When in Ireland last weekend, I picked up a big bag of wheatgerm – an ingredient found in most well stocked supermarkets over there. I use wheatgerm in this recipe for brown Irish soda bread and in this homemade granola recipe. However, Dan Lepard also features a good-looking wheatgerm bread in his book ‘The Handmade Loaf‘ and here is my version of his wheatgerm bread recipe.
Wheat Germ Bread
What is wheat germ?
Wheat germ (short for germination) is the small, nutritious centre of a wheat kernel.
It’s the part of wheat that sprouts and grows into a new plant and comprises only about 2.5% of the weight of the kernel.
Wheat germ is removed during white flour refinement but it is used in whole wheat flour.
Wheat Germ
For reference, whole wheat and all other whole grains are made up of three primary components:
the bran (outside shell)
the germ (the reproductive element)
the starchy endosperm (used to mill flour)
Wheat germ bread recipe
This is my slightly adjusted version of Dan Lepard’s wheatgerm bread recipe. I use double the amount of whole grains, half the amount of honey and replace orange juice with milk in my recipe version. I also opt for not toasting the wheatgerm due to some nutrients being lost during the toasting process.
My Wheat Germ Bread Based On Dan Lepard’s Recipe
Dan Lepard’s tip: “In an act of breadmaking heresy, this bread doesn’t really have an initial fermentation. After kneading, the dough is left for 10 minutes before being shaped and placed in the tin, so most of the fermentation occurs once the dough is in its final shape. Breadmaking flour has a lot of strong gluten, but it is contained within the endosperm. In white flour, all that remains is the milled endosperm; in wholewheat flour this is a smaller percentage of the dry matter. Wholewheat flours should therefore be treated as if they contain less gluten, which means you need to handle the dough les and give it a shorter initial rise. This bread has an extra 25% wheatgerm, which lowers the gluten content further. Be gentle with the kneading, as the bran will tear the gluten if the dough is subjected to a rigorous and extended mixing. ”
Wheatgerm Bread
Ingredients
80g whole grains – you can e.g. use whole wheat, rye, spelt or Grünkern as I have used
100g wheatgerm
400g strong wholewheat flour
5g dried yeast
5g salt
340g water
20g honey
60g milk, lukewarm
How to make wheatgerm bread
Place the whole grains in a small saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Ensure the grains remain covered with water at all times.
Remove from the heat, add cold water to the pan so the grains become lukewarm, then drain.
In a small bowl, combine the water and honey and warm up slightly (not too much) to thoroughly mix the two liquids.
In a large bowl, combine the wholewheat flour, wheatgerm, cooked whole grains, dried yeast, salt, the water and honey mixture and the milk.
Form a dough and knead briefly. When evenly combined, cover the bowl and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Use this time to grease a 9 x 24 cm loaf tin (I used rapeseed oil and a silicone pastry brush to do this).
Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 10 seconds.
Shape the dough back into a ball, return it to the bowl and cover.
Leave for 5 minutes and repeat steps 9 and 10 twice more.
Leave for 10 minutes.
On a lightly floured work surface, pat the dough into a flat rectangle measuring roughly 25 cm left-to-right by 20 cm top-to-bottom.
Roll the dough inward, starting at the end furthest from you, rolling it tightly.
Roll the dough gently on the work surface, then pat the ends inward so that it will drop neatly into the prepared tin. Lightly flour the dough’s top surface.
Cover the tin with a polythene bag and leave to rise at room temperature for approx. 1 – 1.5 hours, until it has risen about 1 cm over the top of the tin. Ensure to preheat the oven to 220°C about 20 minutes before this time.
Place the tin in the centre of the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and, after 5 minutes, remove the loaf from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
