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1/2 & 1/2 Bread
(I came up with this bread when i was running the bakery. I wanted a bread with whole wheat, but one that was lighter and spongier, so i halved it with white flour. It looks so simple, but it is unusually good. At the store i'd make about 8 loaves at a time, and we'd measure by weight, not volume. Recently i rewrote the recipe for just one loaf to be made at home. You may need to watch the time on the oven, though).
1 cup filtered water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 Tablespoons honey
1 tsp fine sea salt
*approximately 1 1/4 cups white flour
*approximately 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1. Proof water, yeast, and honey.
2. Add salt and a cup each of the white and wheat flours. Add in enough of remaining flours to make a soft, but not sticky, dough.
3. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes using a KitchenAid & dough hook.
4. Cover and let rise until double in a warm place. (My favorite method for doing this is i leave it in the heavy stoneware bowl i've been mixing in, and i fill the kitchen sink with hot water, and place the bowl in the water. It makes the perfect environment for rising bread!)
5. Punch down and shape for a loaf pan. (This will be hard to describe, but for better texture and rise, flatten bread out on a hard surface until it is pizza shaped, then roll up the dough like a cigar, then flatten out the roll so you have a long rectangle, fold your long rectangle into thirds so it is sort of square shaped, then using your fingers... wedge it so that it is scored parallel to the loose edges, then slowly curl one loose bottom edge over to the other and down to the table so that it seals the loaf, and then tuck in the ends.)
Place in a heavy duty bread pan, dust with white flour and cut a swirvy cut into the top. Allow to double in a warm place, possibly on top of the oven which you need to preheat to 350F (medium oven).
6. Bake at 350F (medium oven) for 25 - 30 minutes, until lightly brown on the outside, and just cooked on the inside.
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