Wholemeal bars with seeds

Eva, author of Bake-Street , brings us some delicious wholemeal bread bars. You'll see how easy they are to make at home and they only require a little patience, nothing more; and the wait will be worth it, because you're going to love this seed bread!

One of the most popular types of bread at home is baguettes . As they come in an individual format, they are very practical for preparing sandwiches, toast for breakfast or simply for serving at a meal for each diner. Today we are going to see how to make some very simple wholemeal bread with seeds .

Bread on its own is a real treat, but if we add seeds, we will not only improve its final flavour but also enhance its nutritional benefits.

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

When we work with seeds in 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 raw seeds from outside?

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

What is a soaker?

The technique of soaking seeds before using them in a dough is called soaker .

When applying this technique, we should consider toasting the seeds beforehand to provide more flavour. Of course, there is no problem in using the soaker seeds without toasting them, the only thing we should keep in mind is that they will have less flavour.

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

We will make these whole wheat seed rolls without soaking them first. This means that part of the hydration of the dough will be absorbed by the seeds. This is something to keep in mind when making this or other breads.

How to work with whole wheat flour?

Whole wheat flour is a little more delicate than normal wheat flour, so when kneading this dough or any other dough with a percentage of whole wheat flour, we must do it delicately.

It is never advisable to knead bread roughly, but even less so if we are working with this variety of flour.

Seeds should always be added at the end of the kneading process , when the gluten network has already been developed. The reason is that the presence of pointed shapes does not at all help the dough to develop properly, as they will cause tears.

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



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

Ingredients (for 3 whole grain bars)

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

Elaboration

We prepare the dough for our whole wheat 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 left.
3. To mix it, we can do it manually or in a Kitchen Aid type mixer using the hook. We will always mix at the lowest speed for 2 minutes maximum.
4. We cover the dough with a cotton cloth and let the autolysis take place for 30 minutes .
5. After this resting time, add the yeast. Dissolve the yeast in the 5g of water and pour over the dough to completely homogenize.
6. We add the honey together with the salt and proceed to knead again until it is integrated.
7. Once we have the dough with developed gluten, we add the seeds.
8. Knead carefully to avoid breaking the gluten mesh. Fold gently until evenly distributed throughout the dough.

We do the first fermentation and/or in bulk

1. Place the dough in an airtight container or bowl previously greased with olive oil. Cover with the appropriate lid or film to prevent the dough from crusting and allow it to ferment for 3 hours in bulk at room temperature.
2. The dough will rise 2/3 of its volume . At this point, refrigerate the dough until the next day.

We preform and shape 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 it into three equal portions, each one will be around 190g, and we pre-shape it.
4. We cover the pieces with a cotton cloth and let them rest for 15-20 minutes . After this time, we proceed to form our baguettes.
5. We will have a linen couche ready or, failing that, a very large linen or cotton tablecloth, and we will flour it generously. We will set it aside.
6. To form the bars we will do it in the same way as 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 it with water and cover the entire exterior with seeds.
8. We place the wholemeal bar on the couche . We repeat this step with the other two pieces.
9. We cover it and let it rise for about 60-90 minutes . You should see that it has almost doubled in volume.

We bake the baguettes

1. When there are 45 minutes left to bake the baguettes, we will preheat the Emile Henry oven .
2. We place 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 this with a knife or a slightly moistened blade to prevent it from sticking to the dough and tearing it.
4. The cuts should not be inclined, they should be practically straight. We will make 2 cuts in the baguette with a quick and sure movement, we should not hesitate or cut again on a cut. It will be somewhat laborious due to the presence of seeds on the outside.
5. Once we have scored the three bars, we spray a little water on them and put them in the oven:
6. Using oven gloves, remove the lid of the ceramic oven and place it on a surface that cannot be damaged, such as a glass ceramic hob. Transfer the bars to the Emile Henry oven as quickly as possible and place them on the holes.
7. We cover it 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 from the ceramic oven, always using gloves, and bake for around 5-8 minutes with air at 220ºC .
10. We take it out and let it cool on a rack.

STORAGE: This bread has a short shelf life, ideally it should be consumed the same day it is made.

Emile Henry ceramic baguette oven

Important notes

• This time I'm going to show you how to make the loaves in 2 days . This way we can divide up the work and make it easier. It also improves the flavour of the bread after a period of rest. But, if you want to do the whole process in a row, you just have to 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 bread with sourdough, we must be much more careful with the fermentation. Wholemeal flour speeds up the leavening process a lot and we run the risk of over-fermenting if we are careless.
• The seeds I mention are optional , you can always adjust them to your taste.
• If you don't have a shovel to transport the baguettes from the couche to the oven, you can do the following: Place a strip of baking paper on the couche and place the baguette on top of this, so that once it has risen, you can move it to the oven without having to handle it with your hands, as this would damage it.
• We do not have to let the loaves 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 scoring of the bars must be done just before baking . We cannot score them a few minutes before putting them in the oven.
• The final baking should be done with air because it helps to obtain a nice, uniform golden brown, in addition to removing excess moisture, which allows us to obtain a thin and very crispy crust.

We hope you will soon be encouraged to try these wholemeal bread bars with seeds . As you can see, you can bake different varieties of bread in the Emile Henry ceramic oven , not only baguettes but also this smaller format.

This could be a great option for making individual rolls for the upcoming festive season. Don't you think?