khorasan bread

 

My friend Alexa introduced me to two words I had never heard of: kamut and khorasan.  Look them up- they are ancient grains...and why wouldn't I want to try working with ancient grains?!  We split a 50 pound bag of 100% whole grain khorasan (and saved A LOT of money that way) and this was the first recipe I tried.  I love knowing just how nutritional this bread is AND it tastes delicious.  Everyone in the family who tried it enjoyed it.

You should know that when I make whole wheat bread they really don't like it much.  It's just too hearty and tastes too healthy.  I love that this bread was a go!...because I have 24 more pounds of it to use. :)

khorasan bread (occasionally eggs)

prep: 15 minutes, cook time: 35 minutes, rising time:  1 hour 30 minutes, total: 2 hours 20 min

1 2/3 cups non-diary milk, or dairy milk

2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast

1 pound khorasan flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until just warm to the touch.   Pour it into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) and stir in the honey and oil.  Check the temperature now- it should be about skin temperature.

Mix in the yeast, then set aside to bloom for about 10 minutes.  If it doesn't bloom, either your yeast is too old or the milk was too hot.

Stir in the flour and salt to form a wet, shaggy dough.

Knead for about 8 minutes on low speed with the dough attachment or knead by hand (that's what I did).

Set the dough aside to rise, covered, for about an hour in a warm, draft-free place,  It should double in size.

Once the dough has risen, grease or line a bread tin.  Generously flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it.  Dust with some more flour, then press into a rough rectangle.  The short edge should be the same length as your bread tin.

Roll the dough into a tight spiral from the short edge, then place it seam side down into the prepared tin.

Cover and set aside to rise again for 30 minutes, or until the dough has just reached the top of the tin.  While the dough is rising preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.  Cool for a few minutes in the tin before tipping it out and cooling fully on a wire rack.

Let the bread cool before slicing.