whole wheat – Jen Maan in Amman

Jordan is not known for its loaves of bread; pita bread, sure, but loaves of fresh, whole wheat bread, NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. I started experimenting with baking fresh loaves a few months ago after I gave up on trying to locate everyday bread. I can buy beautiful French loaves at Paul’s in Abdoun, but their loaves are expensive and last for a day or two before going stale. (Raj LOVES this bread and ensures that I’m baking it about twice a week, making sure we have fresh bread for his weekend breakfast.)

Here’s the recipe that I’ve perfected through trial and error. It only takes a few minutes to prepare, requires about six hours of sitting on the counter to ‘bloom,’ requires another hour of rising in a loaf pan, and then one more hour in the oven and you’ve got yourself a fresh loaf of heaven.

Make 1 loaf

2 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups ice water, plus 1 tbl water
4 tbl sugar
3/4 tsp. yeast
1 3/4 tsp salt
3 tbl canola oil (or whatever oil you have, I’ve used vegetable oil and corn oil)
baking spray for the tin and bowl

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and fold all of the ingredients, making sure that all of the flour at the bottom of the bowl is blended. The consistency of the dough is very wet and sticky, no need to fuss over it. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for at least 6 hours or overnight. (I’ve accidentally left it out for more than 18 hours and it still turned out great).

2. After about 6 hours, the dough will be a little bubbly and will have risen close to the bowls upper edge. Spray a rubber scraper with cooking spray, fold the dough in towards the center to release it from the bowl’s edges and scrape the dough into a prepared (with cooking spray) loaf pan. Spray the top of the loaf with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about an hour, or until the dough rises over the top of the edge of the loaf pan.

3. Remove the plastic wrap from the risen loaf, preheat the over to 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. With a serrated knife, slash a line down the center of the bread; sprinkle with the top of the loaf with about 1 tablespoon of whole wheat flour. Place the loaf in the oven and bake for approximately 60 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it.