Whole Wheat Brioche from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day!
For The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day the idea was to offer a variation of sweets and enriched breads, but they had to fit with our goal of healthier ingredients. This meant less white flour, less sweeteners, less fat and yet still delicious, tender and rich.
Whole Wheat Brioche
Makes enough dough for at least two 2-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.
4 cups white whole wheat flour (white whole wheat is nice for its lighter color and flavor, but the recipe works fine with regular whole wheat)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted or (zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine) or (neutral-flavored oil)
3/4 cup honey
5 large eggs
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top of loaf
The following are the basic instructions, for more details refer to the book.
1. Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) Food Storage Container
2. Combine the liquid ingredients and mix the m with the dry ingredients without kneading , using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor or a heavy duty stand mixer with paddle.
3. The dough will be loose, but will firm up with chilled.
4. Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.
5. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before using. The dough can be stored and used over the next 5 days.
6. On baking day, grease a Non-Stick Brioche Mold or an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated whole wheat brioche dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough (you can make a one-pounder as well). Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball into the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for about 1 hour 45 minutes. (dough should no longer feel cold and will have a bit of spring to it).
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the middle of the oven.
8. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf’s top with egg wash.
9. Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for about 40-45 minutes. For smaller or larger loaves you will need to adjust the resting and baking times– a one-pounder should need only about 35 to 40 minutes in the oven.
10. Remove the brioche from the pan (see page 50) and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing.
Enjoy!
Note: BreadIn5.com is reader supported–when you buy through links on the site, BreadIn5 LLC earns commissions.
First off Zoe thank-you for taking the time to answer my question, you have got to be so busy, and thank-you for creating this new world for us, I am so loving it. I need to ask one more question about the Cranberry Orange Brioche. In a quick bread version you use orange juice to make the orange taste stronger, but we can not do this with the brioche dough because it has eggs and the dough sits in the refrigerator for two to five days. Am I correct? Thank-you again for the help!
Hi Suzie,
You can use some OJ, but not too much or the acid will be too much for the dough and won’t store well. What I would do is use zest to get that orange flavor. There are also some very lovely orange oils available in specialty food shops.
Thanks, Zoë
Mistakes happen, and you’re doing a great job of handling them. The errata, the blog posts, and making yourselves available to help more than make up for any typeos!
Thanks Jess,
We appreciate your kind words and understanding!
Happy baking! Zoë
Jeff and Zoe,
I have baked bread for over 20 years and found myself unable to do it because the kneading hurt my carpal wrists too much (not to mention the lack of time as I home school all my kids). I picked up your Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day at my library filled with skepticism, but I decided to give it a try. Wow! The bread is amazing! I can finally find the time to make delicious bread again, without hurting my wrists. My friends and family cannot believe that the bread is easy to make and requires so little of my time. I was thrilled to discover your latest book as we prefer to eat healthier choices. Thank you for publishing these books. What a difference they have made in my life. Thank you also for giving us the opportunity to ask you questions. I have already had a few of my questions answered by reading earlier asked questions.
Thank you Aimee!
I’m so glad that you are able to bake bread again!
Enjoy, Zoë
Hi! Loving the new book… one question-
ON page 182 for the stuffed loafs- what kinds of doughs are recommended?
thanks!
Hi Mandy,
We started out by listing out the doughs one could use and realized that the list was pretty much all the doughs in the book. 😉 I made them all with the whole wheat brioche dough, which is a very soft and slightly lighter crumb. I’ve also made them with the master recipe, but they are a slightly denser loaf. You could also use the rye dough for the Ham, Emmental and Cabbage stuffed loaf. Really the sky is the limit.
Enjoy! Zoë
Thank-you Zoe, I will try the zest first and if that is not enough I will go to the orange oil. I just discovered your web site and have really enjoyed reading everything on it. The one thing that shines through is your love of your art.
I was curious as to how you suggest storing your bread after you make it? I saw in the book you said lay it flat on a counter with the cut side down. The problem is I have random flies and whatnot in my house that I don’t want getting on my bread. Can I completely cool it and then put some saran wrap over it? What about refrigeration? I sometimes keep my store-bought loaves in the fridge, and they don’t mold as quickly. I’d appreciate any suggestions. Thank you! Love your book! 🙂
Hi Dawn,
Are you in a particularly hot and humid environment? Covering the bread with plastic will make the crust on the loaf soggy. You are better off to put the bread in a paper bag with the cut side down. If it is very hot and humid you will lose the crust anyway and may need to refrigerate or freeze the breads.
Enjoy! Zoë
I reread the recipe and the GF batter with 4 raw eggs is only supposed to knock around the refrigerator for ONE week, and I feel all better.
Hi Zoe and Jeff,
Just wanted to let you how much I’m enjoying your new book and still use the first one often as well. I joined the HBin5 group and made the first Pumpkin Pie Brioche recipe as a group. What a versatile recipe and so perfect for this time of year. You can see pictures at breadoverheels.blogspot.com – just started the blog for the group.
Thanks again!
Hi Mira,
Wow, that is fantastic! I will stop by your new blog and check out the pumpkin brioche! Thank you so much for trying it, I love that recipe!
Cheers, Zoë
I love the first book and have been working my way through it. I par-baked 12 loaves of the chocolate filled brioche last weekend to use as gifts over the holidays. I hope Santa brings me the new book next month!
The tip/request I have is for shaping. More step-by-step photos detailing how to make all of the wonder shapes (knots, braids, wheat sheaf) would be a great tool to have on the website.
Lea: We do a new post every week, so they’ll gradually trickle into the website. Jeff
Someone wrote about a chocolate stuffed bread and I can’t find it anywhere now. Any help out there for me?
Pat: Our first book has a chocolate brioche, but maybe you mean these: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=474 ?? Jeff
While rechecking the basic bread recipe on Mother Earth News, I discovered your site and can’t wait to try some of the recipes here. I currently live in Chile and bake the bread in my wood stove. My kids can’t get enough of it. I can’t wait until I am back stateside and can buy your new book. Thanks for posting recipes on the site so I can enjoy a few different loaves I the meantime. I am going to surprise my children with the chocolate bread recipe!
What a great way of making bread! my son and his student friends are making all kinds of variety’s.Very healthy! They can make buns and free form loaves but mine spread sideways. The difference was the water. We have a softener, my son does not. So I used different water but my dough still spreads sideways.
I thought that I must me doing something wrong so I asked my son when he was home to make the dough.
Again it spreads.
added more flour; no effect.
I could do with some advice.
greetings,
Monique
Hi Monique,
Are you and your son using the same kind of flour? Same brand? Different brands have varying amounts of protein, which absorb water differently. Your flour may be softer (less water absorbing protein) and require you to add more. How do you store your flour and are you measuring it with a “scoop and sweep” method? If you are storing your flour in a big bin be sure not to aerate it too much before measuring. Some people whisk their flour before measuring, which will result in too little flour for our recipes.
Please let me know if any of this sounds like it could be the problem.
Thank you and I’m so thrilled that you and your son are baking the bread! Zoë
I ended up taking mu first book , my container, and my new book and making the chocolate bread and added dried cherries and it was a roaring success! My cousin couldn’t believe it was so easy and good for T’giving morning, so we ate most of one loaf the night before…to heck with the letting it cool rule. We both agreed that it would have been better from fresh dough made into mid-sized pans, not full sized ones. I added some dried craanberries to the batter and then had fresh preserves,but they liked it with butter best.
Sigh, another cookbook gone! It was a great hostess gift. She’ll still have to buy the first one to get the recipe!
Pat
Thanks for your post-Thanksgiving note, Pat, so fun. Many, many people tell us that they just won’t let it cool. It works decently with smaller loaves especially, but large loaves tend to seem gummy when you break into them hot.
Cool it at least a little?
Jeff
what is the difference between “white whole wheat flour” and whole wheat pastry flour? One and the same? I use WWPF for cookies, pie crusts, etc.
thanks–love your books!
Hi Sue,
Whole wheat pastry flour has less protein than regular whole wheat (including white whole wheat). The protein (gluten) creates the strength in the dough, which is necessary for bread baking. That is why WW pastry flour is great for tender pastries, but not good for bread.
Hope that helps! Zoë
so on a scale of more-to-less gluten, it’s
whole wheat flour
white whole wheat flour
whole wheat pastry flour
thanks for the clarification.
Sue: As far as I know, WW flour and WWW flour have about the same gluten, but I could be wrong on that… We’ve had good luck using them interchangeably. Jeff
Hi, I love your new book. I was addicted to eng muffins from your website and orig peasant dough recipe from old book. i took electric non stick griddle and put the dough dipped in corn meal inside greased muffin tins and let rise for 30-40 min. on griddle. i never had to move them. then i turned on griddle to 350 and let them bake approx 7 min each side. Fabulous. which doughs from your new book will make creative muffins. i am open to all kinds of healthy creations, dried fruit included. Will they rise okay with heavy grains etc? I have your soft whole wheat sandwich dough rising now. thank you for your new book. Am excited to try all. Lauri
Hi Lauri,
The whole grain doughs should work just as well for English Muffins, but you may need to let them rise a bit longer than you have been. Depending on the flavor you can use the Master or even some of the enriched doughs. Please report back and let me know what you end up trying.
Thanks and enjoy! Zoë
p.s. in my recent message i said muffin tins….i meant those english muffin rings. :0)
thanks, Lauri
While making the basic Whole Wheat recipe published in MEN, I happened to notice the Bob’s Vital Wheat Gluten had expired in Sept. ’09. I just bought it, and missed that. So, not having another store that carries it for miles, I used it anyway, just used 1/3 cup instead of 1/4 cup. It rose really fast and well, and hopefully will turn out fine. I’ll let ya know. Can anyone tell me how much time is the “don’t bother” point for this, as this grocer is not so easy to convince on keeping up with the items that aren’t big sellers. Thanks so much.
Hi Tammy,
You may want to store the remainder of the bag in the freezer to halt the possibility of it going bad. The date is not that old, so I’m sure it will be just fine, but in the future you may want to consider buying it online through Amazon or other online retailers.
Thanks, Zoë
I love the new book! Thank you so much for writing such wonderful books, and for making yourselves so available! Would you be interested in coming to Iowa City (IA) to teach a class? There’s a great co-op here that offers cooking classes; should I approach them about it?
Dorothy: Glad you like the book(s)! I don’t think we’re going to be available to teach that far away… you can e-mail me directly with details if you’d like to pursue further though (see “Contacts” tab for my e-mail). Jeff
I’m getting a wonderful reputation as a bread baker thanks to your books. I had tried with the old book to make seeded bread, and while the flavor was good, the bread was dense and heavy. The new book had the solution in the seeded oat bread which is delicious! Come to San Antonio, TX and we’ll treat you well!
Hi Carol Ann,
I’m so pleased you like that seeded loaf. I’ll be sure to tell Betsy, who we named it after!
Thanks, Zoë
Yeah, those typos are sneaky, aren’t they??
I discovered you guys in Mother Earth News, and was instantly intrigued! So I got the Kindle version of ABin5, and was so impressed at the versatility and sheer variety of your recipes (including a Moroccan gazpacho which sounds utterly divine) that I think I’ll have to roar my way into the cookbook section the next time I’m in a bookstore just to pick up those two books!!
I actually have a question regarding flour. Have you guys had any luck with spelt flour using any of the recipes in either ABin5 or HBin5? I ask because I definitely love my bread & pastries (what self-respecting foodie wouldn’t?), but one of my problems is I happen to have a slight sensitivity to wheat. Using spelt flour with this method would certainly help (albeit more with HBin5). So could I (conceivably) use spelt flour or wheat flour, depending on the recipes?
Thanks all!
BJ
Hi BJ,
In HBin5 we say that you can use spelt instead of the whole wheat. The issue you may run into if you have a slight sensitivity to gluten is that you will not be able to use the Vital Wheat Gluten. In order to take it out of the recipes you will have to add more flour or the dough will be too wet. All of the recipes were tested with the vital wheat gluten so you will have to experiment to find the right ratio. Remember that eliminating this ingredient will result in a denser loaf of bread. Tasty, but denser.
Thanks and let us know how it goes!
Thanks, Zoë
Thanks for responding so quickly, Zoë!
I can have gluten, just in moderation (i.e. I can’t get too crazy with it). I could use VWG in moderation with these recipes, right?
BJ
BJ: It all depends on what you are sensitive to, whether it’s wheat gluten, or some other compound in wheat. If it’s gluten that you’re sensitive to, you’re not going to enjoy breads made with VWG. For people gravitating to spelt (a lower-gluten wheat variety), adding back in the gluten seems counterproductive.
Sounds like you’re going to need to experiment? Jeff
My last batch of the master recipe (from first book) is too dry. After baking with some of dough, I have some left in my bucket. By the way, I modify your recipe by using my sourdough starter rather than commercial yeast. My question is: can I add in some more water before I bake the last loaf of bread? Shall I just sort of knead it in?
Erika: Did you switch to a higher-protein flour? Bet that’s it, it absorbs more water. Don’t try to knead the water in, you’ll knock out all the gas. Better– just float a little water on the surface for 4 hours or so, it will absorb, at least partly.
If you continue to have dry results, just add a quarter-cup more water to each batch. Jeff
Hi,
I just got your book Healthy Bread in 5 and wanted to make the “Gluten-Free Olive Oil Bread” but am hesitant to try it due to what “may be” and error in the ingredients. The cornstarch amount at 3 1/2 cups looks really high in ratio to the flours. can you confirm or adjust this before I go ahead?
Thanks in advance…
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
It is not a typo, the recipe results in a very light textured bread. If you are looking for something a little denser and toothsome then you may want to make the crusty boule recipe and replace the oil for olive oil.
Enjoy! Zoë
Hi, I found HBin5 at the library and cannot wait to try the bread (and order my own copy of the book, too). The dough is in the fridge as I write. I have baked my own bread for over 20 years, shunning all offers of bread machines, and love the winters in Ontario, Canada as it gives me an excuse to bake (warms up the house!!).
I was checking the recipe on page 64 for the Garlic Knots and do not see where to add the ‘parmesan’ cheese that is listed as an ingredient. Do I sprinkle it on before putting them in the oven or right when they come out?
Thanks for this great new bread baking idea.
Sorry Margaret, on page 65 (Step 5): Add a sentence to the one that’s already there, to read: Sprinkle grated cheese over the knots. Jeff
Hi I just got your new book and it doesn’t have the typo. Have new copies been corrected? They don’t mention a second printing.
Anna: Not sure, but glad you’re happy with your copy! Jeff
Hey Jeff, I actually found an interesting type of flour that I’ll need to experiment with, called VitaSpelt flour, which has about 75% spelt flour and about 25% white flour. It can be found at https://www.purityfoods.com/ if either you or Zoe wish to experiment with this type of flour (plus it can be found about where you guys are, bonus). For me, this has the perfect amount of gluten, although I’d probably want to be a bit more careful about the crust if I were baking with this.
BJ
Hi BJ,
Thanks for the link and tip about the spelt flour. We will have to give it a try! let us know what kind of results you are getting.
Enjoy, Zoë
Hi – I looked at the whole wheat brioche recipe you posted compared to what’s in the book and I can’t find the mistake. Can you let me know what the actual error was? THANKS!
Jolie: Sounds like you have one of the 1st corrected printings— the mistake would be obvious. If your book (p.275) calls for 1/4 cup of vital wheat gluten and 2 1/4 cups of lukewarm water, then you have the corrected version. Our “Errors” page (https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=73) refers to the very first printing. Jeff
I too cannot find the error in the recipe on page 275, my recipe reads exactly like the corrected one listed here, so it appears that later printings of the book have the corrected recipe already, hurray! I have both of your books, and am totally addicted to your bread, i have a post on my blog dedicated to it, as I get so many requests for an olive and hot pepper bread that I make from the basic recipe in the first book. You have taken bread baking to a whole new level, kudos to you both, you are my heros!
Wow Janine, this is a first, thank you for writing! Jeff
I have the mother earth news magazine and have found your receipe for HBin5. I want to start making this bread but the pizza stone I have says not to heat without something on it. Where do I find a stone that I can preheat for the amount of time needed?
Hi Judy,
I’m not sure I’ve heard of a stone that can not be preheated? Do you know the brand? If you look on our home page you will find a link to the stone from Amazon that we recommend.
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you for posting recipe errors in printing. It really shows you care about us readers and our bread baking success!
My very first attempt turned out great using corn meal on the pizza peel to slide the bread onto the stone. When I baked the second loaf I tried using parchment paper. Your Amazon video shows it coming right off the loaf after baking.
But the parchment paper never did come off my loaf! It stuck to the bottom and I had to tear off the bottom of the loaf. What did I do wrong?
Thanks!
Hi Bonny,
The problem is that some parchment paper is coated, almost like wax paper and that adheres itself to the bread. I’ve found that to be true with the parchment I get at the cake supply store. You may want to just try a different brand.
Thank you for the note! Zoë
I loved your first book. Made the usual high altitude adjustments at two different homes. Bake great bread at both. Now, HB inFive whole wheat master recipe. I made it and it is a disaster. Way too wet. I live in an arid state and usually need to add water. I reduced the yeast, upped the salt slightly, added vital wheat gluten, used the recommended flours (new by the way not expired,) let rest the usual time and ended up with hockey pucks which were inedible. I was able to somewhat salvage the dough by adding huge amounts of flour, more salt, and by kneading by hand. Increasing the raising time just flattened out the dough. I am about ready to throw the book out, could there be an error in the recipe? A few local experienced bakers in my area have had the same problem. I might add we are all very experienced bakers and can’t seem to figure this master recipe out. We do love some of the other recipes in the book and have had good success.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Bonnie: There’s something wrong here, we know the recipe works as written. Where, exactly are you located, and what brands of flours are you using? Any chance you are using low-protein flour, such as any bleached flour, or a Southern U.S. flour like White Lily? Which recipe, from what page in the book are you using? Jeff
I love both of your books. Just happened to be on here and brought my copy of HBin5 to correct the mistake, but I can’t find it. What exactly is wrong with the recipe on pg. 275?
Thanks.
Denisa: You must have a corrected edition of the book!
I’m new to your bread methods, and am loving them! A question for you, though. I’ve made the brioche dough twice and neither seemed to get the initial “rise and collapse” that the master recipe does. Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?
Wendy: It doesn’t always behave that way, it’s fine if it didn’t clearly do it. So long as it did a robust initial rise. Jeff
I think I must be doing something wrong with my ABin5 dough. After baking, the crust is usually hard to cut through, especially the bottom. The crumb seems very wet as well. For the crust part… am I taking too much time with the gluten cloak? I think I may be handling it too much. I can not seem to stop myself from making the top smooth. Also when you do the gluten cloak, do you keep the dough in the same position it was in, in the storage container? Or do you flip it over and make the top, the bottom, then do the cloaking? Would that make a difference? I use Gold Metal all purpose unbleached flour for my dough.
Thanks! Love your bread and so do my co-workers.
Diana: If I had to guess I’d say your oven temperature is off. Use a themometer to check it. The inexpensive thermometer at Amazon is fine: https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Gourmet-Thermometer-Stainless-Steel%252fCopper/dp/B000HB5NA4?&camp=212361&linkCode=wey&tag=arbrinfimiada-20&creative=380725
Also, are you using steam in the oven or one of the alternatives, like?
Baking in a Dutch Oven: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=552
Aluminum Roasting Pan for Crust: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=510
Cloche baking: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=566
… steam promotes a thin crackly crust rather than a thick and hard one…
The specifics about the gluten cloaking probably aren’t the cause here, and it doesn’t matter how you orient the piece of dough. If oven temp or steam aren’t the explanations, we’ll take it from there Jeff
Jeff, Yes I am using steam. I bought a little broiler pan just for making the bread, so that I don’t have to keep taking the one from my stove out. I also do have a themometer in the oven and it is almost right on the money. I bumped up the temp 5 degrees hoping that might take care of it.
What I meant about the dough, is that mine seems to be nice and smooth, on top, in the storage container but not so on the bottom (touches container) When I do the gluten cloak, it tends to get holes on top, meaning not 1 smooth surface.
Anything else I might try? Could it be that my broiler pan is too small and so it keeps water in the pan longer or lessens the steam?
Thanks for any ideas you can throw my way. It sure does not keep me from eating or making more. I just would like to perfect it.
Diana: Try one of the alternatives for trapping steam– some ovens just don’t have perfect seals for this, and the steam escapes. A larger broiler tray MAY help, another alternative. Jeff
I’m getting ready to make my first batch of dough from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes. I’ll be using the recipe for Herbed Potato and Roasted Garlic bread, but I want to be sure of something. Are the potatoes really raw when added to the dough? That seems like it’ll create chunks of potato throughout the bread, which doesn’t sound yummy.
Billi: Yep, they bake with the bread, will work! Make sure you cut them as small as we say. Jeff
I made the artisan bread from your basic recipe and it turned out great. I’m encouraged to take the next step and try this brioche.
Is the steam not required for baking this brioche?
In general, when making a (sandwich) loaf from your recipes with any kind of dough, should steam be used or not?
Thanks,
Farida
Farida: All these instructions are in the book– you don’t need steam for brioche or other enriched doughs. Jeff
Eggless Version (silken tofu)
Just baked off my first rolls using this corrected dough and made it eggless using 1 1/2 cups of smooth blended silken tofu. It made a great bread. My son has an egg allergy and I just discovered the magic of silken tofu.
Thanks for the tip– very interesting, will have to try as an egg substitute.
Hi! I want to make the cinnamon crescent rolls using the whole wheat brioche dough and I have a few questions. Can I make the dough, let it rest overnight then the next day make the crescents and let them rise in the fridge all day, come home from work and put them in the preheated oven? I saw something about refrigerator rising (which I tried with a semolina boule from the first book) and it worked well but I am wondering if I can do this with the crescent rolls. Please help! I am limited on time when I get home from work since we have to leave almost right away to a party and I want to bring these rolls to the party (it’s a breakfast for dinner party 🙂 )
Amanda: For egg-enriched dough, you should limit the room-temperature time. So start it on the counter, then transfer to fridge at two hours or so. Making the crescents in advance and refrigerating them is great, as you’ve seen with our other recommendations on refrigerator rising on the website here– see the very first entry on our FAQs tab.
Have a great party, wish I were invited 🙂
Hello, I made your Mother’s Day Danish Bread (which was fabulous) and wanted to try it again in a whole grain way for friends this weekend. I think I found another error in the HBin5 recipe – 3/4 cups of butter does not equal 1 1/2 sticks (as stated above and in the book). I was looking at what was left out of a pound of butter after measuring 3/4 cup (less than half) and comparing it against what I had measured out for the ABin5 recipe (https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=357) that calls for 1 1/2 sticks (= 3/4 lb). I put the larger amount of butter in – hope it works out!
Thanks for the great recipes.
Hi dc,
If you added extra butter to the dough it may change the consistency a bit, but it will taste amazing! Let me know how it comes out.
Enjoy and I’m glad you enjoyed the Danish! Zoë
whoops, my bad. HBin5 brioche calls for 3/4 cups butter (=1.5 sticks), ABin5 brioche calls for 1.5 cups butter (= 3 sticks). I was expecting it to be the same.
I am rather new to this bread baking and I forgot to add the water when making the WW brioche with the liquid ingredients so I thought that was why it didn’t mix right ….. but when I tasted it and got a sore jaw from chewing ….. I knew something was wrong ….. I was so glad to see this ingredient correction ….. maybe I know more than I think about bread which makes me feel good ….. these books have made such a difference in my eating ….. never eat store bought bread now!
Thanks,
Kathy
Kathy: No, it wasn’t you– sorry for the error, and glad to hear that the recipes are working for you. Come back anytime with questions.
As for the order of ingredients— with vital wht gluten, you need to whisk together the dry ingredients 1st, then add the wet, otherwise the VWG tends to clump. Jeff
Hi again
Just wanted you to know I did finally the water to the dough but not in the correct order
Kathy
My loaves came out waaaaay too airy and flimsy, not like brioche at all. Followed instructions exactly, EXCEPT my dough rose at room temp for two and a half hours, never collapsed. Continued to rise in refrigerator for another two and a half hours. Put in greased pans, rose for two more hours. Should I have waited longer at room temp? The consistency is just wrong, hard to cut it is so airy. Not my usual experience with a wholemeal bread. Any advice out there?
Hi Brindilou,
When you say that it is hard to cut, do you mean that it falls apart?
How long was your dough refrigerated in total before you formed it and baked it? 2 1/2 hours total or more?
The whole wheat brioche is much lighter in texture than the breads that are made without eggs and honey, but it sounds like yours was even more so.
Thanks! Zoë
Hi
On page 51 AB in five minutes a day the ‘cornstarch wash’ says boil it until it appears glassy. What is glassy? Mine never looks like clear glass however long I boil it.
Kathy
Kathy: Well… “glassy” may have been a bit of an overstatement. It does get very smooth and uniform though, then you know you’re done.
Use one coat at the start of baking, then re-coat 10 minutes before the loaf is done for shiniest effect (that’s not in the books). Jeff
In answer to your question, yes it was refrigerated for 2.5 hours after room temp at same amount of time. Then formed and risen another almost 2 hours in pan.
It was difficult to cut because the texture was too light. Any advice on making the whole wheat brioche denser?
I know advice may be in book, but mine hasn’t arrived yet from Amazon.
Thank you so much for taking the time to help!
Brindilou: I think you’ll find that longer storage leaves you with a denser result; you could stagger your batches so that you’re never using a brand-new batch on the same day as it was mixed. Let’s say, 2 or 3 days old (freeze egg-based doughs after five days).
Any chance you are using bleached flour rather than unbleached that we call for? That would leave you with a loaf that lacks adequate structure. And make sure you’re using the scoop-and-sweep method for measurement, I did a video on that at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1801
Jeff
Just got HBin5 on my kindle. Watching the bread rise right now. The good thing about the kindle corrections are easy the only down side how to autograph the kindle version : )