Eat Smarter USA | Eat Healthy. Live Smarter.
Ingredients
French Country Bread
- Ingredients
- 11 ozs Pastry flour (plus more for dusting)
- 11 ozs Whole wheat flour
- 1 cube fresh Yeast (about 42 grams)
- salt
- 1 tsp Malt extract
- 1 vegetable oil (for bowl)
The day before serving, mix 150 grams (approximately 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) total of combined flours, make a well in the center and crumble the yeast into well.
Pour approximately 3/4 cup warm water into the well. Using the dough hook of a hand mixer, beat on low speed until mixture forms a dough, about 5 minutes.
Turn out dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for an additional 5 minutes.
Form dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl.
Turn dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour.
Lightly knead the dough again. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Cover with a floured kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for about 40 minutes.
Mix remaining flour and 1 teaspoon salt in another bowl. Add the starter dough, malt extract and approximately 3/4 cup warm water and knead for 5 minutes with the dough hook of a mixer.
Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes by hand.
Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Gently turn out dough onto floured surface. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces and gently shape into 2 round loaves.
Place each loaf on a large piece of parchment paper, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot until increased by half. Heat a baking sheet on the lowest rack of a preheated oven at 475°F for about 4 minutes. Place loaves with parchment paper on the hot baking sheet. Pour approximately 1/2 cup water onto the oven floor and close the door immediately. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F and bake for another 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing and serving.
(Percentage of daily recommendation)
| Calorie | 180 cal. | (9 %) | ||
| Protein | 5 g | (5 %) | ||
| Fat | 1 g | (1 %) | ||
| Carbohydrates | 34 g | (23 %) | ||
| Sugar added | 0 g | (0 %) | ||
| Roughage | 4 g | (13 %) |
Healthy, because
Thanks to the use of whole wheat flour, the bread contains dietary fibers which have a positive effect on digestion. And the yeast used provides important metabolic, nerve, and beauty vitamins in the form of niacin, folic acid, and biotin.
Even smarter
Due to the slow rising, the dough develops a fine acidity. The bread gets even more bite and a plus of valuable unsaturated fatty acids if you knead some sunflower or pumpkin seeds under the dough.