Artisan Whole Grain Bread: I love the smell of freshly baked bread wafting from my kitchen filling the house with its aroma. It transports me back to younger years when my mom or sisters made bread for our family of 12. Yes 12, that was a lot of bread. It wasn’t what we now call artisan bread, but it was just as wholesome, healthy, and delicious.
I think those days, and that wonderful smell was the beginning of my love of baking bread. Growing up, I had plenty of opportunities to learn the basic skills and principles of bread baking. I’ll be honest there were times I would have preferred to not be in the kitchen baking bread. However, when it was my turn to bake, that was not an option. I would have to devote nearly a whole day to make 12 loaves of bread. The method I learned involved lots of kneading of the bread dough.
A few years ago, I discovered a book by Peter Reinhart on bread baking that challenged my beliefs on how to make bread. He teaches a no-knead, stretch, and fold method for making bread. This method took my bread from delicious but ordinary to artisan and extraordinary. I call this technique the envelope fold technique.
How to make artisan whole-grain bread: A basic bread has four simple ingredients, flour, water, salt, and yeast. That’s it! Anything else is extra bonus ingredients. When you mix these four ingredients together, magic happens. They transform into the most amazing and delicious food we call bread. Let’s create magic and make some bread!!!
Here is another SIS (simple is smart) method for making bread.
1. Measure the flour into your mixing bowl. Weighing the flour will give you the best result. If you don’t have a scale to weigh the flour, hop over to my Youtube video on measuring flour. You will be glad you did because it will keep your bread from becoming dry and crumbly. I used bread flour. However, you can use half whole wheat and half bread flour. If you want to use 100% whole wheat flour, add two tablespoons of whole grain bread improver to the flour.
2. Add the salt, yeast, whole grains, and water to the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until moistened.
I make my own mix of whole grains. I use what I have handy at the time I make the mix. I mix together equal parts of any combination of cracked wheat, rolled oats, steel-cut oats, hulled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds. I love to use the ancient grains farro, amaranth, teff, freekeh, millet, and Kamut. If you can find cracked varieties of the ancient grain, use them. If not, I briefly pulse a mixture of ancient grains in the Vitamix or Blendtec blender to break them up and assist with softening by helping them absorb moisture. If you have only a few varieties, use what you have. There is no perfect combination. It is a matter of what you have and what you like.
What are ancient grains? Ancient grains are grains that have remained largely unchanged over the past several centuries. Today, most whole grains fall in this category except for modern wheat. These grains are also superfoods, rich in nutrients and fiber.
3. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. (this rehydrates the flour)
4. Envelope fold the dough four times. Cover the dough with the mixing bowl between the envelope folds. The dough has to rest for 20 minutes between each stretch and fold, so this part of the process will take an hour.
- Stir the ingredients for your bread together with a spoon. The dough will be very shaggy.
- Let the dough rest for five minutes, and do the first envelope fold. Place about a Tbsp of oil on the countertop and make an oil slick.
- Place the dough on the oil and stretch the dough into a rough square about 9 X 9 inches. Fold the bottom 3 inches up and the top 3 inches down. Press together.
- Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat step three.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Repeat two more times with 20-minute rest intervals between. Then place the dough in a bowl and cover it. Let the dough rise for one hour and form your loaves.
5. After the last envelope fold, place the dough back in your mixing bowl, and cover with plastic wrap until the dough doubles in size. Once the dough has doubled, shape the dough into two batards or one round rustic loaf. You want to retain the gas trapped in little pockets throughout the dough when shaping the loaves. So treat the dough gently and don’t degas the dough.
6. Spread some of the wholegrain mixtures on a piece of parchment paper—mist with some water, and roll the loaf in the grains. The water helps the grains stick to the loaf.
7. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap, and let the loaf rise until almost double. Cut three slashes in the top of the loaf, mist the loaf with water, and bake
The crisp crust on the artisan whole-grain loaf is partly a result of steam during the early part of the baking process. Mist the loaf with some water just before placing it in the oven. Then briefly open the oven door and remist the loaf at one minute, two minutes, and three minutes after placing the loaf in the oven.
Baking the loaf on a baking steel or stone will give a crispier bottom to the loaf.
If the loaf is getting over-browed, gently tent the loaf with aluminum foil. Rotate the position of the loaf in the oven to prevent uneven browning.
Lastly, bake the loaf until the internal temperature reaches 210 – 212-degrees F ( 99 – 100 degrees C) with an instant-read thermometer.
Time to cut off a piece of warm bread, spread it with butter, add a generous spoon of homemade jam, and YUM!!!
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Equipment
- To see the ingredient amounts in metric units, click the blue "METRIC:" button between the ingredients and the instructions for this recipe.
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- Baking Steel
- large baking sheet without a lip
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together with a mixing spoon. The dough will be very rough and shaggy
- Let dough rest 15 minutes
- Make an oil slick on the counter and do four envelope folds at 20-minute intervals.
- After the last envelope fold, place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rise until nearly double - about an hour.
- After the dough has doubled, remove it from the bowl and split it in half. Form each rustic loaf as shown in the video. Much of the gas in the dough should remain in the loaf to give it small air pockets after baking.
- Gently roll the dough in the whole grains to lightly coat the outside of the loaf. Misting the loaf with water helps the wholegrains stick to the loaf.
- Place loaves on a large parchment-lined baking sheet without a lip. If you don't have one without a lip you can bake the loaves on the baking sheet.
- Loosely cover the loaves with plastic wrap and let loaves rise nearly double. About 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (232 C) while the loaves are rising.
- Just before baking make 3 horizontal slashes with a sharp knife. Mist the loaves with water from a spray bottle.
- Place loaves on baking steel by sliding the parchment with the loaves off the baking sheet. For an extra crispy crust, mist loaves every 60 seconds for the first 3 minutes of baking.
- Bake loaves for 12 minutes at 450 degrees and then decrease the temperature to 400 degrees and bake another 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 210 - 212 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. If the loaves start to over-brown loosely tent them with foil. If your oven has a hot spot move the loaves around to allow them to brown evenly.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I made it last night and we’ve already gone through a whole loaf. Only had oats on hand out the whole grains on the list, but mixed in some flax, chia and poppyseeds too. Delicious and easy – Loved the stretch and fold method! Will definitely make again.
I made my loaves with everything bagel seasoning. Turned out really good
Great idea thanks for sharing.
I am confused! You said “mix all ingredients together” in step 1 – well, if I used the 1cup whole grains in the dough, then how much doI use to coat the outside?
1 cup whole grains (plus about 1/3 cup more for coating the outside) see notes for information on whole grains
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I just made it and it turn out really good.It was 10 in the evening when I finished baking ,I started late,my husband cant stop eating.👌
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Such an easy bread to make with wonderful results! Delicious! I added a scant tablespoon of dried onion flakes the second time I made it – mmmm good!
I started making this recipe when I decided I wanted to incorporate ancient grains into bread. WOW!! We LOVE IT!! It comes out fantastic every time!! Thank you Dr Jo! Will definitely try your other recipes as we love “all things organic, natural and healthy”!! ~Mary
I am delighted to hear you are enjoying this recipe. It is one of my favorites also.
Have you tried using some whole wheat flour instead of some of the all purpose flour?
I often substitute about 1/4 of the white flour with whole wheat and honestly, I can’t tell the difference. More than 25% gives a heavier, denser loaf of bread.
Using your delicious and easy recipe as a base, I substituted 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose, added 1 TBS dough enhancer and threw in a spoonful of sour dough cast off for good measure. It was sooo good! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
BRAVO! I love all of the substitutions.
My new favorite bread recipe!
Awesome
My first time making bread, it has always been so intimidating to me but you’re recipe was easy to follow so thank you! My husband who is Portuguese and loves his bread said it was the best bread he’s ever tasted so double win! I have one question, can I use white whole wheat flour instead? Or will it change it that dramatically?
YAY, Thank you for the great comment. You can use half white whole wheat and half all-purpose flour. Increase the yeast to 2 tsp. and add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to the water.
If you are feeling adventuresome use all white whole wheat and add 1/4 of a cup of oil to the water. Keep the yeast at 2 tsp. Let me know how it comes out. Happy Baking.
This is an easy to follow recipe. Very simple and delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing it. Love it!!
Hi- I am not sure what a baking steel is. I just started making bread and have only used a Dutch oven thus far. I can’t really tell from the picture. The ones I’ve seen look like cookie sheets…
Hello, and you can use the dutch oven to bake the loaf of bread in this recipe. I prefer an oblong vs round loaf of bread and the steel lets me shape and bake the loaf as a baguette, an oblong loaf, or a round loaf and still get a nice crispy crust. A baking steel is a solid piece of steel that is usually about 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. It is a very heavy piece of metal. If you make homemade pizza or want to make homemade pizza, the baking steel is an awesome way to get that pizza oven crispy light crust on your homemade pizza.
With using the Dutch oven do you leave the bread covered during the entire baking process or uncover the Dutch oven at the end? Assuming same oven temperature and cooking time. Thank you!
Yes, take the lid of the Dutch Oven off the last 10-15 minutes of baking to let the top brown up and get nice and crispy. Enjoy.
Thank you and can’t wait to try this recipe using my Dutch oven. When blending all the ingredients in step 1 does the temperature of the water matter to help activate the yeast? The Instant Yeast packet shares that the temperature of the liquid should be between 120-130 degrees F. So appreciate all your help!
Just 1 teaspoon of yeast?
Thank you and can’t wait to try this recipe using my Dutch oven. When blending all the ingredients in step 1 does the temperature of the water matter to help activate the yeast? The Instant Yeast packet shares that the temperature of the liquid should be between 120-130 degrees F. So appreciate all your help!
So happy you are trying this recipe. No need to measure the temperature of the water. Let the water run until it is lukewarm to the touch. That is warm enough to activate the yeast. Your ingredients should be at room temperature. If you store your grains in the fridge or freeze them. Measure out what you need for the recipe and let them warm up before using them. Your bread will still rise if the ingredients are cooler, it just takes longer.
Thank you again for all your help!
If this is your first time baking with your Dutch Oven you might want to read a great blog on using a dutch oven to bake bread. Here is a link to it. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2017/07/05/baking-in-a-cold-dutch-oven This link is for baking in a cold dutch oven. Here is one for baking in a preheated dutch oven. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2017/02/21/bread-baking-dutch-oven Both articles give great detailed instructions for baking bread with your new Dutch Oven.
One packet or two teaspoons.
The amount of flour doesn’t change when I change the serving size. Says 567 g no matter what. Can you correct this please
Hmmm not sure why it isn’t changing on your computer. When I change the servings slider it changes all of the ingredients accordingly.
This bread is delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and it was is amazing. I love a nutty bread. My only question is how would you store it? In a paper bag or plastic?
I store it in plastic. Because it has no preservatives it doesn’t keep for more than 4 or 5 days. However in my house it is usually gone in 2 or 3 days.
delicious! crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside!
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
UNBELIEVABLE!!! Incredibly light and fluffy and delicious and crunchy and flavorful…it’s really a dream of a bread! It didn’t rise a ton, but was still fluffy and soft–but that might be because I used a clay bread pan and didn’t pre-heat it; next time I’ll try on my pre-heated pizza stone. I’ve been working on sourdough since early September, only 1 successful loaf. I have a favorite white sandwich loaf, an artisan Italian white, and of course the no knead that everyone knows about from the NY Times. But this is truly the most tasty and exciting bread I’ve made in years! I halved the recipe and only made one loaf–but we nearly went through it all tonight…will need to make another soon! Will share with all my “bread” friends!
AWESOME! I’m glad you loved this recipe. It’s been a favorite of mine for years.
I’m trying to see how far I can go with this “healthy” bread thing…instead of 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 wheat flour, I did 1/2 bread flour, 1/4 wheat flour and 1/4 sprouted spelt. Came out pretty good!
Adding a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten and ascorbic acid (vitamin C tablet) to your bread with a higher whole grain content will improve the loaf. The extra gluten adds structure by forming protein bonds that allow the dough to form gas bubbles that make the bread rise. The ascorbic acid (vitamin C) aids in gluten development and helps the dough rise better. The overall result is a lighter loftier loaf. With Vital wheat gluten, more isn’t better as extra will make it chewy and harder to digest.
King Arthur Flour makes a product they call whole grain bread improver that is vital wheat gluten, ascorbic acid, soy flour and inactive yeast.
Heading to WholeFoods now! 😉 (I read that ginger or vinegar can work as an improver too.)
OK, I ran out and was able to find vital wheat gluten from Bob’s Red Mill. As it happens, I have a loaf in it’s last proof right at this moment…do you think it’s worth adding a teaspoon or so and kneading it in? Or will that ruin the rise that it gained during this last proof? Otherwise I can certainly wait and try adding with the flour in my next loaf. And will definitely report back on how that worked! Thank you so much for engaging in comments with me!
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Can something like Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal be substituted for the whole grains?
Yes that should work. It might give a bit of a heavier loaf as the hot cereal is whole grains that are ground or chopped up.
Can I use salted sunflower seeds?
If you only have salted sunflower seeds, I would rinse them to get most of the salt off. Then yes you can use them in the recipe.
You have two differing internal temps one in the instructions and one in the recipe which is correct.?
The temperature in the recipe is correct. I’ve corrected the temperature in the blog. The internal temperature should be 210 – 212 degrees F or 99 – 100 degrees C.
What is the correct baking temperature and length if I’m making one round loaf in the Kitchen Aid bread bowl – reduced the recipe to 70% to fit the Kitchen Aid bread bowl. Should I bake at 450 for 30 min, then cover off to brown for 10 min? Thank you
Bake the loaf at 375 degrees F. (preheat oven). Check the internal temperature after 35 minutes if the temperature is less than 210 degrees F. Continue baking until the internal temperature in the middle of the loaf is 210 degrees F. Because the bowl is ceramic, the heat from the bowl should brown the loaf of bread. If the bread isn’t browned after 35 minutes, leave the bowl off to let the loaf brown up.
Only my 2nd time baking bread and this recipe came out brilliant. I was wondering if there is a way to get more air into the bread (I used 1/2 bread flour, 1/2 spelt) and it came out quite dense (looks like your photos though 🙂 ) Would doing more flattening/folding help?
Thank you for your comment. I’m delighted you took the time to leave a review. If you did two more folds 10 minutes apart, it would fold more air into it. Then try not to deflate the dough when you shape your loaf. It will naturally deflate some, but the less you deflate it the more air pocket you will have in the final product.