Having a nice loaf of bread waiting for you for breakfast is one of the many reasons I started making bread. Controlling what is inside and where ingredients come from is also as much important. I have had a hard time finding nice flour, I started with using flour I would bring back from France and shifted to Japanese flour, but honestly finding organic or chemical free local flour has been quite a challenge. And when I finally found it (アオヤギ製粉), discussing with the owner to see if they provide me with whole wheat flour, he told me there will be no harvest for the next 3 years because they need to replace some of their equipment… huge deception… so I order pretty much all their stock to support them (hoping it would enable them to fix their equipment faster) and be sure I would have enough for a year (that’s how long I think I can keep it in the Japanese weather). But I am pretty sure I won’t, now that I realized I use about 5kg of flour per month!!!! So I have turned back to the more commercial organic flour I’ve been finding at the supermarket, made in Japan but sold in tiny 500g bags (and this is the big size, the normal being 300g!!!). But at least there is some whole wheat flour which makes me happy. Indeed one of my favorite bread is pumpernickel and the other is a rich whole wheat bread with nuts, seeds, raisins etc… very dense, energetic and delicious! It reminds me some of the breads we often had at home, toasted with butter. So let me share my recipe.
Energy packed bread
- 500g of whole wheat flour
- 10g of salt
- 150g of sourdough
- 30g of brown sugar
- 70g of sultanas
- 70g of whole hazelnut
- 30g of pumpkin seeds
- You can add more but I like it that way….
- Water
In a large bowl mix together the flour, the sourdough, the salt and sugar. Add water as needed when kneading to obtain a soft slightly wet dough. Then add the nuts, seeds, sultanas. Knead to obtain an homogeneous mixture. Leave to rest for 6 to 24h depending on temperatures. After it has grown, shape it and leave again for another 2-3h. Bake 30 min at 230deg.
