Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients (31 page)

4 cups white whole wheat flour

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

¼ cups vital wheat gluten

2¼ cups lukewarm water

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, or zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine), melted and cooled slightly, or neutral-flavored oil

¾ cup honey

5 large eggs

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top crust

1. Mixing and storing the dough:
Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2.
Combine the liquid ingredients and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle).

3.
The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled.
Don’t try to use it without chilling
for at least 2 hours. You may notice lumps in the dough, but they will disappear in your finished products.

4.
Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

5.
Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days, or store the dough in the freezer for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 2-pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise time.

6. On baking day,
grease a brioche pan, or an 8½ × 4½-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball in the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 1 hour 45 minutes.

7. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F,
with a rack placed in the center of the oven. If you’re not using a stone in the oven, a 5-minute preheat is adequate. Steam is not needed.

8.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to brush the loaf’s top crust with egg wash.

9.
Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Brioche will not form a hard, crackling crust. The loaf is done when it is medium brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.

10.
Remove the brioche from the pan and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing or eating.

Use any of these refrigerated pre-mixed doughs
:
Braided Challah with Whole Wheat and Wheat Germ
,
Whole Wheat Brioche
,
100% Whole Grain Butterfat-and Yolk-Free Brioche
,
Pumpkin Pie Brioche
,
Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
, or any other enriched dough

1½ pounds (small cantaloupe-size portion) of any pre-mixed dough listed above, defrosted overnight in the refrigerator if frozen

2 medium apples, skin on, thinly sliced, then finely chopped

½ cup raisins

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

¼ cup raw sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top crust

Cinnamon-sugar (1 tablespoon raw sugar mixed with ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon) for sprinkling on top

1. On baking day,
combine the chopped apples, raisins, optional walnuts, raw sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss well and set aside.

2.
Grease an 8½ × 4½-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1½ -pound (small cantaloupe-size) piece. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

3.
With a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface, but not so much as to make it dry.

4.
Spread the apple mixture over the rolled-out dough. Roll the dough into a log, starting at the short end. Place the log in the loaf pan and allow the loaf to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you’re using fresh unrefrigerated dough).

5. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F,
with a rack placed in the center of the oven. If you’re not using a stone in the oven, a 5-minute preheat is adequate.

6.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with egg wash, and then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar.

7.
Slide the loaf into the oven. Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes, until deeply browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.

8.
Remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool before slicing or eating.

6 cups white whole wheat flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

2 cups lukewarm water

½ cup neutral-flavored oil, unsalted butter, melted, or zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine, melted

½ cup honey

4 large eggs

¼ cup brandy (orange juice or lukewarm black tea can be substituted)

1½ cups finely chopped dried or candied fruit (raisins, currants, dried pineapple, dried apricots, dried cherries, candied citron, candied lemon peel, or candied orange peel)

½ cup almond paste, or marzipan, or 1 cup slivered almonds for the center of the loaf

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top crust

Confectioners’ sugar for the top of the loaf

1. Mixing and storing the dough:
Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, cardamom, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2.
Combine the liquid ingredients and dried and or candied fruit and mix with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you’re not using a machine.

3.
The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled.
Don’t try to use it without chilling
for at least 2 hours.

4.
Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

5.
Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond that, the dough stores well in the freezer for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 1½-pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise time.

6. On baking day,
dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1½-pound (small cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball.

7.
With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch-thick oval. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface, but not so much as to make it dry.

8.
Place the marzipan or slivered almonds across the short end of the dough about one-third of the way from the end. Lift and fold the remaining two-thirds of the dough to form an S-shape over the almond filling. The end of the dough will lie near the middle of the top of the loaf. Allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a cookie sheet prepared with parchment paper or a silicone mat, for 90 minutes.

9. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F,
with a rack placed in the center of the oven. If you’re not using a stone in the oven, a 5-minute preheat is adequate.

10.
Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with egg wash.

11.
Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, until medium brown and firm.

12.
Allow the
stollen
to cool, then sprinkle it generously with confectioners’ sugar.