This Granary-Style Loaf, made with a soaker of rye flakes and sprouted Red Fife flour, has a mild malty flavor.
The mission of the Bread Baking Babes for March was to make Granary-Style Bread. Tanna of My Kitchen Half Cups invited us to play in her granary sandbox, and play we did.
As it turns out, authentic Granary Bread is made from a proprietary granary mix that originated in the late 1800s and is manufactured by Hovis Foods in Britain.
So with this in mind, the goal for the monthly challenge was not to make authentic granary bread, unless of course we wanted to order the proprietary flour from overseas, but rather to have fun creating our versions and include malted grains, sprouted wheat, or whatever we could find in our local kitchens to substitute.
I had never tasted granary bread, so I was shooting in the dark as to what blends/flavors/proportions to include. At Tanna’s suggestion, I consulted my new best friend, English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David, to find out what she had to say about this bread.
According to David, the granary blend is a mixture of wheat and rye meals along with pieces of malted grain, also known as sprouted wheat flakes. Fair enough. Now all I had to do was figure out what proportion of wheat and rye meals and sprouted flakes to use.
David further surmised that the maltiness of Granary Bread was too strong for her, so she added 81 to 85% wholemeal or strong plain flour to the granary meal to make her version. I decided if she could fool around with the formula, so could I, and mess around is what I did.
Tanna chose King Arthur Flour’s Granary-Style Bread recipe for this challenge. I reworked the KAF recipe to create my own formula using Elizabeth David’s suggestions.
I converted the volume measurements to grams and flip-flopped the amounts of wheat and white flour used. I didn’t have any wheat flakes, so I used rye flakes. I also substituted Sprouted Red Fife flour for the wheat flour. I did use barley malt extract, but sparingly so as not to overpower the loaf.
When I say granary-style bread, I’m using the term very loosely. I’m not sure if it’s even a close approximation, but I had fun, and it tastes good. So, I’m good with that!
Granary Style Loaf, loosely interpreted
Adapted from KAF Granary-Style Bread
Makes: 1 Sandwich Loaf
- 405 grams lukewarm water
- 1/2 tablespoon barley malt extract *
- 115 grams rye flakes
- 335 grams sprouted Red Fife Wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 grams sea salt
- 120 grams unbleached bread flour, plus extra for sprinkling
* I didn’t want to overpower the loaf with malt flavor, so I only used 1/2 tablespoon. However, based on the suggestions of the other Bread Baking Babes, I will probably increase the amount to 1 tablespoon the next time I make this bread. Feel free to experiment to find the amount that suits your palate.
Soaker:
Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the barley malt extract, rye flakes, and sprouted wheat. Mix in the yeast and allow the soaker to sit for 15 to 20 minutes to absorb the liquid.
Dough:
Stir in the olive oil and bread flour until you have a shaggy mass that should hold together and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add additional water or flour if necessary.
Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it until it starts to come together. Let it rest for a few minutes while you clean the bowl and lightly grease it with oil. Continue kneading the dough until it is tacky but not sticky. Only add enough flour to keep the dough from sticking.
First Proof:
Place the dough in the greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let it rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Gently deflate it and shape it into a loaf (or log) shape.
Final Proof:
Place the loaf in a greased 9” x 5” loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let dough rise until it is about three-quarters of the way to doubled in the pan.
Baking:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and bake the loaf for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer, inserted in the middle of the loaf, registers 190 degrees F.
Remove the loaf to a wire rack to cool before slicing and serving.
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Would you like to bake along? Just make a Granary Loaf (or Granary-style Loaf) in your kitchen. Tanna is this month’s host (more info in her post). I hope you’ll join us!
Check out this month’s Bread Baking Babes posts for inspiration:
- Brown Bread (BBB Granary-Style Bread) by Elizabeth at blog from OUR kitchen
- Granary Loaf by Heather from girlichef
- Granary Style Bread Loaf by Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen
- Granary Style Loaf by Pat from Feeding My Enthusiasms
- Granary Style Loaf by Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups
- Granary-Style Loaf by Lien from Notitie van Lien
- Granary-Style (ish) Loaf by Cathy of Bread Experience
Happy Baking!
Cathy
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