Whole Wheat Loaf

The Grant Loaf, featured in an earlier post, is made entirely of whole wheat flour. The only liquid in it is water, with a small amount of honey added. The combination makes a chewy, moist loaf–compact but not dense.

This whole wheat bread is at the other end of the spectrum–a soft, cushiony loaf–for it includes white flour, butter and milk, as well. It may be made with either hard or soft wheat white flour. The loaf in the top photo was made with hard wheat and the photo at the end of the post is a soft wheat loaf. The latter is softer, a bit billowy. But it is a question of degree. Both flours turn out a soft loaf.

thefoodlessprocessed categorizes both the Grant loaf and this one as easy to make.

The less processed versions of the ingredients include: Whole Wheat Flour, White Flour, Salt, Honey, Butter, Milk, Water and Wheat Bran.

Equipment

a Digital Scale
a 2-Pound Loaf Tin (1.2 – 1.4 liter capacity). Dimensions: (9 x 5 x 3 inch) or (23 x 13 x 7 cm)
a Wooden Spoon
a Standng Mixer with a Paddle Attachment (if not mixing and kneading by hand)
a Pastry Board
a Rimmed Tray to hold the wheat bran in which the loaf is rolled before the second rise

Ingredients

226 g of Organic Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour
150 g of Organic Unenriched Unbleached All=Purpose Hard Wheat Flour (the standard American variety of wheat) or the same amount of European All-Purpose Unenriched Soft Wheat White Flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Sea Salt
2 teaspoons of SAF Instant Yeast
1 teaspoon of Organic Unfiltered Honey
28 g of European-style Unsalted Butter, softened and some to grease the loaf pan
284 g of Minimally Processed Whole Milk, warmed a little.
about 3 Tablespoons of Wheat Bran and a little Bottled Spring Water to smooth on the loaf before rolling it in the bran

Mising the Dough

In a large bowl combine the flours, salt and yeast. Add the honey, butter and milk.
Mix with a wooden spoon to a rough, but fully combined dough. Let it rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
Either with the standing mixer or by hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
Cover it for the first rise–until it has about doubled. The hard wheat dough will be puffy and springy:

A soft wheat dough will be a little lighter still:

With soft wheat dough a bigger puffier rise. Whole wheat loaf

Forming the Loaf

The loaf is shaped using the same letter-fold method as the Grant loaf. The soft wheat loaf appears in the step photos.

Lightly press the dough out into a rectangle roughly the length of the loaf pan:

Bring the top third of the dough down towards the center:

Fold the bottom third of the dough up over the top one:

Turn the seam up and pinch it closed:

Turn the dough right side up and tuck the ends under to form a loaf shape:

Turn it bottom side up and pinch the tucked ends closed:

Turn it back right side up and gently roll it, smoothing out the bottom a little:

Sprinkle the bran on the rimmed tray. Smooth a little water over the top of the loaf with your fingers and roll the the loaf in the bran:

Transfer the loaf to the buttered loaf pan. Cover it and let it rise until it forms a dome above the rim of the pan. The first photo shows the risen hard wheat flour loaf:

The risen soft wheat loaf has a softer, fuller appearance:

Risen soft wheat whole wheat loaf...over rim of pan

Baking the Bread

Gas or Convection Oven: thefoodlessprocessed uses a gas oven. The conversions from Fahrenheit to Celsius do not attempt to adjust for differences between baking in a gas or convection oven. I have no experience using a convection oven, and leave adjustments to the better judgement of you who do have.

Preheat the oven to 350 F/177 C.
Bake the risen loaf for 35 minutes or until it is a golden shade of brown.
Turn it out of the tin. Wrap it in a towel to cool if you would like a soft crust.

Here is the finished soft wheat loaf: