Wholemeal bars with seeds

Eva, author of Bake-Street , brings us some delicious whole grain bars. You will see how easy they are to do at home and they will only require a bit of patience, nothing more; and the wait will be compensated, because you are going to love this seed bread!

One of the varieties of bread that is most liked at home are the bars or baguettes . As they have an individual format, they are very practical for preparing sandwiches, toast for breakfast or, simply, for serving them in a meal for each diner. Today we are going to see how to make some very simple whole grain bars with seeds .

Bread by itself is a true delight, but if we add seeds we will not only improve its final flavor but also enhance its benefits nutritionally.

To make this bread I have used a mixture of brown and golden flax seeds, sesame, poppy, millet and sunflower seeds. Of course, you can always adapt the seeds to use to your liking.

When we work with seeds in a bread we can do it in two ways:

• Exterior: We will always use them raw
• Interior: They can be used toasted, dry or with a previous soaker

In our case we will use the seeds in both ways.

Why should I use the seeds from abroad raw?

The seeds on the outside of a bread should always be used raw because they will toast during baking. If we use previously roasted seeds, they will continue to roast during baking, acquiring a bitter and unpleasant taste.

What is a soaker?

The technique of soaking the seeds before being used in a dough is called soaker .

When we apply this technique we must consider previously roasting the seeds to provide more flavor. Of course, there is no problem in using the soaker seeds without roasting, the only thing to keep in mind is that they will have less flavor.

To make a soaker with the seeds we must take into account how to carry it out. We will use the same weight of water as the seeds that we are going to soak. We must subtract that amount of water that we have used for the soaker from the final hydration of the dough since it will also be present through the seeds.

We will make these whole grain rolls with seeds without a previous soaker . This means that part of the hydration of the dough will be absorbed by those seeds. Data to keep in mind for when you make this or other breads.

How to work with whole wheat flour?

Whole wheat flour is somewhat more delicate than normal wheat flour, for that reason when we knead this dough or another dough with a percentage of whole wheat flour, we must do it delicately.

It is never recommended to knead the bread roughly, but even less so if we work with this variety of flour.

The seeds should always be added at the end of the kneading , when we have already developed the gluten mesh. The reason is that the presence of pointed shapes does not favor at all that the dough develops properly since they will cause tears.

When you integrate the seeds, do it smoothly and delicately, folding them until they are evenly distributed over the entire surface of the bread.



Le Creuset jam jar , Opinel butter knife and Opinel bread knife

Ingredients (for 3 whole grain bars)

• 200g of medium strength flour W=280
• 100g of whole wheat flour
• 210g of water
• 15g of honey
• 30g of toasted seeds + raw seeds for the outside
• 2gr of dry yeast or 6gr of fresh yeast + 5gr of water
• 6.3g of sea salt

Elaboration

We prepare the dough for our wholemeal bars

1. In a large bowl add the two types of flour and mix with the help of a silicone spatula .
2. Add the water and mix until both ingredients are completely integrated, there should be no traces of dry flour.
3. To mix it we can do it manually or in a Kitchen Aid type mixer and using the hook. Always mix at the lowest speed for a maximum of 2 minutes.
4. Cover the dough with a cotton cloth and let it autolyse for 30 minutes .
5. After this rest time, add the yeast. Dissolve the yeast in the 5g of water and pour over the dough to homogenize completely.
6. Add the honey together with the salt and proceed to knead again until integrated.
7. Once we have the dough with a developed gluten, we add the seeds.
8. We will knead carefully to avoid breaking the gluten mesh. We must make soft folds until we distribute them evenly throughout the dough.

We make the first fermentation and/or in block

1. Place the dough in an airtight container or bowl previously greased with olive oil. Cover with its corresponding lid or film, to prevent the dough from crusting, and let it ferment for 3 hours in a block at room temperature.
2. The dough will grow 2/3 of its volume . At that time we refrigerate the dough until the next day.

We preform and form the baguettes

1. We temper the dough 2 hours or 2 and 1/2 hours before working with the dough.
2. Lightly flour a work surface and turn out the dough.
3. We divide into three equal portions, they will be around 190gr each, and we preform.
4. Cover the pieces with a cotton cloth and let rest for 15-20 minutes . After this time, we proceed to form our baguettes.
5. We will have a linen couche prepared or, failing that, a very wide linen or cotton tablecloth, generously floured. We booked.
6. To form the bars we will do it in the same way that we form the olive baguettes . You can see it illustrated in that post and read it in detail in the tradition baguettes post.
7. Once it is formed, we spray with water and cover the entire exterior with seeds.
8. We place the integral bar on the couche . We repeat this step with the other two pieces.
9. Cover and let rise for about 60-90 minutes . You must observe that they almost double their volume.

We bake the baguettes

1. With 45 minutes left to bake the baguettes, we'll preheat Emile Henry's oven .
2. We introduce the ceramic oven, base and lid, on the rack located in the lowest part of the oven and preheat to 250ºC .
3. We uncover the baguettes and proceed to make the cuts before putting them in the oven . We will do it with a slightly damp blade or lick to prevent it from adhering to the dough and tearing it.
4. The cuts should not be inclined, they are practically straight. We will make 2 cuts in the baguette with a quick and safe movement, we must not hesitate or cut again on a cut. It will be somewhat laborious due to the presence of seeds outside.
5. Once we have combed the three bars, spray them with a little water and put them in the oven:
6. With oven gloves we remove the ceramic oven lid and leave it on a surface that cannot be damaged, the ceramic hob for example. We pass the bars, as quickly as possible, into the Emile Henry oven, and leave them on the holes.
7. Cover again with the lid of the ceramic oven, close our oven and bake for 10 minutes at 250ºC .
8. After this time we lower the temperature to 240ºC and bake for 10 more minutes .
9. Finally, we remove the lid of the ceramic oven, always with the help of gloves, and bake for around 5-8 minutes with air at 220ºC .
10. Remove and let cool on a rack.

STORAGE: This bread has a short shelf life, the ideal is to consume it the same day it is made.

Ceramic baguette oven Emile Henry

Important notes

• This time I show you how to make the bars in 2 days . That way we can share the work and make it more bearable. In addition to improving the flavors of the bread after a period of rest. But, if you want to do the whole process in a row, just let it rise until it doubles in the first fermentation and then follow the process as I detail it in the recipe.
• If we make the breads with sourdough, we must be much more careful with the fermentations. Whole wheat flour greatly speeds up the rising process and we run the risk of over-fermenting if we get confused.
• The seeds that I mention are optional , you can always adjust them to your liking.
• If we do not have a shovel to transport the bars from the couche to the oven, we can do the following. We place a strip of baking paper on the couche and on these we will place the baguette, so that once it has risen it will allow us to move it to the oven without having to manipulate it with our hands, since we run the risk of spoiling it.
• We do not have to let the bars rise in the Emile Henry oven , as specified in the manual, because we need to preheat it well before using it in order to obtain good results after baking. Otherwise they would be soft or rubbery.
• The cuts or weave of the bars must be done just before baking . We cannot brush them a few minutes before putting them in the oven.
• The final baking must be with air because it helps us to obtain a nice uniform golden color, in addition to removing excess moisture that allows us to obtain a thin and very crunchy crust.

We hope that you will be encouraged very soon with these whole grain bars with seeds . As you can see, different varieties of bread can be baked in the Emile Henry ceramic oven , not only baguettes but also this smaller format.

It could be a fantastic option to prepare individual rolls for the upcoming festive dates that await you. Do not you think?