This whole grain country bread is baked in a clay baker. The recipe is based on whole wheat flour, but can be adapted to different grains (barley, rye, oats, spelt), as long as one-half of the mixture is wheat flour to ensure a light, airy texture. For this loaf, I used whole wheat flour milled from hard red winter wheat in a WonderMill Grain Mill.
This is a very easy and delicious whole wheat bread. It tastes great toasted with butter and/or jam or as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or however you prefer. It is even better the next day.
Whole Grain Country Bread
Makes: 1 large loaf
Adapted from The History of Bread by Bernard Dupaigne.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. active dry yeast
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil (or melted butter), plus additional
- 2 tbsp. oats or sunflower seeds for decoration
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 cup lukewarm water. Combine the flour and salt. Gradually stir into the yeast, along with the remaining water, and oil or butter. Mix thoroughly and work the dough vigorously; it will seem sticky and too wet at first, but the whole wheat flour will gradually absorb the extra moisture as the mixture is kneaded.
2) Transfer the dough to a work surface and continue kneading for 10 minutes. The dough is pretty wet so a dough scraper is helpful at this point.
3) Roll into a ball, coat with oil, and replace in clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (or a damp cloth) and let rest 2 hours at room temperature.
4) Place the dough on a floured work surface, punch it down, and knead it for a few minutes.
5) Press the dough into a rectangle.
6) Fold the dough a third of the way down toward the middle and bring the bottom third up. Overlap the dough to form an envelope shape.
7) Pinch the seam closed and roll it a bit with the heels of your hands to even it out.
8) Place in a large greased loaf pan seam-side down. I used a glazed clay baker.
9) Cover with damp cloth and let rise 40 to 60 minutes at room temperature, or until double in volume.
10) Preheat the oven to 350º F.
Note: I used a clay baker in a gas oven, so I placed the baker in the cold oven and set the temperature to a low setting first, then gradually increased the temperature to 350º F so the clay baker wouldn’t crack.
11) Sprinkle the dough with the oats or sunflower seeds and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes. The bottom of the bread should sound hollow when thumped lightly.
12) Let cool on a wire rack.
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The finished loaf sliced and ready to eat.
I brought it over to my friend’s house to test. It was really good. Just ask him.
Happy Baking!
Cathy
arugulayumyum says
recipe worked very well! I was using 6 grain flour, and inadvertantly did not add the fraction of second packet of yeast, so my loaf was a bit flat, but still very very yum! thanks for leaving such easy instructions.
-Karen
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Glad you liked it! I bet the 6 grain flour makes it taste great! Hope you’ll try some more of the breads.
Anonymous says
Hi there!
Just discovered your fantastic blog.
I tried the Master Recipe from Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day, and I have to say…it was not impressive. The bread didn’t have the beautiful deep brown color. I don’t own a baking stone, and I tried baking without one (broke college student here)and I didn’t like the outcome. Do you have any suggestions?
Priyanka
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Hi Priyanka! So glad you like my blog. Funny that you should ask but I’m in the process of making my first loaf of the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes master recipe. I’m making this one in a loaf pan and using a steam pan underneath but not the baking stone.
The baking stone helps achieve a crispier crust; however, you don’t necessarily have to use a one with these breads. You can just use a baking sheet if that’s what you have. Try using a baking sheet with a steam pan (an old rimmed baking sheet works well for this), and spritzing the oven a few times with water during the first minute or so of baking to help achieve a crispier crust. Just be careful not to spritz the glass oven door because it could crack. Spritz the back and walls of the oven about 3 times in 30-second intervals then let the loaf bake. You might also try rotating the bread to ensure it bakes evenly. I have to do that in my oven with a lot of breads.
Hope this helps!
Cathy
Anonymous says
Really Good!!!!
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Yes, this is a good bread. Glad you liked it.
Emily says
This was my FIRST ever try of making bread and was suprised that it came out lovely! The instructions were great and considering I have no speciality tools or ingredients I was impressed.
I halved the entire recipe as I am home alone and couldn’t possibly eat a huge loaf in a week. It came out at 640gm which is about that of loaf purchased in the shops.
So super healthy and tasty. Think I need to work on the kneading thing though and wasn’t brave enough to hit mum’s mix master’s dough hooks.
Thank you Cathy for the recipe!
Cathy (breadexperience) says
Way to go Emily! I’m so glad you decided to try making bread and that your first loaf turned out. You’re ahead of the game now!
Happy Baking!
Cathy
Anonymous says
Simply loved your blog!! Clay oven that’s a unique one. Thanks for all the bread recipes.
Mary says
Hi there. What does ‘ 2 T active dry yeast mean’ ? Does it mean teaspoons?
Thanks for your help. Looking forward to making wholewheat country bread.
Mary
Cathy says
Hi Mary, 2T refers to 2 tablespoons. tsp. is the reference for teaspoons. I hope you enjoy the bread.