#6 - Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread

Part of the point of my "Fifty New Things" is to get out of culinary ruts. I love baking, but for most of the last several years, the only loaf breads I have baked have been my Unbelievable Awesome Overnight Potato Bread(1), and my Amazingly Simple Whole Wheat Molasses Bread.This weekend I pulled out my trusty Beard on Bread and started thumbing through it, looking for something to try. I ran across his recipe for "Buttermilk White Bread"(2) and thought it sounded pretty good.


Where I made my mistake was in the ingredient list. His recipe calls for "4 cups unbleached hard-wheat flour". Now, as I later figured out, "hard wheat" refers to the gluten content of different varieties of flour (hard wheat having high protein as opposed to soft wheat which has high starch). "Hard wheat" is not the same as "whole wheat",which has the bran and germ left on when it's milled.

Whole wheat is denser and heavier than all-purpose "white" flour, so typically you see it mixed with all-purpose in a bread recipe. Very few call for nothing but whole wheat(3), so I raised an eyebrow when I mis-read the recipe as calling for 4 cups of whole wheat, but went on, trusting in good Mr. Beard.

Another unusual thing about this recipe is that he has you combine all of the ingredients other than the proofed yeast, then put the yeast mixture in. Most recipes I've made either start with the proofed yeast and add the other ingredients to it, or add the yeast mixture partway in. I was skeptical of this method, but again I trusted Mr. Beard, and it did in fact work out.

Once I had the ingredients all mixed and kneading in my Kitchenaid, I marvelled at how very dry the dough was, dryer than just about any bread I've made. This was when I reread the recipe, correctly read "hard wheat", and scratched my head. I wasn't sure it would even rise, but having gotten that far, I gamely continued on.

As it turns out, it did rise quite nicely, and ended up being a very tasty loaf. I let it cool, sliced it up, and it is now eagerly awaiting use for toast and sandwiches. I will say I am very glad for my stand mixer with its dough hook attachment; this would have been very difficult to bring together with a spoon and kneading by hand.

Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread
2 packages (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk(4)
4 cups whole wheat flour

Combine yeast, sugar, and water and allow to proof. Mix the remaining ingredients until it comes together into a dough, then add the proofed yeast mixture. If you are using a stand mixer, you will still want to knead by hand for 2-3 minutes at the end to make sure the dough comes together into a smooth ball (the dough is very dry and the stand mixer will leave it in clumps).

Butter a bowl, and place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat with butter, then allow to rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk (1-2 hours). Punch down, form into a loaf, and put into a prepared loaf pan to rise again. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

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(1) Which I apparently haven't written up in blog form as of yet. I should remedy that...
(2) And if I had actually read the name of the recipe along with the ingredients, I might have prevented the mistake that was about to come ... but on the other hand, I wouldn't have made a discovery, either.
(3) Though the aforementioned Amazingly Simple Whole Wheat Molasses Bread is one of those that does.
(4) The original recipe called for "1 to 1 1/2 cups" of buttermilk. I only had 2 cups on hand, and wanted to keep the other cup for something else, so I only used 1 cup. This contributed to the curious dryness of the dough, but doesn't seem to have adversely affected the bread.