My kids are out of school for the next few weeks. My husband is working from home. So we’re all staying in for the most part, except for an hour or so where we get out and get some fresh air! So if you are hunkering down with social distancing and staying in, it’s the perfect time to make…. bread!
Making bread is one of those things that I would not have imagined myself doing 10 years ago….it seemed so time consuming!! After seeing how much bread my family eats and all the processed ingredients that goes into store bought bread, I converted our family to eating this Whole Wheat Quinoa Sandwich Bread. Yes, it does take some time to make, but most of the time is idle, where the bread is rising. So since you have to stay in anyways, why not bake some bread?
Quinoa is super nutritious. It is high in fiber and protein and low in fat. I’ve tried substituting rice with quinoa and serving it to the family, but it was a thumbs down for them. So I’ve been on a mission to sneak in more of this super grain into things they will eat… starting with this Whole Wheat Quinoa Sandwich Bread. I’ll keep you posted on how I sneak quinoa into other foods.
Some tips to baking this bread:
For beginner bakers, it may be a good idea to use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup. Then use a butter knife to level off the measuring cup. This ensures that flour isn’t packed into the measuring cup, causing you to add more flour than needed.
I use these loaf pans and love them. The corrugated surface allows the bread to come out so easily after baking.
In the recipe below, I reference a stand mixer. I actually don’t have a mixer but use the “dough” mode of a bread machine. The bread machine isn’t as powerful as a mixer, so I’m sure you can make this bread by hand too.
In the recipe, I used half whole wheat and half white flour. If 100% whole wheat is used, the bread is a bit more dense. Experiment with the proportions that works for you!
It’s best to use already cooked and cooled quinoa in this recipe. I found that warm quinoa added more moisture to the dough, which required adding additional flour. This isn’t a bad thing, but took a bit of extra time watching / testing the dough.
The amount of flour needed varies depending on temperature, humidity, and elevation of wherever you are. The amount of flour in the recipe below is what I usually have to add in Northern California. As the dough gets kneaded, test out the stickiness. If the dough clears the sides and bottom of the mixer and has a tacky feel to the dough, where not too much of the dough sticks to your fingers when you touch it, you are good to go. If dough is too sticky, just add some flour to reduce the moisture, so that it’ll be easier to handle when you’re forming a loaf. You can also add additional flour after the first rise, if it’s needed. As you knead the dough into a loaf, if you find it too hard to work with, just add some flour.
Growing up, my mom always floured her hands before working with dough. Somewhere along the way, I found that oiling my hands worked better than flour.
To have even, thin slices of bread, make sure you let the bread cool completely before slicing into it. It also helps to have a good serrated knife.
After the bread comes out of the oven, your home will have the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread. It’ll be hard to resist cutting off a piece to eat before it cools. In fact, it’ll be hard to resist eating half the loaf before it cools. And after you eat half the loaf, you’ll wish you made two loaves instead of one. So why not just make two to start?
Whole Wheat Quinoa Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- stand mixer / bread machine
- loaf pan
- serrated knife
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp yeast
- 1/3 C water
- 3/4 C milk
- 1½ tbsp canola oil
- 2½ tbsp honey
- 1½ C whole wheat flour
- 1½ C all purpose flour
- 1¼ tsp salt
- 1 C cooked quinoa
Instructions
- Pour the yeast into mixer.
- Lightly warm the water in the microwave for 15 seconds and then pour into the mixer with the yeast. Let the yeast proof (activate) for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Lightly warm the milk in the microwave for 20 seconds. Add the milk, oil, and honey to the mixer.
- Add the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, and salt to the mixer.
- Start the mixer and let the dough come together (5 minutes). If it's still too sticky, add a tbsp of all purpose flour until the dough comes together.
- Add a tbsp of quinoa at a time to the mixer, until all the quinoa is used up. Let the dough knead for 5 more minutes. The dough should clear the sides and bottom of the mixer.
- Set the mixer bowl with the dough in the microwave or oven (with the light turned on) to rise for an hour.
- While the dough is rising, grease the loaf pan with oil or butter. When the dough is done with the first rise, grease your hands with a little bit of oil. Punch down on the dough and turn it out on a cutting board and knead it for a little to get out any air bubbles. Press out into a flat rectangle, with the top edge the length of your loaf pan. Start from the bottom edge of the rectangle and start rolling it up tightly. Set the rolled up dough into the loaf pan.
- Set the loaf pan in the microwave or oven (with the light turned on) to rise for 45 minutes.
- Take the loaf pan out of the microwave or oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.
Adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Whole Wheat Quinoa Bread
I just made this entire recipe in my bread machine on the whole grain cycle and it came out great! I used soy milk and added the cooked quinoa to the wet ingredients, followed by the flours, then yeast. It was perfectly done in 3 hours; soft in the center with a nice crust. This recipe is definitely a keeper!