Bread Love Affair

I had forgotten how much I love baking. Not that I really forgot, but the week before I left for France, I was so busy I didn’t get to bake any fresh bread. And the last week has been spent in catch-up mode, so no new bread either. This week was a breakthrough in my bread baking. I really feel like I’m starting to get the timing and the feel for bread. My two favorite breads so far I made this week were a Rye Sourdough French Bread and Oatmeal Maple Nut Bread.

The Rye Sourdough French Bread was pretty basic as are most bread recipes. Really, the complexity is in the process, the timing, the kneading…. This serves up 10 chunks of deliciousness coming in at 117 calories per chunk, .5g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 201mg, 2.2g diestary fiber, 4g protein, 1% calcium, and 9% iron.


I made a sourdough starter with ½ cup rye flour and ½ cup of water and just a dash of yeast during the week. I left it out overnight, then stuck it in the fridge until I was ready to use it.

Make sure the starter has time to come to room temperature and then add 1/3 cup of warm water to 2/3 cups of the starter and 1 tsp yeast. I actually cheated here and used really warm water since I needed this to start rising before heading out. Then add 1 tsp fine sea salt, 1 cup whole wheat flour and about ½ cup of unbleached bread flour. Mix until the dough is smooth and let rest 15 minutes. This resting is really important because it helps the dough relax and makes it easier to work so you aren’t fighting really sticky dough. Then, add 1 tbsp gluten and up to 1 cup more of the bread flour. Turn this out on a floured board and start working however much of the bread flour you need. I’m always hesitant to give exact measurements because humidity (Saturday was really humid so I needed extra flour) is such a factor. The dough will become springy and elasticky. Always try to avoid adding too much flour. I sometimes will allow the dough to stay a little sticky even when I think it could take more flour.

Anyway, grease a bowl with some olive oil and coat your dough ball. Let rise until doubled, or about an hour. Then, take the dough out of the bowl and turn it out smooth side up on floured or oiled board. Punch down into a rectangle. Then, fold the dough in half the long way, pinch the seams, and fold it again the long way, and pinch the seams again. Roll the dough out so it is baguette shaped. Transfer to parchment paper with cornmeal for dusting and let rise covered until doubled again. Now, here was my genius. I actually folded it once more the long way and pinched the seams again without really punching it down, and let it rise for another 30 minutes or so. Slash it the longways down with a razor (I find a straight edge razor works really well, you know, the kind you get from the hardware store). Then I baked it on a baking tile at 450 degrees (throwing a cup of water in a tray below the tile) for 17 minutes.

I could have gone a little longer on this to have a thicker more developed crust, but I have absolutely NO complaints. The crumb was perfectly chewy and the use of the sourdough starter with rye gave a wonderful flavor to the bread. Not only did you get the tang from the fermentation process, but the hint of rye with the wheat added a depth to this bread that made it perfect with nothing but a dollop of vegan butter (lactose intolerant me stays away from cow’s butter, but I’m trying to find a goat butter – otherwise, I’ll just make it myself). I had to cut this up right away and freeze it for later this week so as not to tempt myself.

I never thought I could outdo the Rye Sourdough French Bread. Oh, but I did. I introduce to you the Oatmeal Maple Nut Bread of my dreams. This bread has a nice open crumb, the walnuts add a wonderful texture contrast, and the maple adds a perfect sweetness that makes this bread perfect with soft white mild cheeses like a young goat bree. This makes 10 generous slices of bread at 130 calories a slice, 2.5g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 207g sodium, 1.3g dietary fiber, 2.5g sugars, 4.1g protein, 1% calcium, and 8% iron.


I proofed 1 tsp yeast with 2/3 cups warm water and 2 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup (do NOT cheat and use the fake crap – the flavor is so important in this bread that you will notice the difference). In a separate bowl, mix 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup toasted rolled oats, 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, and 1/2 cup unbleached bread flour. Beat with the liquids until smooth. Let rest 15 minutes. Turn out onto floured board and add 1 tbsp gluten and up to another 1/2 cup of unbleached bread flour until the consistency is right. Knead about 5 minutes and incorporate 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.

Grease a bowl with olive oil and cover whole dough ball. Cover and let rise for about an hour and a half or until doubled. Rising always takes a little longer when there are extras (like nuts) in it. I punched this down when it doubled, let it rise for another 20 minutes before I stuck it in the fridge to finish rising overnight. The next morning, it hadn’t risen very much, so I let it come to room temperature and rise another full hour. Then I slashed 3 times, brushed it with an egg white wash (equal parts egg white and water beaten together), and sprinkled oats on top. This is a slower baked bread than the French breads, so bake 35-40 minutes until it is golden brown at 375 degrees.




And voila! Perfection. Serious perfection. I had to tear myself away from this bread. It was so soft and fluffy on the inside with the perfect amount of crunch. Sigh. You know, I never even ate bread (except for pita) until I started baking it myself. I never knew what real bread tasted like. It beats all rice (except maybe a good Indian pulau)…