The Quest: Whole-Grain Cracked Wheat Bread

Cracked Wheat Bread--the favorite bread of many.

It is good bread: soft and springy with the chewy nuttiness of the cracked wheat; salty, and sweet with molasses.

It contains whole grain: freshly-cracked wheat berries.

But the flour is white flour: high quality flour--King Arthur bread flour--unbleached and unbromated. But lacking the nutritious bran and wheat germ of whole-grain flour.

Could I use whole-grain flour and maintain the distinctive taste and texture?

Today I am using flour freshly-ground from hard white wheat. This flour is milder than "regular" red wheat flour.

It is good bread: soft and springy with the chewy nuttiness of the cracked wheat; salty, and sweet with molasses.

The whole-grain flour adds some welcome complexity to the flavor. And the nutrition of whole grain.

I prefer this version of cracked wheat bread.

What about you?

Aunt Betty's Cracked Wheat Bread

Pour 4 C boiling water over 2 C (8.5 oz.) cracked wheat and stir. Let stand until most of the water is soaked up, but not dry.

Add:

⅓ C molasses

½ C plus 2 Tbsp. canola oil

Stir together and add, mixing with the dough hook of an electric mixer if you have it:

1 lb. flour (about 3½-4 C)--white bread flour or hard white whole-wheat flour

½ C sugar

2 Tbsp. yeast

1 C instant powdered milk

2 Tbsp. salt

Add and mix:

2 eggs

1¼ lbs. flour (about 4-4½ C)--white bread flour or hard white whole-wheat flour

Pour the dough onto a floured counter and knead it, adding more flour as needed, 1-2 C, until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in an oiled bowl; cover with waxed paper. Let rise once. Measure and shape into 4 or 5 loaves. Let rise and bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes.

Cracked Wheat Bread--Updated

Today I'm going to bake Cracked Wheat Bread using my Aunt Betty's recipe. Just thinking about it brings back a flood of happy memories from my childhood. She was--and is--a great cook, among her many other talents and abilities. I spent lots of time at her any my Uncle Frosty's farm while growing up, and it always involved home-made bread which was likely to be Cracked Wheat Bread.

My electric grain mill doesn't grind coarsely enough for cracked wheat, so I use my hand mill. It does a good job. I've made whole wheat bread using this mill to grind all of the flour. It's a little time-consuming and the flour is not quite as fine as the flour milled in my electric one, but it's fine enough. In fact, I have a friend who, when her husband was a medical resident, used this same model hand mill to grind all of her flour for baking bread. She did have a couple of boys who helped her.

My hand mill

Whole-grain wheat and cracked wheat

I'm baking Cracked Wheat Bread in this Friday's baking. So, if you are interested in ordering some, e-mail me at ksimmonsd@gmail.com and I will send you an order sheet.

I'm also baking White Whole Wheat Bread made with 100% white whole wheat flour this Friday.

I'll update this post after the bread is baked!

The Cracked Wheat Bread is baked, and it looks and taste great!