My 51th experiment: Hummus bread

After trying out a few recipes from the King Arthur Flour cookbook, I finally decided to purchase the book itself. It's a worthy investment for its quality. So now I am going to try out something new again, adapted from a recipe from the book.

Recipe: Hummus bread (1 medium loaf)

Ingredients:
Dough
- 1 cup King Arthur unbleached bread flour
- 1+1/2 cup King Arthur whole grain flour
- 2+1/2 tps active dry yeast
- 3 TB warm water
- 1/3 cup flaxseeds
- 1 large egg
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 1+1/4 tp salt
- 1 tp sugar
- 1/2 cup 1% milk
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 TB sesame oil
Hummus
- 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 1/4 tp salt
- dash of cumin powder
- dash of garlic powder
- 1 TB sesame oil

Procedure:
1. To prepare the hummus, use a fork to mince the chickpeas into a paste. Add in lemon juice, salt, cumin and garlic powders. Stir everything in a saucepan on medium heat until the mixture is almost dry. Then add in the sesame oil and mix well to form a smooth paste.
2. Proof yeast in 3 TB warm water.
3. Mix flours, flaxseeds, hummus, sugar, salt, proofed yeast, and egg together. Then incrementally add in the milk, about 2 TB at a time. Mix to form a dough.
4. Once the dough has formed, knead for 5 minutes or until texture is strong. At this point, gluten is developing. Allow dough to rest a few minutes.
5. Add 2 TB olive oil and 1 TB sesame oil. Work the oils into the dough and continue kneading it until all the oils have been absorbed by the dough. At this point the dough becomes silky smooth and soft.
6. Allow the dough to rest until volume doubles.
7. Gently deflate the dough and shape it into a log. Grease a 8"x4.4" pan. Place dough into the pan to proof until its crom is about 1.5" over the rim of the pan.
8. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake on middle rack for 20 minutes. Then cover with foil and continue baking for another 13-20 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 190F.

Results:
11:30am, hummus prepared:

11:30am, yeast proofed:

11:30am, a few key ingredients:

11:42am, initial mixture:

11:47am, initial dough being formed:

11:57am, dough being kneaded 10 minutes on counter:

12:03pm, dough being kneaded 5 more minutes; observe the change in texture:

12:05pm, dough to rest for 2 minutes; observe hands:

12:07pm, dough with oil:

12:17pm, dough kneaded 10 minutes after adding oil, and ready to rest:

12:46pm, dough rested 30 minutes:

1:09pm, dough rested 50 minutes:

1:19pm, dough shaped into a log to proof in greased pan:

1:19pm, dough's height before proofing:

1:39pm, dough proofed 20 minutes on warmed surface:

1:39pm, dough's height after proofed 20 minutes:

1:56pm, dough proofed 50 minutes:

1:56pm, dough's height after proofed 50 minutes:

1:57pm, dough's surface tension:

2:03pm, dough scored:

2:06pm, dough topped with sesame seeds:

2:06pm, dough's height just before baking:

2:20pm, loaf baked 15 minutes uncovered, then covered with foil and continued baking at 350F:

2:45pm, loaf baked 40 minutes, reaching temperature 180F; observe that the loaf is so soft that the thermometer cannot stand by itself:

2:45pm, thermometer coming out clean:

2:50pm, loaf stayed in oven for another 5 minutes:

2:51pm, loaf's height when done:

2:52pm, loaf's temperature when done:

2:54pm, loaf non-sticky, easily sliding out:

2:55pm, loaf's bottom:

2:55pm, loaf's bottom corner:

2:55pm, loaf's top corner:

2:56pm, loaf's side:

2:58pm, loaf's top:

3:42pm, loaf's top after 50 minutes of cooling:

3:42pm, loaf's height after cooling:

3:43pm, loaf's wrinkles when cooled:

5:17pm, slicing the loaf; the crust has hardened up, making the bread hold its shape:

5:20pm, clean knife:

5:22pm, loaf yielding 15 slices:

5:22pm, a center-of-loaf slice; observe that the holes are mostly in the center top part:

5:23pm, a heel-of-loaf slice:

5:23pm, crumb and crust:

This is how I enjoy it for breakfast, with a generous spread of homemade hummus,  and then either toasted until the crust is crispy, or eaten just as it is. For this bread, I make the hummus less acidic and a little more salty, without much oil. It's just spreadable. Perfectly simple and perfectly tasty.

Observations:
1. This loaf rises very rapidly, and springs up to an impressive height in just 2-3 hours. However, it also collapses in the oven.
2. It shrinks further when cooled.
3. Once the loaf cools down, the crust hardens, so the loaf starts to hold its shape nicely. The crumb is very soft and light. It is also non-sticky to the knife. So I am surprisingly pleased by the result.
4. The bread has a unique savory taste. Not an ordinary sandwich loaf, but a specialty bread. The chickpea is noticeable, but not out loud. Perhaps it's because of the presence of lemon juice, the loaf has a distinctive sour smell, though it does not really taste sour. The whole wheat flavor is strong as well. The small waxy flaxseeds leave the mouth something to chew on when the bread has already moved towards the stomach. It's definitely a high quality loaf.
5. In terms of texture, this loaf does not have the elastic, tissue-like, crumb that is typical of wheat bread. I think the presence of hummus makes the crumb less elastic.
6. This loaf is comparable to commercial loaves in terms of its texture, softness and lightness. Very interesting. I love it. So does Dough!

My 46th experiment: Sunflower seed whole wheat bread

Having given away the loaves that I've baked, I am now baking a loaf for our own home. It is to be my favorite whole wheat bread with orange juice and seeds.

Recipe: Sunflower seed whole wheat bread (make 1 medium loaf)

Ingredients:

- 3 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour

- 1 tp active dry yeast

- 4 TB orange juice, freshly squeezed

- about 1 cup warm water

- 2 TB vegetable oil

- 2 TB firmly packed dark brown sugar

- 1+1/4 tp salt

- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 tp dark sesame oil
- sesame seeds for toppings

Procedure:

1. Proof yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

2. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add proofed yeast, orange juice and half of the remaining warm water. Mix to form a dough. Add the remaining water incrementally 2 TB at a time, until the dough is well hydrated. The resultant dough should be rather smooth and strong. It should be able to stand on its own as a bowl. Do not attempt to add flour to fix it unless it cannot stand.

3. Add in the oil. Form a smooth ball. Leave it on the counter for 30 minutes or so. Then chill it overnight, covered with wrap.

4. On the next day, warm dough up on counter top. 

4. Grease a 8.5"x4.5" medium pan with butter, and dust with a little flour. Gently deflate the dough. Add in the sunflower seeds. Shape the dough into a log. Place it in the greased pan and allow to rest until the dough rise to about 1" over the rim of the pan.

5. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake for 40 minutes. For the first 15 minutes, bake uncovered at 350F. Then cover top with foil and continue baking. Loaf is done when internal temperature reaches 190F.

Results:

Day 1, 11:29pm, initial dough formed:

Day 1, 11:39pm, texture of dough; observe how it does not stick to the hand:

Day 1, 11:39pm, dough ready to rest overnight:

Day 2, 8:14am, dough being punched down the next morning, after overnight fermentation:

Day 2, 8:15am, dough to return to the fridge to chill until afternoon:

Day 2, 3:39pm, dough taken out of the fridge to warm up:

Day 2, 4:10pm, dough's height when out of the fridge for 30 minutes:

Day 2, 4:13pm, dough's texture:

Day 2, 4:14pm, dough being stretched and sesame oil added:

Day 2, 4:21pm, dough with sunflower seeds and kneaded:

Day 2, 4:25pm, dough shaped:

Day 2, 4:26pm, dough preparing to rest:

Day 2, 5:30pm, dough rested for 1 hour:

Day 2, 5:36pm, dough brushed with egg wash of egg white and 1% milk, then topped with sesame seeds:

Day 2, 5:36pm, dough's height when just about to bake:

Day 2, 5:37pm, loaf starts baking:

Day 2, 5:52pm, loaf baked 15 minutes, then to be covered with foil for the remaining time:

Day 2, 6:22pm, loaf baked 40 minutes:

Day 2, 6:22pm, thermometer coming out clean:

Day 2, 6:23pm, loaf's height:

Day 2, 6:25pm, loaf's heel:

Day 2, 6:26pm, loaf's bottom:

Day 2, 6:26pm, loaf's side:

Day 2, 7:02pm, loaf cooled for 30 minutes, with no significant change to the loaf's crust:

Day 2, 7:08pm, loaf yielding 15 slices:

Day 2, 7:08pm, end-of-loaf slice:

Day 2, 7:09pm, center-of-loaf slice:

Day 2, 7:09pm, nice crust with sesame very secure:

Observations:

1. This time, I try to make the dough a little dryer. Then I use the delayed fermentation. 

2. Normally, with delayed fermentation, 1/2 tp of yeast will be enough. But for a whole wheat loaf, I use 1 tp to ensure good oven spring.

3. Wow! This loaf tastes great! But I think 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds is just too many. Probably 1/4 or 1/3 cup will be good enough.
4. The wonderful thing about this loaf is the texture of the dough and the amount it rises during the chilling time. It's a very pleasant loaf to work with.
5. After the loaf comes out of the oven, there is no significant change to the crust after it cools down. This is very good as the gluten in the bread is strong enough to hold the bubbles in shape after the air cools down.
6. This loaf does not have the same amount of oven spring as my 44th loaf of sesame and sunflower seeds , using atta flour and double the amount of yeast. Comparing the taste of the two loaves, the atta flour loaf actually stands out better. Maybe it's because white flour has less of its own flavor, and allows the flavors of the seeds to stand out better.
7. Dark sesame oil is very strong. So, use with discretion. 1 tp is about all that is needed for a loaf.

While this bread tastes very very good by itself, it's almost a waste to eat it as a sandwich bread with meat and other stuff. The great flavors of the nuts and seeds are basically overpowered by the fillings. But then, for the health conscious, maybe this is still prepared to a plain whole-wheat loaf.