle of ginger (I sprinkle *very* liberally with the ginger, because I like ginger)
  • 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
  • 3 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons yeast
  1. Mix in the dough cycle of the bread machine (or by hand if you want, but I get better results in the bread machine)
  2. Deflate the dough and put it in a greased loaf pan, or shape into buns
  3. Cover with a towel and let rise. If you’re in a hurry, let it rise on the oven while it preheats.
  4. Bake at 365 for 30 minutes

Whole Wheat Bacon-Fig Scones

/ Shane / Leave a comment

The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.

The Reason:

Baconfest.

The Journey:

Okay, so I haven’t actually made this, which is a first for First Friday Food. So I can’t speak for how difficult it is to make, but I can speak for how awesome it is to eat!

The Verdict:

In a day of a lot of really good recipes, this one stood out to me as the best. The bacon really added something; it was neither extraneous nor overpowering. It is sweet, but not too sweet, and it goes perfect for breakfast. There wasn’t anybody who didn’t like this (even Evie!), in fact, I don’t think there was anybody who didn’t take seconds (or thirds, or in some cases fourths).

The Recipe:

Adapted from Smittenkitchen.com

Scones

  • 1 cup Whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup dried figs (rehydrated)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup (10 slices) cooked bacon (apple wood smoked)
  • 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream

Glaze

  • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

Scones:

  1. Cook bacon until crispy. Chop into small pieces.
  2. Prepare figs by chopping them into small pieces (roughly the same size as your bacon pieces). Place the pieces into the bottom of a medium bowl . Cover the fig pieces in boiling water and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Strain fig pieces.
  3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  4. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  5. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt together.
  6. Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
  7. Toss in the figs and bacon and mix.
  8. Add the ricotta and heavy cream together and stir them in to form a dough with a flexible spatula. Using your hands, gently knead dough into and even mass at the bottom of the bowl.
  9. Transfer the dough to a slightly floured counter. Lightly flour the top of the dough and pat it into a circle (about 7 in. in diameter) about 1 inch thick. With a large knife, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet with a spatula.
  10. Bake the scones for 15 mins, until lightly golden at the edges. Cool in a pan for a minute then transfer to a wire rack. Allow them to cool about 5 minutes before glazing.

Maple glaze:

  1. Combine the maple syrup and brown sugar. Lightly brushed over the baked scones.

Scones are best the day they are baked. However, if you wish to get a lead on  them, you can make them, arrange them on the parchment-lined sheet and freeze them. If you are prepping just one day in advance, cover the tray with plastic wrap and bake them the day you need them. If you are prepping them more than one day in advance, once the scones are frozen, transfer the scones to a freezer bag or container. Bring them back to a parchment lined sheet when you are ready to bake them. Do not defrost, just throw the frozen scones in the oven and add 2-3 mins to the baking time.