Happy New Year! I’m starting the year off with a healthy bread. This 100% Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread is one of the breads the HBinFive Bakers made for the January 1st Bread Braid. It’s a very simple, but delicious bread.
It smelled so good while it was baking. There’s just something about the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven. Some friends came over about the time I put the loaves in the oven so I thought it was only fair to give them one. Actually, I had planned to give them a loaf anyway so I was glad that the aroma tantalized them and that they gladly accepted the loaf and some Strawberry Jam to go with it.
This 100% whole wheat bread includes some ground flaxseed for extra nutrition. Adding flaxseed to bread is a great way to ensure you’re getting omega-3 fatty acids in your diet.
We’re not supposed to post the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes’ recipes due to copyright issues, but I will say that this recipe is the same as the 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil except the 100% Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread calls for 1/2 cup of flaxseed instead of 1/2 cup of olive oil. Both recipes are great!
For this bread, I used a mixture of freshly milled white whole wheat flour from hard white winter wheat and whole wheat flour milled from hard red spring wheat. If you want more information on home milling your own grains, click here.
I mixed the dough two days before I planned to make this bread. That’s one of the benefits of using this method. After you mix the dough, let it sit on the counter for 2 hours, then place it in the refrigerator and use it to make bread over the next 10 days (or the amount of time specified by the particular dough you’re making).
On bake day, I took the dough out of the refrigerator and divided it into two pieces. I had only made one-half of the recipe so it was enough dough for two loaves. I shaped each piece into a ball and covered them and let them rest on the counter for about an hour until the dough warmed to room temperature.
Then, I flattened the dough out into rounds so I could shape them into torpedo-shaped loaves.
I folded the top half of the dough to the middle and pressed the seam down with my fingers.
Then I folded the bottom half up to the middle and pressed the seam with the back of my hand to make sure it stayed closed.
Then I turned the loaves seam down on parchment paper and let them proof for an hour. The loaves didn’t rise much during the proofing which is normal for the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes’ breads.
Right before baking, I scored the loaves with three slashes.
Then I covered the loaves with plastic while I preheated the oven to 400º F/200º C with a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan underneath.
Once the oven was preheated sufficiently (about 30 minutes), I placed the loaves (parchment paper and all) on the baking stone and poured a cup of hot water in the steam pan. I baked the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes until they were richly browned and firm. Then I placed the loaves on a cooling rack to cool before I gave one away.
We sliced the other loaf and enjoyed it toasted with cheese along with some Garden Fresh Tomato Soup made with the last tomatoes from my garden. I know it’s way past growing season but the tomatoes didn’t get the message. When the weather turned cold, I removed them from the vines and let them ripen inside. Both the soup and the bread tasted great.
About the HBinFive Baking Group
The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, baked breads from the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the new HBinFive baking group, check out Michelle’s blog.
Once again gorgeous loaves! I love flaxseed, it’s such a pretty seed to sprinkled on top of just about any bread!
Oh, that bread looks fabulous. I am salivating just thinking about fresh bread & cheese with homemade tomato soup- wonderful combo!
Nice letter fold. I think you got more oven spring than I did. Your loaves look great.
Beautiful loaves and great directions. Yum
I like your step by step pictures. Nice shape to the loaves and nice deep slashes. I always have trouble slashing the loaves. Maybe its because all my knives are dull. Baked loaves look very good!!!
Thanks! I always had problems scoring the loaves until I started using a serrated knife. It works really well.
Your loaves do look really good. I use a sharp, serrated knife for scoring, too, and that’s what works best for me. When I have time, I’d like to get into grinding flour again. I have a grain mill I have not used in years.
This looks like something I’d like to try, however:
I’m confused. You substituted 1/2 cp of flaxseed (whole seed or ground seeds?) for 1/2 of olive oil. One ingredient is a solid and the other a liquid. Why didn’t you decrease the amount of whole wheat flour (a solid) instead of the olive oil?
Hi Pam! You do substitute the flax seed meal for the olive oil. Yes, you are substituting a solid for a liquid. You would then need to increase the liquid (water) by 1/4 to 1/2. The recipe calls for 3 3/4 cups of water for this version and only 3 1/2 cups for the version with olive oil. I find that these recipes call for too much water anyway particularly if you’re using home-milled flour.