Fiber Fool

Growing up my dad was a white Country Hearth Pan ‘O Gold bread guy. Whole wheat bread would not cross his lips. Occasionally mom would buy a second loaf that contains some seeds or nuts in it. Of course in rural Minnesota in the early 80’s there were not the bread choices available today. I as not a fan of the “healthy” breads back then, though I was fine with the dark pull-a-parts grandma bought from one of the store’s bakeries. Fortunately my taste buds grew up and I enjoy whole grain breads and exploring baking different varieties too.

A couple months ago we had gotten a small sample loaf of bread in our CSA to tempt us to sign up for a bread share in addition to our veggie share. It was a whole grain, seed-laced loaf that was super tasty with soup for dinner. I was very surprised to enjoy the crunch of the seeds. I think my favorite part was the flavor of the sesame seeds that had toasted as the bread baked. I love the flavor of sesame.

So a few weeks ago when I found myself in need of something only Whole Foods carries I decided to pick up a few other things rather than make a second stop at King Soopers or Safeway. One of those items was bread. I’m a big fan of the garlic parmesan bread from their bakery but I had heard multiple glowing reports on the Seeduction loaf. I had been doubtful that I’d like it. Since I liked the CSA bread though I thought I was probably safe and bought a Seeduction loaf. I loved that too! It made a wonderfully wholesome and satisfying sandwich with roast beef, my beet relish and some horseradish cheddar.

We don’t often buy bread from the store. Both Drew and I enjoy baking it. Even if we’re busy there is always the bread machine to help us out either completely or with the dough and then we oven bake it. I pulled our absolutely favorite bread machine cookbook from the shelves - The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger, figuring she had lots of whole grain recipes and would surely have something like the two seed studded breads I’ve enjoyed. There are indeed lots of whole grain breads and several recipes that have some sort of seeds in them, but nothing with the variety of seeds and such I was craving to use. So, I set about coming up with my own recipe. It took a few tries, but I think I’ve settled on one now.

This is not a copycat recipe of the Seeduction loaf. I know I used different flours and more seeds than Whole Foods uses. But, if you like the Seeduction loaf I suspect you’ll enjoy this recipe. It is also pretty easily adapted to your own preferences in whole grain flours and seeds. I’ll have some notes on doing that following the recipe.

Seedy Whole Grain Bread for the Bread Machine

makes roughly a 1.75 pound loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp molasses
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat graham flour
• 1/4 cup teff flour
• 1 1/2 Tbls wheat gluten (2 Tbls for high altitudes)
• 3 Tbls Sesame Seeds
• 3 Tbls Poppy Seeds
• 3 Tbls Flax Seeds
• 3 Tbls Chia Seeds
• 2 Tbls Millet
• 2 Tbls Sunflower Seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

Place all ingredients into the bread machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions. I’ve listed them in order for my particular machine.

Set your machine for the whole wheat cycle and a 2 pound loaf and if you have a crust setting I’ve been using medium. I recommend sticking close early on in the cycle and checking in on the dough at about 20-30 minutes to make sure it is wet or dry enough. If it appears too wet add 1 Tbls of the bread flour; if it appears too dry add 1 Tbls of water. The whole grains take a while to soak up the liquid so checking sooner won’t be of use.

When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle remove bread from the pan and place on a cooling rack. For best results do not cut into it until it has cooled completely. If you like your bread warm but not toasted, wrap slices in aluminum foil and warm in a low oven for 10-15 minutes.

Notes on Flours: Always keep the 1 cup of bread flour, but you can substitute other whole grain flours in place of the graham and teff. I chose graham because it has a bit nuttier and sweeter flavor than standard whole wheat which I thought would pair nicely with the molasses, honey and seeds. Teff has a similar sweet flavor profile. If you increase the gluten free flours by much you may find you need to up the wheat gluten if you run the bread machine for the full cycle. If you’ll be forming and baking the loaf in your oven just work it some extra to develop more gluten before the final rise.

Notes on Seeds: You can use any combination of seeds you’d like. You’ll want a total of about 1 cup (16 Tbls). In addition to the six I stated in the recipe you can use stronger flavored ones such as fennel, caraway, mustard, cumin or fenugreek. Soaked wheat or rye berries would also be an option.

Notes on Wheat Gluten: We’ve learned from Beth Hensperger’s book that the secret to successful breads in the breadmachine is adding powdered wheat gluten. Because the bread machine does not work the bread like you would by hand it doesn’t form as much gluten during it’s kneading so you make up for that. Here, at higher altitudes we have to use a little bit more to prevent the loaf from over-rising and hitting the lid of the machine and deflating. If you find your loaf is greatly misshapen (loaves are rarely perfectly shaped, especially if you have a multi-size machine and are baking a loaf on the smaller end), overly dense or the crust is super chewy you need to cut back on the gluten some. If on the other hand your loaf drastically deflates upon removing it from the machine you need a bit more stability in the dough and thus more gluten. If you are going to just run the dough cycle and bake the loaf in your oven you can cut out the gluten completely and just be certain to knead it by hand for a good stint before the final rise.

After the photoshoot I enjoyed the heel with a bit of homemade butter. Yum! We’ve found it is also delicious with peanut butter or hummus and veggies. Of our homemade preserves made this year I think I like the spiced peach butter on it best. I’m contemplating grown-up grilled cheese with it and soup for dinner tonight, but I haven’t settled on the type of cheese to use. Perhaps gouda?