Whole wheat/whole grain bread

February 13, 2024 10:55 AM

I want to bake a loaf of whole wheat/whole grain bread full of seeds and nuts. The kind of bread you call “a slab” instead of a slice. Dense and packed full of fiber and different crunchy bits and with a chewy crust. Bread that would be served at a meal at Redwall.

Recipe recommendations? I will also be pleased with cookbooks that have good recipes for same.

posted by skycrashesdown to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

The Tassajara Bread Book whole wheat loaf is a bread, it really is. You've got to knead it a lot for it to rise well. I never seem to get a real sandwich loaf out of it, but I like it anyway.
posted by Frowner at 11:40 AM on February 13 [3 favorites]

Ohhhh do I have the perfect thing for you! Note that the low-fat milk actually matters here--I had to use whole milk once and it made it kind of gummy. This bread is delicious toasted and so unbelievably easy to make. It is a staple in my house.

Norwegian Mountain Loaf
from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess

250ml water
250ml low-fat milk
350g wholemeal flour
50g rye flour
7g dried yeast
50g rolled oats (not instant)
25g wheatgerm
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons flax seeds
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes

Butter a loaf tin really well.

Mix the milk and water together in a measuring jug and combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, stirring all the while, to make a sticky, porridge-like mixture.

Scrape the dough into the pan and place in a COLD oven.

Turn the oven on to 110 degrees C and after 30 minutes, turn it up to 180 degrees C and bake for an one hour. Check to see if the loaf is cooked by poking a cake-tester or fine skewer in the centre, if it comes out clean, its done. Slip it out of its tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
posted by HotToddy at 12:13 PM on February 13 [14 favorites]

I think you will be very happy with traditional German vollkornbrot (whole grain bread). Here's a particularly seedful recipe; here's a slightly lighter version. You may also enjoy Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads cookbook, which has lots of options for the kind of bread you're looking for.
posted by ourobouros at 12:24 PM on February 13 [4 favorites]

Get pumpkin, sunflower and other seeds to put in it, top w/ poppy, sesame and more seeds. I'd add a touch of molasses for it's deep flavor.
posted by theora55 at 12:30 PM on February 13

"The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread" makes seedy and nutty (gluten-free) slabs.
Seed Bread
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:36 PM on February 13 [2 favorites]

I bake bread for a living and I think that you should experiment with Stanley Ginsburg’s rugbrod recipe.
posted by la glaneuse at 9:55 PM on February 13 [6 favorites]

When I was 17 or 18, I needed to loose a lot of weight, and decided to bake some very dense breads every week. The recipe was basically whole wheat and rye flour, mixed with seeds and nuts till chunky in a sweet version with raisins and a savory version with olives. I used a bit of fresh yeast. No one else liked them because they were so dense, but I really miss them, and now I've become a real adult home baker and can't do what I did then.
Why am I posting this? Because I think you should experiment a bit and not worry. People say all the time that baking is a science and you have to worry about weights and percentages, and that is sort of true. But it is also about getting the right feeling in your hands and just doing stuff.

BTW, I did loose all that weight back then, though I regained it 20 years later. Today I eat a lot of store-bought rugbrød instead of my own whole olive bread. Maybe I should give it a new try...
posted by mumimor at 12:14 AM on February 14 [3 favorites]

Seconding mumimor! Experiment with everything you like. I suggest trying out a sourdough started and feeding it whole grain wheat or rye flour. Then, add the nuts/seeds/grains/wheatgerm/fiber-full goodies you like. I also went through an experimental bread phase that included some sourdough. I still think about this rye sourdough with figs and walnuts . . . and I also made a really nice onion and olive bread . . . . I think sourdough really lends itself to seedy grainy slabs and you have starter to discard regularly that you can use for experimenting or making funky little sourdough pancakes.
posted by carrioncomfort at 6:07 AM on February 14

I hang out at a bakery. If you plan to use whole rye kernels and don't want them hard, then simmer them for an hour or two. You can add quinoa and chia seeds in addition to poppy, sesame, caraway, linseed and the more traditional seeds.

If you are looking to make dark rye and don't want to use molasses to colour the dough, then toast/roast your rye kernels and grind them to mix with the light rye flour.

A light rye dough mixed with dry ground sesame seeds adds a nutty dimension and some texture.
posted by jadepearl at 5:35 PM on February 14

Here's our recipe, which sounds like just what you want:

150g wholemeal flour
150g whole spelt flour
100g dark rye flour
100g strong white bread flour
75g buckwheat flour
8g instant yeast
10g salt
40g olive oil
350 - 375ml warm water

Mix/knead for 5 mins (use wholemeal flour if you need to adjust the hydration or texture)

Then add:

50g finely ground flax seeds
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g chopped walnuts
(or 200g of any seed / chopped nut mix you like)

... and knead until well distributed.

Leave covered to rise (it won't rise like white bread)

Shape into a loaf

Bake at 240oC for 25 mins then at 200oC until baked.
posted by dowcrag at 1:19 AM on February 15 [1 favorite]

I think of the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book as the most reliable collection of "delicious hippie bread". And I find their recipies pretty reliable, the discussion of alternate possible timings is great.

I sometimes bake something I know will be "too dense" and use their How To Slice a Brick to make rusks/crackers out of it.
posted by clew at 12:03 PM on February 16