Flax Seed Wheat Bread Mini Loaves

These filling, hearty, gorgeously-specked little loaves almost found themselves lost in the land of unpublished drafts!  I made them a couple of months ago and although we really liked them, Mexi especially...they just sort of sat around patiently...waiting to be shared.  Okay, the bread itself didn't last more than 24 hours.  It was the photos that were the patient ones.  This is a dense, hearty, belly-filling bread...that makes two largeish bolillo-sized loaves.  I ended up subbing ground flax seeds for the whole ones, just because I have a whole jar of already ground ones.  I think next time I'll cut back on them if they're already ground like this time...because it seemed to make the bread super dense.  Either way, it's great while warm...so fragrant and comforting. 

Flax Seed Wheat Bread

from The Fresh Loaf

yield: one 1 pound loaf (or two ½ pound loaves)

200g bread flour

50g whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

100g flax seeds

2 tsp malt powder

150 g water

1 tsp instant yeast

Combine the flours, salt, seeds, malt, and yeast in a bowl. Stir in the water and mix until thoroughly combined. This dough is not a terribly moist one: it should be slightly tacky but not sticky. When shaped into a ball it should easily hold its shape.

The seed and bran from the whole wheat prevent a high level of gluten development in this dough, so extensive kneading is not necessary.

Once all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined, place the ball of dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for an hour to an hour and a half.

Shape the dough into 1 large or two small loaves, cover the loaves with plastic, and give them another hour to rise. In the meantime, preheat the oven and baking stone to 425°.

Brush the top of the loaves with water, score the loaves, and place them in the oven. I threw 2 ice cubes into the oven...and then another 2 about 5 minutes in.  Bake them at 425 for 20 minutes, rotate them 180°, then bake them another 20 to 25 minutes took mine another 10 mins. When done, they will be nicely browned on the outside, make a hollow sound when tapped upon, and register approximately 205° in the center when measured with an instant read thermometer.

Toasted up and shmeared with a bit of tangy cream cheese and topped with some chives...this was made a perfect light lunch.