Greek Whole Wheat Bread -- Khoriatiko Psomi

When I did a Google search for this particular kind of bread, MANY sites/variations came up-- I chose this one.  Because this bread doesn't need 'hand kneading', I consider it very easy to make!

All bread photos in this posting taken by me, Doris.

This recipe is going into my "keeper collection'!  I tried to follow the recipe from the  website as closely as possible (measuring the water, weighing the wheat flour, etc.).  *Because my home-ground whole wheat may be a bit 'different', I ended up adding about 3/4 cup white all-purpose flour at the end of Step 3, and then letting the stand mixer's dough hook 'knead' it for about six minutes extra.   Almost all of what I'm posting comes from http://artisanbreadbaking.com/bread/khoriatiko/  (The guy on the website has posted some very descriptive and helpful photos of each step.)

After I made these first two 'rounds' of bread, I decided to double the following recipe and make FOUR more rounds of it.  The 'second time around', I kneaded the bread in the traditional way (using hands/muscles) because just maybe not everyone has a stand mixer with a dough hook.  I was very satisfied with the results.  (Pictures of last  four rounds of bread are at the bottom of this recipe.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tablespoons dry instant yeast
• 14.6 oz. water (use 'warm' water)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup non-fat milk (I used 2%)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided in half)  I used light flavored variety.
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (divided in half)
• 25 oz. whole wheat flour
• 6-8 oz. raisins (very optional) 

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Place ALL the ingredients, using only half of the olive oil and half of the butter, in the bowl of a mixer and mix for 3 minutes (I used the paddle attachment of my Kitchen Aid mixer for this).

2.  Remove from mixer stand, remove the paddle attachment.  Cover the bowl and allow the dough to sit for 20 minutes.

3.  Uncover and, using the mixer's dough hook, 'knead' for 8-10 minutes.*

4.  Transfer dough to a larger bowl that's been lightly oiled. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a somewhat warm area for about one hour or until doubled.  (Give this dough a lot of room, as it may flow out of a smaller bowl.)

5.  Remove the dough from the bowl, give it a few gentle folds and return it to the bowl for another 20 minutes.

6.  Form into two boules (rounds).  Place each on parchment paper, cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes.  Since this is a rather soft dough, be careful not to let the dough rise too long, or you may wind up with a 'flat-topped round'.  You can also put the two pieces of dough in greased bread pans to form more-or-less sandwich bread.  In this case, let the dough rise until it is mounded above the edge of the pan, but before it starts to expand so much that it flows over the sides.  I know this sounds tricky, but once you've taken a look at things, you'll get the hang of it.

7.  When it's about raised (mounded) to the right size, PRE-heat the oven to 375-degrees.

8.  Mix the remaining tablespoon of melted butter and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and gently brush the mix on the loaves.

9.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 200 F.  (I can't believe I did this, but, for the last 5-8 minutes,  I actually stuck a digital temperature probe in from the side and let the bread bake until it reached 200 F.  The time was so close to being 'right on'!  Next time, I won't have to do that.)

10.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

In conclusion, I don't even know how to pronounce the name of this bread-- but, I DO know it tastes really good and it has a light texture in spite of the amount of whole wheat flour in it.

In fact, we liked this bread well enough that I made ANOTHER four rounds of it.  Each of the rounds in the following picture measures 8" at its base:

So long, for now... I have to get a knife, cut off a healthy slice and "sample' this.