Calling all bakers

October 28, 2022 9:33 AM

I want to make a loaf of bread or rolls that are healthy but also tasty with good texture and I need help understanding the general rules about the ratios of white/bread/all purpose flour to whole wheat/almond flour and seed meal.

I have bread flour, whole wheat flour and seed meal as well as actual seeds and oats. I'd like to know, basically, how much can I get away with subbing whole wheat flour or almond flour or seed meal for a basic bread recipe without making my bread dense or interfering with the gluten doing its thing to create cohesive, yummy end results.

My goal is to balance the carbs with protein without turning it into something unappetizing. I know I can't really do a 1:1 ratio but I also know the macros for basic white bread are not a good fit for my family (one of us is type 1 diabetics and the other is just really uncomfortable when they get a blood sugar spike from simple carbs).

Also, if you have any existing recipes that mix all purpose or bread flour with seed meal or something similar (and result in a bread that is closer to whole wheat bread in texture than, say, fruitcake) please share as I'd love to not have to sew together multiple recipes which is what I usually do when I'm making bread.

I am probably considered a novice baker but I've got basic supplies. I prefer not to use overly fussy recipes as it makes the process unpleasant due to demands on my executive functioning. I like shortcuts and efficiency in general even if it would cause a purist to clutch their pearls probably (e.g.).

posted by crunchy potato to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe
This works. Scroll down through the comments to see my experience, and also a discussion about the sugar content.

Normally, I bake like I cook, free-style, and baking is difficult so my attempts are hit and miss, often miss. But with this recipe, because of lockdown, I followed the recipe to the T and it was great. I still haven't bought a big food processor, so I don't make it a lot, but it is a very good loaf.

That said, I actually miss the dense breads of my youth, where I was an even worse baker than today. I just threw together all the stuff and let it rise overnight and baked it. Very often with olives baked in for a delicious savory fruitcake like thing. Great with a pungent cheese on top of a thin slice. Or peanut butter. I can't bake as badly anymore, even when I try.
posted by mumimor at 9:52 AM on October 28, 2022 [7 favorites]

I use the bread recipe from Ratio (by Michael Ruhlman) and add/substitute:

100% whole grain wheat flour from King Arthur (red bag in summer, orange bag in winter)
4T essential gluten flour from Bob’s red mill
2 oz Kerry gold butter

It makes a dense, chewy loaf with a heavy crust, but it’s very tasty and works very well for the pre diabetic person and the carb-intolerant person in the house. Other family members who don’t like whole wheat bread love this bread. It’s lovely drowned in butter.

You might need to play with the water. I think i add a little water bc how heavy this dough is.
posted by toodleydoodley at 10:21 AM on October 28, 2022

First, if you aren't yet, a scale will help this effort tremendously.

The approach I recommend: Think in terms of 5% differences for ingredients.

Take a recipe like the King Arthur "Our Favorite Sandwich Bread," which makes good rolls too, and make it repeatedly, each time substituting a higher percentage of the ingredient you want, such as whole wheat.

That recipe has 360g unbleached all-purpose flour. Make it that way once or twice, then again with 324g AP, 36g whole wheat (or whatever). Note changes in how the dough feels, kneading time, taste and texture of finished loaf, and so on.

Stay at 10% (or 20%) for a bit, with changes to what constitutes the 20% (different flours), swapping milk for flour, olive oil for butter, honey for sugar, etc.

There are tricky things about how some variations behave. Rye, for example, is hard to make well in proportions above 15% if you're not using a good sourdough leaven.

But really, just start with one recipe and creating a branching tree of options. And take notes as you go.
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:28 AM on October 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Part of what people don't like about 100% whole wheat bread is the bitterness that comes with red wheat. If you use white whole wheat (King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill both sell flours) you get a smooth nutty flavor instead. What works for me is making a sponge or poolish first, letting that rise 2 hours, then making the dough and letting it rise 2 hours, then a second rise for an hour and a half, then a rise in the pans for 45 minutes to an hour. It's not overly dense and with white whole wheat it doesn't have that "at least it's healthy" taste.
posted by rikschell at 10:49 AM on October 28, 2022

4T essential gluten flour from Bob’s red mill

Yup. Vital wheat gluten is your friend, here. I buy it in huge bags from Amazon (probably aimed at people making their own seitan at home). I don't use nut flours in my breads, but I do use the vital wheat gluten so I don't have to care how strong my flour is (which is to say, I can make 100% whole wheat breads or breads with lots of oat or rye flour, etc.). Plus, it's almost pure protein.

This recipe (nb: randomly selected, I can't vouch for it) subs almond flour for all the wheat flour and uses (a lot of) vital wheat gluten to provide structure and inulin to feed the yeast. If you're still going to use wheat flour, you won't need to worry about the inulin, and you won't need nearly as much gluten, but that's the kind of thing you're trying to do here.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:24 PM on October 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

In the US I had no problem getting a very good rise from 70% whole wheat, 30% bread flour. The ww was whole foods brand i think, or maybe king arthur. Otherwise just salt and sourdough starter, no gluten or whatever.
My impression from baking there and here in Europe is that the WW flour there (at least the one I had) is much more finely ground, and that enabled me to get that kind of rise, and more importantly, a really nice texture.
(Otherwise: my standard recipe is: flour, water (not so much that i just have a flat dough, rather one that has a bit of shape), sourdough levain (about 10% of main dough by weight, as much water, and about 3% ripe starter), and 1.5% salt. Knead or mix and fold over 5-6 hours. Shape, proof in bowls in plastic bags for 10 hours somewhere cool (or up to 48 hours in the fridge), bake.)
posted by melamakarona at 1:23 PM on October 28, 2022

There are other flours beside wheat - if you want less of the carb spike, consider using rye or buckwheat. Or make your own oat flour, just put rolled oats in a food processor and chop as finely as you want.

If I make pizza dough, I put in potato flour as that helps to retain moisture so if the pizza is reheated it doesn't dry out. The same is true if you are making bread rolls that are to be reheated.

Double rising will lighten the crumb and texture of the loaf. The major additional factor in determining the texture of the loaf is the amount of moisture.

A bit of fat or oil added to the dough will keep the dough from sticking as much to the baking pan.

Handle the dough at different stages, so that you know how the texture changes. Over time, that means that you should be able to adjust moisture content to get the texture that you want.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 6:39 PM on October 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Bread making can be a sort of self-adjusting process. Add the flour to the wet stuff until the sticky dough is just workable and add additional flour as you knead until the dough is no longer sticky.

Wheat germ is another possible additive. I'd start by adding a tbsp or two to a white bread recipe.
posted by SemiSalt at 6:39 AM on October 29, 2022