Tag: cracked wheat
Cracked wheat bread
I’m no baker (or chef for that matter) so a lot of the terms like “cook until done,” “knead until ready,” or “let rise until doubled” frankly always baffled and annoyed me. I’ve included them here, but frankly I make this — and most of my bread recipes — strictly by the times. They may vary in your particular environment but once adjusted they should work pretty decently..
- 1/2 cup (80gm) cracked wheat (you can use 7-grain cereal)
- 2 cups (a smidge more actually) (500gm) boiling water
- 2 1/4 tsp (8gm) active dry or instant yeast
- 4 cups (650gm) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp (10gm) dark brown sugar or honey
- 1 1/2 tsp (15gm) fine salt
- 1 Tbsp neutral cooking oil or regular olive oil
Instructions
- Pour boiling water over cracked wheat, then let stand until mixture cools to ~ 100°F (about 20 minutes).
- Add yeast, 1 cup flour, oil, brown sugar and mix. Add salt. Gradually mix in remaining flour to form a smooth, moist dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes.
- Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if it’s really sticky, about 8 minutes.
- Oil a large bowl and add dough to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Grease one 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
- Gently deflate dough by pressing down the dough, then turn out onto lightly floured surface. Stretch out into a rectangle — about 10 x 20 inches. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the shortest side, then pinch seams together. Place roll seam-side down into loaf pan.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden and crusty, up to 45 minutes. CHECK LOAF after 20 minutes and cover loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil if it’s already browned enough.
Let cool on rack.