My 41th experiment: Almond bread with atta flour

I'm beginning to improvise on recipes. In this recipe, I use 1 portion of almond meal to 3 portions of atta flour. Atta flour has a reasonably high amount of bran, giving it a texture like that of whole wheat flour. Since almond meal is rich in oil, I decide not to add any extra oil to the dough. Dried longan may be a nice complement to almond. So I am trying out this one.

Recipe: Almond bread with atta flour (make 1 small loaf)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup atta flour
- 1/3 cup almond meal
- 1/2 tp salt
- 2 tps brown sugar
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 tp active dry yeast
- 2-3 TB dried longan

Procedure:
1. Proof yeast in warm water.
2. Mix all ingredients, except longan, to form a dough. Chill overnight.
3. Warm up dough for 2 hours on counter top. Punch down. Add longan. Form a ball. Allow to rest until its volume doubles.
3. Bake at 350F.

Results:
Day 1, 10:33pm, initial dough fully hydrated and ready to chill overnight:

Day 2, 4:07pm, dough taken out of the fridge to warm at room temperature:

Day 2, 5:06pm, dough punched down after warming up:

Day 2, 5:16pm, dough with dried Longan:

Day 2, 5:16pm, texture of dough:

Day 2, 5:25pm, final dough ready to rise on stove top:

Day 2, 6:13pm, dough risen 40 minutes:

Day 2, 6:24pm, loaf baked for 10 minutes, to be covered with foil for the remaining baking time:

Day 2, 7:02pm, loaf baked 50 minutes:

Day 2, 7:02pm, loaf's bottom:

Day 2, 7:03pm, loaf's internal temperature:

Day 2, 7:04pm, loaf's top:

Day 2, 7:06pm, one side of the cut:

Day 2, 7:08pm, another side of the cut:

Observations:
1. Despite the lack of oil, the dough seems to be well tenderized by the fat from almond.
2. The loaf does not have any distinctive aroma of almond at all. I wonder if almond needs to be toasted with a little fat in order to bring out its flavor. The almond shortbread has a much stronger characteristic of almond than this bread.
3. The taste of longan is more obvious. So is the taste of the bran in the atta flour. In fact, the atta flour is really distinctive for its tough and grainy texture.
4. The bottom crust is thick and very crunchy, while the top crust is rather thin. I think the black loaf pan makes that thick crust.
5. Because of the lack of oil, this bread seems to stale quite fast, just within 2 hours of cooling down.

This bread keeps pretty well when sliced up and frozen. My husband really enjoys eating it toasted the next day.