Struan bread variations
Hi all,
I am about to embark on making my very first Struan bread, for Peter Reinhart's new WGB.
However, looking at the recipe, it has 3 tablespoons of honey and 1 tablespoons of oil and butter. That is a lot, in my opinion, and pretty rich. I would like to make a lighter version of this, using perhaps 1 tablespoon of honey and no oil. Since I intend to make the soaker with yogurt, my gut feeling tells me that I should use the same baking temperatures as in the recipe. If it matters, for my multigrain blend, I want to use a blend of equal parts cooked brown rice, quinoa, and millet, and add about a tablespoon or so of flaxseeds. I am considering leaving some millet uncooked, but I have not decided yet.
However, I am not sure about the effects of these modifications, nor whether I should modify my baking in any way. So, before I experiment, I wonder if I may learn from someone else's experience. Has anyone here tried to cut down the oil and/or sweetener in this bread (to what amounts?)? Was it a good or bad experience -- how did it affect the bread (loaf size, flavor, texture, etc.)? Did you adjust the baking temperatures? Are there grains that work better with my modifications than others? Do you have any other tips for these variations?
(By the way I looked in the book, and later on there is a hearth bread version of this bread, with the sweetener and fat being optional. However, that bread also does not call for soaking in milk/yogurt, and I intend to soak in yogurt).
Thanks!
Boaz