Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients (32 page)

7 cups white whole wheat flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

2 cups lukewarm water

½ cup honey

8 large egg whites

1 cup zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil butter substitute, melted, or neutral-flavored oil

Egg white wash (1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon 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 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. 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. Beyond that, the dough stores well in the freezer for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze in 2-pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual resting 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.

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

9.
Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 45 to 50 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 and eating.

3 cups white whole wheat flour

4½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets

1 tablespoon kosher salt (
increase or decrease to taste
)

2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1¼ cups lukewarm water

4 large eggs

½ cup honey

¾ cup neutral-flavored oil, or unsalted butter, melted, or zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine, melted

One large pie (or “sugar”) pumpkin to yield 1¾ cups pumpkin puree, or use one 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

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

Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

1. If making your own fresh pumpkin puree:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Split the pumpkin in half, starting at the stem, and place it cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet or one lined with a silicone mat. Bake for about 45 minutes. The pumpkin should be very soft all the way through when poked with a knife. Cool slightly before scooping out the seeds.

2.
Scoop out the roasted flesh of the pumpkin and puree it in the food processor. Set aside 1¾ cups for the dough and use any leftover in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

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

4.
Combine the liquid ingredients with the pumpkin puree 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). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you’re not using a machine.

5.
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.

6.
Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

7.
Refrigerate the dough 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 2-pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise times.

8. 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.

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 loaf’s top with egg wash, and then sprinkle with raw sugar.

11.
Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 45 to 50 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.

12.
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
, or
Pumpkin Pie Brioche

1½ pounds (small cantaloupe-size portion) of any pre-mixed dough listed above

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

FRIED DOUGHNUTS DON’T BECOME SATURATED WITH OIL, SO LONG AS YOU FRY THEM RIGHT:
So right now you’re probably asking, “what are doughnuts doing in a health-conscious book?” But doughnuts don’t have to be overly greasy—it’s got to do with food’s vapor pressure versus the oil’s absorptive pressure, or to put it more plainly:

If you fry at high temperature (but not so high that it burns), the water inside the doughnut starts turning to steam immediately, and pushes out through pores in the developing doughnut crust. That outward movement prevents inward movement of oil. If you keep the temperature precisely where Zoë recommends, the finished weight of the doughnut will be remarkably close to where you started—it didn’t absorb that much oil after all. After weighing a bunch of doughnuts before and after frying, and accounting for up to a 10 percent water loss in finished baked goods, our best estimate is that each doughnut only absorbs between 15 and 45 calories’ worth of oil. Use a healthy oil—not lard or hydrogenated shortening—and this will be a reasonable splurge.—Jeff

Neutral-flavored oil for frying (use a high-smoking-point oil like canola, peanut, or vegetable blend), enough to fill a medium saucepan 4 inches from the top

Equipment

3-inch and 1-inch biscuit cutters

Deep saucepan for frying

Candy thermometer

Slotted spoon

Paper towels

1. Make the spiced sugar mixture:
Combine the sugar and all the spices in a medium bowl and set aside.

2.
Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1½-pound (small cantaloupe-size) piece. Dust the piece 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.
Roll the dough into a ¼-inch-thick rectangle on a lightly floured surface.

4.
Heat the frying oil to 360°F to 370°F, as determined by a candy thermometer.

5.
While the oil is heating, use a 3-inch biscuit or round cookie cutter to cut the dough into about 12 circles. Use a 1-inch round biscuit or round cookie cutter to remove the centers of the circles to create the doughnut shape. Reserve the centers to fry as well. Return any scraps to the bucket of dough.

6.
Drop the doughnuts in the hot oil 2 or 3 at a time so that they have plenty of room to rise to the surface. Be careful not to overcrowd them or they will not rise nicely.

7.
After 1 minute, gently flip the doughnuts over with a slotted spoon and fry for another minute or so until golden brown on both sides.

8.
Remove the doughnuts from the oil and place them on paper towels to drain the extra oil. While still warm, dredge them in the bowl of spiced sugar.

9.
Repeat with the remaining dough until all the doughnuts are fried. Serve slightly warm.