Whole Wheat and Rye Swirl Bread

 

Sometimes bread baked with 100% whole wheat or whole grains turns out dense and a slightly bitter. I wanted a sandwich loaf that would be light, soft, easily sliceable, and delicious.

The starting point for this recipe was King Arthur Flour's whole wheat sandwich loaf. When I first tried their recipe I was very happy with the soft texture but not really sold on the flavor. I started trying different flours and doughs until (after many bakes) I came up with this loaf which has become a weekly staple. Its 100% whole wheat swirled with dark rye and caraway seed dough that bakes up soft and flavorful thanks to the addition of potato flakes and buttermilk.

 

 

I like to test my bread recipes over and over to make sure that the dough behaves relatively consistently. I recently had a fun fun baking date with Jacinthe and Rachele which I used as an opportunity to try out this recipe in another kitchen.

The rye dough is a mix of whole wheat and dark rye with caraway seeds and coco powder. The coco doesn't make the break chocolatey, it just adds extra flavor to the loaf and some extra colour to the rye. Both doughs have potato flakes, orange juice, and buttermilk in them. Potato flakes are just the stuff that you make instant mashed potatoes out of. Make sure you buy the plain ones though and not the ones with added fake flavors like sour cream and chive!

 

 

 Its always important to weigh/ measure your ingredients as accurately as possible, but even more so with the potato flakes. They absorb a lot of water so if you add too much then your dough will be dry, too little and you'll have a wet dough. Its an easy fix (if the dough is too dry add water, too wet add flour) but its best just to be careful with them in the first place.

Most likely your dough will end up a little bit on the dry side. During the initial kneading in the mixer if it doesn't seem to want to form into a ball start adding water one tsp at a time. Let the water get kneaded in before adding more. Strangely enough the dough will sort of look too wet, but if you poke it and it is quite stiff then its actually too dry to stick together. You want to add water until it forms a nice ball while kneading and is soft and slightly tacky when you poke it. I usually add up to 5 or 6 tsp of water depending on the dough.

If the dough gets too wet and starts sticking to the bottom sprinkle a tsp or two of flour. Its better to error on the side of a bit wetter than have a dry dough.

 

 

 

Once both doughs are made they get placed in lightly oiled bowls and left to rise until they have doubled. The dough that you made first will get bigger than the second dough but it doesn't affect the final loaf. It takes about 1 hour to 90 minutes for the dough to double.

We used this time to go through all the pretty cookbooks that Rachele has at her place as well as have Jacinthe show us how to make an awesome pie dough and cherry pie (yum yum yum).

 

 

 

When the dough has finished rising you can assemble assemble the loaves. You need an oiled work surface, a rolling pin, and two well greased loaf pans.

Split the two doughs in half so that you have four pieces. Take one whole wheat piece and one rye piece and roll them out into separate rectangles.

 

 

 

Place the rye rectangle on top of the whole wheat one and roll over them a few times to make sure that they are stuck together. I find the swirl looks the best if you make the whole wheat hang a little bit off the end closest to you and the rye go a little further on the end away from you.

Start tightly rolling the dough away from you. After each roll press along the seam with the side of your hand to tighten the surface of the whole wheat and seal out and air bubbles

 

 

Place the rolled loaves seam side down into well greased loaf pans. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 60- 90 minutes until the loaves have domed over the pans.

 

 

 

Since kitchen ovens lose a lot of heat when you open the door these loaves bake up best if you preheat the oven to 400 but then turn it down to 350 once the bread is inside it. That way the dough gets a blast of heat which helps give it that last rise in the oven.

 

 

Its always hard to wait to slice into the loaf when your whole house smells like delicious homemade bread but its best to let it cool for an hour so that the texture has a chance to set.

Then when you do (finally) slice it you can admire your pretty swirls. I'm pretty easily amused and the swirl of the rye makes me happy when I see it on my toast or sandwich.

 

 

If you keep your bread in a plastic bag with a twist tie it will keep for about a week. I find that the majority of these loaves disapear within a few days because they make great toast and fantastic sandwiches.

 

Whole Wheat and Rye Swirl

(Adapted from KAF Whole Wheat Loaf )

This recipe just has weight measurements at the moment but I'm going to be adding the cup measurements later this week.

Note: doesn't matter which dough you make first. I usually start weighing out the ingredients for the second dough while the first is kneading

 
Makes two big loaves

Whole Wheat
113g lukewarm water
113g lukewarm buttermilk
113g orange juice
71g melted butter
1.5 tsp salt
35g sugar
18g dry milk
46g potato flakes
425g whole wheat flour
2.5 tsp  instant yeast

1. Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer

2. Pour in wet ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment on low until completely combined

3. Switch to the dough hook and knead until soft and supple. Add more water 1 tsp at a time if needed. Knead until it passes the window pane test.

4. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap while you make the rye dough

Rye Dough

113g lukewarm water
113g lukewarm buttermilk
113g orange juice
71g melted butter
1.5 tsp salt
35g sugar
18g dry milk
46g potato flakes
2.5 tsp instant yeast
95 g dark rye flour
330g whole wheat flour
3 tsp coco powder
2 - 3 tsp caraway seeds


1. Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer

2. Pour in wet ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment on low until completely combined

3. Switch to the dough hook and knead until soft and supple. Add more water 1 tsp at a time if needed. Knead until it passes the window pane test.

4. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and rise until doubled (about 1 hour to 90 minutes)

5. Once the dough has doubled split both doughs in half. Take one piece of whole wheat and roll into a rectangle. Roll one piece of rye into a rectangle of the same size. Place the rye on top of the whole wheat but overhang the whole wheat on the top by a 1/2 inch. Tightly roll the two doughs together into a loaf. Use the side of your hand to pinch the loaf down as you roll. Place in a well oiled/buttered loaf pan. Repeat with other two pieces of dough

6. Let dough rise for an hour or until doming over the loaf pan. Preheat oven to 400

7. Put loaves in oven, lower temperature to 350 and bake for 40-45 minutes. Loaf should be brown, sound hollow and register at 190F

8. Remove from loaf pans and let cool completely before slicing

 

 

 

 

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Comments

[Rachele]

Yay! I love this bread and love this post!

One thing, you forgot the critical step of eating delicious Pho while waiting for the bread to rise. :)

[Mollyhare.wordpress.com]

That is the most gorgeous rolling pin I've ever seen.

[Rigel_p]

Very pretty. It's almost a shame to spread butter on it. Some unexpected ingredients in there...makes it all the more tempting.

[yummy supper]

Stephanie, I am so jealous of your bread making skills. When am I gonna get off my duff and get to baking some bread? At least I know where to come for inspiration:) Your swirl bread is gorgeous.
-Erin

[Leanne]

This bread is stunning. It sounds delicious, but it's so beautiful it's almost-- almost!!-- a shame to eat it!

[Emily]

this looks delicious, and that rolling pin!!!! Beautiful! Where'd you find such a gem?

[Maggie Muggins]

Such pretty loaves of bread, I haven't tried my hand at making any swirl loaves like that, but it sounds like a delicious combo.

And I just have to say that those aprons are so freakin’ cute!

[Lisa @ The Gonzo Gourmet]

Such a pretty bread - and love seeing your beautiful rolling pin again. So tempted to get one myself - I have to imagine it makes baking that much more fun.

[Jacinthe]

This bread is delicious. I used it to make some mini toasts for a white bean and swiss chard bruschetta. Here's the link: http://wp.me/pGXUi-aO

Yum!

Jacinthe

P.S. My name is spelled wrong on the second link :)

[Les]

I love your rolling pin... is it hard to clean? Also a good post because I kind of wondered how people got bread to do that.

[TasteHongKong]

A healthy bread without trading off for the softness and lightness, simply adorable!

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