Wheat Berry Bread

This recipe was... Not great. The wet to dry ratio was skewered heavily towards dry, creating a crumbly DOUGH, let alone the baked product. Then the amount of wheat berries they want in the bread is ridiculous. There's no room for bread itself if the dough is entirely wheat berry. Altogether, it tasted alright, but I won't be making this again.

I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, with the exception of using buttermilk instead of milk. If I make it again, I won't knead the berries in after the first rise - I'll just add them to the dough at the beginning. It took a while (hour and a half) to rise in my cooler kitchen, and a little longer to bake, but that's not a big deal. It's really good fresh out of the oven :).

I made 2 loaves last week, kept them in Ziplock bags and they're still fresh. I couldn't find amarenth flour, so I made my own from amarenth seeds. Grind them in your coffee whirly-gig until they're the consistency of flour. A little coffee bean taste goes well in the bread and is insignificant. I also softened a cup of dried currants to the hot berry poaching liquid. I also added a cup of slivered almonds, lightly toasted, to the bread at the same time that I added the wheat berries, using my KitchenAide standing mixer. The bits that don't mix in right away can be quickly kneaded into the dough by hand. With my additions, I let it rise a bit longer. The result is a nutty bread with a lot of character and fiber. The wheat berries get quite chewy after they're baked. Don't dispair...they soften if you toast the bread lightly, which makes it even more amazing! Everyone loves it. Some spread it with cream cheese and/or preserves as a variation and it was great.

This is a great recipe. I did make several changes though because of missing ingredients. I used oat grouts in place of the wheat berries, used all-purpose and wheat flours and regular honey instead of buckwheat. And it still turned out wonderfully.