November 10, 2009 - 3:53am
Adding Sweetener to Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Now that I have made a white naturally yeasted bread, I want to try one with mostly whole wheat flour. I have been searching the forums because I thought I had read something about sweeteners and whether they affected the whole grain breads adversely. I usually prefer a touch of sweetness to my whole grain breads so I am thinking of adding a bit of sugar to a basic whole wheat sourdough recipe (not sour tasting, but leavened with a starter).
Can anyone shed any light on what the sweetener will do? I don't want to have the yeast eat up all the goodies before it has time to rise long enough. I just think a touch of sweetness brings out the flavor of whole wheat bread.
Catherine
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Thanks, Alan,
I was worried that adding sugar might make the dough fall before it got to its oven spring. I'm going to give it a try, using about a tablespoon of brown sugar per loaf. I probably can't bake again till next week, though.
I usually use honey but I have used both white and brown sugar. Most of my recipes call for a few tbsp per loaf.Honey, I use 1/4 c if I am making a sweet loaf and as little as a few tbsp when I was short.I have had no problem with the sourdough getting overstimulated.
Hi,
I like honey, but perhaps for reasons that will make you choose something else! I like it because it feeds the beasts but doesn't give a cloying sweet taste. My DH, who is averse to all things sweet in bread, doesn't detect honey. But put sugar in and...bingo!
I have substituted a rounded teaspoon of white or raw sugar from the sugar bowl for a Tablespoon of honey, with no detectable sweetness. I suspect you'd need something like a Tablespoon or 1.5 T per loaf. And I'd use brown sugar for more flavor.
MommaT
Hi MommaT,
I like honey, too, and I usually use it in my yeasted whole wheat bread. I was just thinking that starting with dry sugar would make the least change to a sourdough recipe I hadn't used before. I have 20 year old honey from bees we raised (now deceased) and I love it in lots of sweet things. I suppose I would just use a tad less water.
My yeasted whole wheat is probably sweeter than most people would like. For 5 loaves, I use about 3/4 cup honey, but my family love it.
Catherine
We really prefer molasses in our whole-wheat bread. I've tried other sweeteners (sugar, brown sugar, honey) and the family has voted ...molasses is the choice for us. We use medium molasses, not the dark or blackstrap.
Brian
I used molasses recently, but used blackstrap. It made the bread very brown, but it was very tasty. I like all the sweeteners, of course. I have a sweet tooth and toasted sweet buttered whole wheat bread with cocoa or mocha latte is one of my favorite breakfasts.
Catherine