I’ve been subscribing to the blog of the authors of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day“. I’ve been making their recipe for a simple crusty bread for a while.

They have a new book out – “Heathy Bread in 5 minutes” and they recently wrote about their Whole Grain Master Recipe. I have been trying to increase the amount of whole grains in our diet and this would be a perfect addition. The secret ingredient is Vital Wheat Gluten.

I was grocery shopping this weekend and my grocer had a great sale on organic Whole Wheat flour from Bob’s Red Mill – $2.50 for 5 lbs. They also had the wheat gluten but it was not as inexpensive – $7/bag. Fortunately – it should go a long way since it only uses a couple of tablespoons.

I made the bread this weekend and it is super easy to make. You mix the dry ingredients first and then pour in the water. It takes a bit longer to rest after removing from the refrigerator – 90 minutes instead of 40 minutes. Otherwise, the methods are very similar. I cut the recipe in 1/2 and it made two nice loaves. I also reduced the amount of yeast and salt by 1/3 and it was fine – even in my cold kitchen.

It is very tasty and filling. It had a moist crumb and firm crust. The two of us were not able to finish the loaf like we are the white variety. We can’t resist the softer white bread – especially with olive oil. But it was perfect with soup on a cold rainy night.

If you want to try it yourself – check out their blog – Healthy Bread in 5 minutes.

Ingredients

Finished rising and out of the refrigerator

Shaped loaf resting before baking

Ready for the oven

Wanna slice?