The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Batter Bread-Whole wheat

clazar123's picture
clazar123

Batter Bread-Whole wheat

I had hand surgery on both hands this year and for a while I couldn't hold/grab much. Thankfully, the surgeries were not simultaneous so I always had 1 useable (tho weak) hand. I didn't know how I'd live without my fresh bread and kneading and scooping out dough was going to be impossible, even with a KA mixer. Good thing I discovered batter bread.I could tilt the bowl over the sink and pour and scrape the batter outso it fell into the pan in the sink under it. The crumb is not my favorite as it is a different texture but the flavor was good and the technique worked easily. Here is the recipe I used and some pics. I hope the format sticks:

BATTER BREAD- SINGLE LOAF -WHOLE WHEAT 

 

INGREDIENT

 

 

VOLUME

 

WEIGHT

 

 

WATER-WARM

1 ¾ C

386g

 

 

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

2 C

265g

 

 

GROUND FLAX

2 TBSP

12g

 

 

RYE FLOUR

2 TBSP

14g

 

 

INSTANT YEAST

1/8 TSP

pinch

 

 or 2 tbsp starter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best flavor is when you make a preferment overnight. The starter (125% hydration-batter consistency) is used in adjunct with yeast to raise this loaf.

  • Mix well-BEAT FOR 2 MINUTES.
  • Let sit at room temperature 2-12 hours as a preferment.

Mix in with just a few strokes:

INSTANT YEAST

2 TSP

7g

 

 

 Then add:

HONEY

2 TBSP

60g

 

 

OIL

2TBSP

28g

 

 

SALT

1 TSP

8g

Increase to 12g

 

 Then add:

AP FLOUR

1 C

125g

 

 

  •  Cover and let rise to double.
  • Stir down with a brief mix (25 strokes by hand)
  • Pour into a greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan
  • Cover loosely-let rise til at the top of the pan-it will deflate easily!
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
  • Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes then decrease temp to 350 for 45 minutes
  • Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack

This (above)is what it looks like mixed-cake batter-not much gluten noticeable.

 

I didn't have a pic of the full rise but here it is stirred down-gluten much more noticeable in how the dough pulls into lines.

There is the pan with the dough in it-I had only very painful use of my left thumb and pointer finger and limited use of the middle to ring finger. It made life interesting.

Full rise.

 

And since we have Breakfast Bread for breakfast every morning, I did a variation of Breakfast Bread using the same base and the raisins,craisins,walnut and spices I use for that bread.

Enjoy!

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Sorry to hear about the surgery but impressed by your drive and innovation.  I hope that your healing is on track.

Paul

All at Sea's picture
All at Sea

... thou art a veritable brave slave to the noble calling of breadbaking. Ingenuity perfectly (and very tastily) personified!

And now, unless red nail varnish is the latest in male fashion accessories, I know clazar is not a baker, as I had for some unfathomable reason previously thought, but a bakeress!

Hoping dexterity and comfort will soon be restored -

All at Sea

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Excellent Whole Wheat bread for a batter, Clazar! I love how it turned out. I love your presistence, too. Above all, i admire your will , and that endured to post a blog and share it with us.

Bread is so versatile, isn't it?

My best wishes to you for a quick recovery. We've been missing you're other wholesome breads for some time now.

 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I couldn't resist the pun. Thank you for all the well wishes. I am healing quite well and at the part where I wonder why I waited so long to fix a long-lasting painful issue. No more pain except the pain of age and wisdom- no surgery for that!

The purple nail polish has a story. I don't usually wear any but since I had a horrendously purple finger nail and hand discoloration of the same shade, I thought it wouldn't "stick out" so much if it looked deliberate. So I went to the store and bought a matching shade of purple/violet and painted all my nails the same color. It actually worked-people didn't "see" the discoloration and just thought I had a striking taste in nail color.

I am indeed addicted and driven to the calling of bread and all things fermented (yogurt,kefir,villis,kimchee,saurkraut,pickles). I started the journey wanting to know how my grandmother made daily bread (for her brood of 12) and possibly using natural yeast since it was about 1920-1930.Store yeast was available but prob quite expensive. Now I know how she made the bread but I don't kow where she found the energy! My mom (the youngest) was not much help teaching me how to make bread in my formative years-I had to unlearn almost everything she had taught me. But she taught me a lot of other things and I dearly love her for those great memories-she is long gone.

Batter bread was something I had never heard of but since I started the search for easier to handle breads, I have discovered a whole slew of recipes. A favorite of mine is a form of Sally Lunn and I believe it is from Taste of Home:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Sally-Lunn-Batter-Bread

It is a little bland but quite delicious. The second time, I made it with a layer of cinnamon sugar in the middle and topped with the same. Yumm! It was just like making a cake! Thank you Kitchen Aid (my mixer)! 

Have delicious fun!

And Thanks to all for all the information and support over the last 2 years!