Multigrain Walnut Bread from The Cafe Pongo Cookbook

Ok, so I bought The Cafe Pongo Cookbook pretty much for the sake of this bread recipe. I picked up this gem of a cookbook during the used bookstore rummaging that occurred at Saratoga Springs on the Food-Filled Girls Weekend of yore. The cafe itself is tucked away somewhere remote in the Hudson Valley area, so the book was not only a practical purchase for all its great recipes but also a local souvenir for my trip to the area.

Walnut bread and I have a long, complicated history. Back in Taiwan, there is a big Japanese bakery chain called Yamazaki that used to have THE best little walnut dinner rolls that were soft, sweet and with a tinge of whole wheat flour. This spring when I was in Taiwan, it was a little bit of a personal mission to find that bread again. Alas, we discovered that they had discontinued that particular product and introduced two different versions of walnut-containing breads in its stead: a light French-style bread studded with walnuts, and a sweeter, milk-bread clover-shaped bun. My feeling is that if I used a generic soft dinner roll recipe, added a bit of whole wheat flour and walnuts, made them into knots, and brushed them with a bit of egg yolk before baking, I would be pretty darn close to the original.

But meanwhile I have a fixation towards all walnut bread recipes that come across my path, collecting quite a few over the years. However, this is the first one I've actually baked. Although this recipe bears little resemblance to the original love of my youth, I am here to announce I am ready to move on! This bread is delicious--soft, hearty, and nutty. We've eaten it plain, with honey butter, with jam/marmalade, but no matter what your modus operandi, you just keep on wanting to eat more of it.

Multigrain Walnut Bread (adapted from The Cafe Pongo Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 & 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 & 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

2/3 cup walnut pieces

2/3 cup multigrain mixture*
2 teaspoons salt

2 & 1/2 tablespoons molasses

1 & 1/3 cup water

2 teaspoons instant yeast (or approximately 2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast)

cornmeal, whole wheat flour, or bran for dusting the pan

*The book recommends "seven-grain" mixture of cracked grains such as wheat, grits, barley, rye, oats, millet, flaxseed. I bought a multigrain hot cereal mixture from Trader Joe's for this purpose but you could also find other multigrain mixes or go to the bulk bins at a natural foods store and make your own mix. In the end, I bet you could just use oats for the whole volume; the multigrain mix adds texture but it's not like you can really taste the different kinds.

Instructions:

Combine all the dry ingredients (flours, walnuts, grain mixture, salt) into the bowl of a standing mixer or a large mixing bowl. In another bowl or large measuring cup, combine the water, molasses, and yeast (if using dry active yeast; otherwise if using instant yeast, you can add it to the dry ingredients directly).

Allow yeast to bloom for a few minutes if using active dry yeast, then add all the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix using dough hook (for stand mixer) or with wooden spoon (by hand) until a dough has formed. Mix/knead until dough is elastic. Cover with a dish cloth or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Dust a silicone/foil/parchment-lined baking sheet with cornmeal/whole wheat flour/bran. Place the balls of dough on the prepared sheet, cover loosely with a cloth or plastic wrap, and allow to rise until roughly doubled in size again. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a sharp serrated knife, make two or three deep slashes on the top of the loaves before baking at 350 for 45-55 minutes. The color of the loaves will be deep brown and the bottoms will sound hollow when tapped, like a watermelon. Cool to at least lukewarm before slicing and eating, preferably room temperature. Enjoy!