Five Minutes to Whole Grain Artisan Bread

Ed Note:  I promised a whole grain version of my five minutes to Artisan Bread Recipe some time ago.  It’s so simple the holidays may be a good time to try it.  Serve with a hot, steaming, fragrant pot of soup!

I couldn’t believe my first attempt at Artisan Bread came out so beautifully with such a small effort on my part.

1  1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1  1/2 Cups whole grain flour – I use Kamut – but whole wheat is also fine

2 Tbsp vital gluten, optional – but without it the bread is very dense

1/4 tsp Instant Yeast

1  1/4 tsp Real Salt

1  1/3 Cup water

2 Tbsp Honey

1.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, vital gluten yeast and salt.  Add the water, and honey and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 12-14 hours at room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2.  Dough is ready when the surface is dotted with bubbles.  Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on the floured surface.  Sprinkle with a little more flour.  Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball in about 30-60 seconds.  Pinch seam together on the bottom. The less handling the better.

3.  Generously coat a cotton kitchen towel (not terry) with flour, wheat bran or corn meal.  Place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour.  Cover with another cotton towel and allow to rise for 2 more hours or so.  The dough is ready when it is more than double in size.  This dough isn’t likely to fall.

4.  Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees with a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot such as cast iron, enamel or Pyrex, in the oven to pre-heat as well.  After about 25-30 minutes, carefully remove the pot from the oven.  Slide your hand under the towel, and flip the dough over so the seam side is up.  You may think you have wrecked your loaf, and it may look messy, but trust me on this, this is OK.  With seam side up, the loaf “blooms” or opens up while baking.  Cover the pot with the lid.  Return to the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes or until the loaf is beautifully browned.  Cool it on a rack.

Tell me what your experience with Artisan Bread was like!

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