Droppin' Loaves: A Bread Blog
Whole wheat and millet
Posted: 2010 May 25 (Tue) 14:12 UTC
There's a bread at the store that has little seeds in it, and I've always liked the texture. I figured out the little yellow seeds are millet, so I decided to buy some to try out. I couldn't find a recipe online to base mine on, so I decided to make it up. Ingredients:
- 3 c. warm water
- 1½ tbsp. yeast
- 1½ tbsp. salt
- 3 c. whole wheat flour
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- ½ c. oats
- 1 c. millet
I wasn't sure how much millet to add, and at first I thought I overdid it. But as I stirred it in, it started to look really good. What surprised me was how well the dough rose with what I thought was very little gluten. Oats and millet add none, and whole wheat doesn't rise as well as all-purpose. But it somehow worked itself out.
I read that millet has a soft, nutty taste which can be brought out even more by lightly roasting it in a skillet for 3 minutes. I figured I'd do that the second time I bake with some. I wanted to see what it was like as is.
I stuck with whole wheat instead of using some spelt or rye because I wanted to leave the nut flavor alone, and whole wheat also has a slight nutty taste. Visually, I like seeing millet in my bread. I could probably add some poppy seeds, too, if I can find some. Texture-wise, millet does add a small pop of chewiness that's kinda cool. I can't really tell if the millet affects taste. I'd need to compare it with bread that doesn't have any millet. Perhaps roasting the millet would help for next time. But it's still a really good hearty bread. Definitely the direction I was hoping to go in when I started baking.
