The mission of the Bread Baking Babes for March was to make Granary-Style Bread. Tanna of My Kitchen Half Cups invited us to play in her granary sand box, and play we did.
As it turns out, authentic Granary Bread is made from a proprietary granary mix that originated in the late 1800s and is manufactured by Hovis Foods in Britain.
So with this in mind, the goal for the monthly challenge was not to make authentic granary bread, unless of course we wanted to order the proprietary flour from overseas, but rather to have fun creating our versions and include malted grains, sprouted wheat or whatever we could find in our local kitchens to substitute.
I’ve never tasted granary bread before so I was shooting in the dark as to what blends/flavors/proportions to include. At Tanna’s suggestion, I consulted my new best friend, English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David to see what she had to say about this bread.
According to David, the granary blend includes a mixture of wheat and rye meals along with pieces of malted grain, also known as sprouted wheat flakes. Fair enough. Now all I had to do was figure out what proportion of wheat and rye meals and sprouted flakes to use.
David further surmised that the maltiness of Granary Bread was too strong for her so she added 81 to 85% wholemeal or strong plain flour to the granary meal to make her version. I decided if she could fool around with the formula, so could I, and mess around is what I did.
Tanna chose King Arthur Flour’s Granary-Style Bread recipe for this challenge. I reworked the KAF recipe to create my own formula using Elizabeth David’s suggestions.
I converted the volume measurements to grams and flip-flopped the amounts of wheat and white flour used. I didn’t have any wheat flakes so I used rye flakes. I also substituted Sprouted Red Fife for the wheat flour. I did use barley malt extract but sparingly so as not to overpower the loaf.
When I say granary-style bread, I’m using the term very loosely. I’m not sure if it’s even a close approximation, but I had fun and it tastes good. I’m good with that!
Granary Style Loaf, loosely interpreted
Adapted from KAF Granary-Style Bread
Makes: 1 Sandwich Loaf
- 405 grams lukewarm water
- 1/2 tablespoon barley malt extract *
- 115 grams rye flakes
- 335 grams sprouted Red Fife Wheat
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 grams sea salt
- 120 grams unbleached bread flour, plus extra for sprinkling
* I didn’t want to overpower the loaf with malt flavor, so I only used 1/2 tablespoon. However, based on the suggestions of the other BBBs I will probably increase the amount to 1 tablespoon the next time I make this bread. Feel free to experiment to find the amount that suits your palate.
Soaker:
Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the barley malt extract, rye flakes, and sprouted wheat. Mix in the yeast and allow the soaker to sit for 15 to 20 minutes to absorb the liquid.
Dough:
Stir in the olive oil and bread flour until you have a shaggy mass that should hold together and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add additional water or flour, if necessary.
Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it until it starts to come together. Let it rest for a few minutes while you clean the bowl and lightly grease it with oil. Continue kneading the dough until it is tacky but not sticky. Only add enough flour to keep it from sticking.
First Proof:
Place the dough in the greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let it rise 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Gently deflate it and shape it into a loaf (or log) shape.
Final Proof:
Place the loaf in a greased 9” x 5” loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise until it is about three-quarters of the way to doubled in the pan.
Baking:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and bake the loaf for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer, inserted in the middle of the loaf, registers 190 degrees F.
Remove the loaf to a wire rack to cool before slicing and serving.
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Would you like to bake along? Just make a Granary Loaf (or Granary-style Loaf) in your kitchen. Tanna is this month’s host (more info in her post). I hope you’ll join us!
Check out this month’s Bread Baking Babes posts for inspiration:
- Brown Bread (BBB Granary-Style Bread) by Elizabeth at blog from OUR kitchen
- Granary Loaf by Heather from girlichef
- Granary Style Bread Loaf by Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen
- Granary Style Loaf by Pat from Feeding My Enthusiasms
- Granary Style Loaf by Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups
- Granary-Style Loaf by Lien from Notitie van Lien
- Granary-Style (ish) Loaf by Cathy of Bread Experience
Happy Baking!
Cathy
I know looks can be deceiving Cathy but from the looks of your loaf I’d say your time in the SandBox was a success. Looks like my Granary Style loaves and I did order one bag of the Hovis.
I loved reading Elizabeth’s book and comments on this bread. Evidently she was one of the lucky ones who was fed castor oil and barley malt syrup. The association can be life altering evidently. I saw her comments about the toning things down. Perhaps they’ve changed the formula now because I made the recipe on the bag and did’t find it overwhelming … but then I didn’t get the caster oil/ malt barley either. I do enjoy these malted wheat flakes.
Thanks for the challenge Tanna! It was fun playing in the granary sand box. I’ll probably have to order some of the Hovis granary meal at some point so I can compare, but I was pretty happy with the taste and texture of this one.
Your bread looks awesome, Cathy.
I used pretty much what I had on hand and liked the way the bread turned out too.
Thanks Aparna! I think using what you have on hand makes for great bread. Glad you like it as well.
Oh my goodness! This bread just looks marvelous. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! It is pretty good.
Your loaf looks great. I never heard of red fife before (now I’ve searched and found out), so that’s always interesting. Did you sprout it yourself or is it a kind of flour? We can’t get any sprouted flours overhere, but it sounds good!
Great playing around.
Thanks Lien! I did not sprout the flour myself. It is from a company called One Degree from Canada actually, but I got this bag from Whole Foods in the U.S.
Even though I can’t taste it, it definitely LOOKS delicious. It doesn’t sound too far off flavorwise, except I don’t know what red fife wheat is, so I suppose I’m just talking. The texture looks pretty great, though – perfect for my morning toast!
Thanks Heather! You’re too funny! It was perfect for morning toast and afternoon or evening toast for that matter.
Beautiful loaf Cathy. Two questions…what type of grain is Red Fife Wheat…hard wheat maybe? and what lovely flakes did you use on the outside of your loaf? Love that look!
Thanks! You are quite right! Red Fife is an heirloom hard red wheat. This one is from Canada. I used rye flakes on the outside and inside of the loaf. Tasted great!
I wish that I could take credit for thinking to consult Elizabeth David, Cathy! But it was Tanna who pointed us to her book.
Your loaf looks wonderful! I’m so envious of the rye flakes garnishing the top.
As for the amount of malt, I’m not sure that I agree with Elizabeth David’s assessment when she says it is not what she “would call everyday bread” and goes on with “for many people, a taste for the overwhelming flavour of malt amounts almost to an addiction […] while for those like myself, tormented in childhood by the enforced administration of those viscous malt extracts which were supposed to ward off colds, flu and any number of ills, a prejudice against malted bread is equally strong.”
I think that I must be numbered in the “many people”. While I do remember being force-fed spoonfuls of cod liver oil, I do not recall bottles of malt extract lurking on the shelf beside the bottle of cod liver oil. So maybe that’s why . All this is my long-winded way of urging you to try adding a little more malted grain just to experience the amazingly wonderful flavour it lends to the bread. Now that I’ve tasted it, this is what I want every day!
But next time, I’m going to copy you and get hold of some rye flakes to scatter over top.
Elizabeth, thank you for the clarification and for your thoughtful comments. Sometimes I get lost trying to follow the posts in the BBB blog. I will update this post so it reflects the appropriate source.
After reading about everyone else’s loaves, I have come to conclusion that I need to try the authentic version.I’ll probably spring for some of the Hovis flour at some point.
When I make this version again, I’ll probably add more malt. I based the amount I used on Elizabeth David’s comments and the comments from some of the bakers who tried the KAF version. KAF uses 1-2 tablespoons for 2 loaves and I used 1/2 T for one loaf. I might increase that to 1 T. We’ll see.
I love the flakes on top. I’m really craving this bread.
Thanks Katie! It is delicious!
That is really a perfect loaf on the outside and inside! I’ve been out of the loop with the Babes but had to check out the granary loaves. This looks like the perfect bread to go with soup and cheese! A beautiful loaf, Cathy!
Thanks Jamie! This was a fun challenge.