Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Four Grain Honey Bread


Now, I know that you've probably never heard of the book Kneadlessly Simple, and it's not as sexy as Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, but it has some great recipes and makes some fine bread. It also doesn't have a waitlist in my library.

Four Grain Honey Bread (No-Knead) from Kneadlessly Simple
1 loaf
Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup corn meal (white or yellow)
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup cooked and cooled brown rice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon instant, fast rising, or bread machine yeast
1/2 cup honey or corn syrup
1 1/4 cups ice water
Canola oil or corn oil to coat dough and pan

Directions:
First rise:
In large bowl, mix flours, corn meal, oats, rice, salt, and yeast. In measuring cup, mix very cold water with honey/syrup. Stir the water into the flours - it will be very thick, but you won't need to use your hands. Mix well and thoroughly blend. Add water or white flour if needed to get a thick dough. Spray or brush top of dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap. If desired, chill in fridge 3-10 hours, then let rise at cool room temperature for 12-18 hours. It works best to mix this up, set in the fridge until bed, and leave on the counter overnight.

Second rise: Stir the dough. Fold the dough using a spoon or spatula toward the middle of the bowl. Oil a 9 x 5 loaf pan, then sprinkle with a little cornmeal and oats. Turn the dough into the pan and spray/brush with oil again. Sprinkle a little cornmeal and oats on the top and press into the dough. Slice 4 or 5 diagonal lines into the loaf with a sharp knife. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise: 2-4 hours at room temperature, 1.5-2.5 hours in the microwave with a warm cup of water, or 4-24 hours in the fridge. Rise until the dough is 1/2" above the edge of the pan.

Bake: Preheat oven to 350*F. Bake 50-60 minutes. Tent with foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. If you have a fancy-pants instant read thermometer, it should read 207*-209*F. It really does take this long to bake - the moist dough takes a long time to get finished. Let cool on a wire rack before slicing. Keeps 2-3 days on the counter, or up to 2 months in the freezer.

1 comment:

  1. I am so delighted that your bread looks so good, because the recipe is from my book! Though Kneadessly Simple isn't as well known as Artisan Bread in Five, it does have its fans--Amazon.com has about 50 reviews for my book. Most are very positive and some say my method is the easiest one out there and makes the best breads, too. Thanks for helping to spread the word.

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