HONEY WHEY SOURDOUGH BREAD WITH SPROUTED SPELT

Honey Whey Sourdough Bread with Sprouted Spelt image

This braided bread is soft and delicious. It smells like honey but is only faintly sweet. Made with the whey strained out of homemade yogurt or cheese, this dough has extra protein, yet it's relatively fast fermenting and simple: just flour, whey, starter, honey and salt. I tested the recipe with milk as well and had excellent results, so you can make the bread even if you don't have whey. The bread is good toasted, untoasted, as sandwich bread, and even dipped in savory stews. The tender, closed crumb is also ideal for French toast. The recipe calls for a mix of bread flour and whole grain sprouted spelt flour. The former gives the bread the fluffiness of a classic challah, and sprouted spelt imparts a wonderful slightly nutty flavor.

Provided by Melissa Johnson

Categories Recipes

Time 2h

Number Of Ingredients 7

Ingredients

470g bread flour (3 1/2 cups)
100g home-milled whole grain sprouted spelt berries or milled whole grain sprouted spelt flour (3/4 cup flour)
380g whey from making yogurt or cheese (scant 1 2/3 cup) OR 400g milk (heaping 1 2/3 cup)
160g sourdough starter (1/2 cup)
50g honey (2 1/2 Tbsp)
12g salt (2 tsp)
For the wash 1 egg lightly beaten

Steps:

Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
Warm your whey or milk up from refrigerator temperature to about 80F. I didn't scald the milk and had no trouble with fermentation, although the milk dough was a little slower to ferment than the whey dough. (The whey had been brought up to 180F during the yogurt making.)
Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl. Cover and let rest 20-30 minutes.
Perform 2-3 rounds of coil folding over the next 1-2 hours. The method shown in this video (on a wet dough) works well for stiff doughs like this one.
When the dough has doubled, refrigerate it for 2-6 hours. It will continue to expand a bit in the refrigerator, especially during the first couple of hours. I do this because I prefer to braid with cool dough.
Shaping and Braiding
Prepare a baking sheet by greasing it or lining it with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and scrape it out onto a lightly floured counter.
De-gas the dough and divide it in four pieces. Roll the pieces into four strands, 12-15 inches long each. Here is a quick video you can follow to see how to braid the four strands. Other shapes and numbers of strands are fine, too, and you can even bake the bread without braiding in a large loaf pan.
Final Proof
Transfer your braided dough to the baking sheet and cover the dough with a plastic bag. I partially tear open a grocery bag to have a cover that poofs over the dough and does not stick to it.
For an extra shiny final bread, brush the dough with a lightly beaten egg at the beginning and end of the final proof. The dough in the recipe photo was only egg-washed just before baking.
Let the dough proof at room temperature for 1-2 hours. I prefer to not retard the dough because it is difficult to cover effectively; either some part of the braid gets exposed and dries out during the long cold proof, or the plastic cover sticks to the dough and tears it upon removal.
Baking
Preheat your oven to 350F.
Bake the bread for 40 minutes or until the interior temperature is over 190F. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through the bake if you have a hotter area in your oven.
Cool on a rack at least 20 minutes before serving.
Storage
This bread lasts for about 6 days on my counter wrapped in plastic before the edges start to harden. Bee's wrap results in hardening a little sooner but is also a good option. Make sure the bread is completely cool before you wrap it because condensation can contribute to molding.