It's a new ballgame for whole grains
If you've ever baked with whole-wheat flour and ended up with something nearly inedible, take heart. That is not unusual, even for professional bakers.
Kim Boyce, a talented Los Angeles pastry chef with a new cookbook on whole-grain baking, remembers the first time she tried making whole-grain muffins at home for her kids. "It was just dreadful. They were heavy, almost leaden," Boyce says.
When Peter Reinhart, a well-known baker, author and teacher, baked his first whole-grain bread, the effort yielded "a thick, dark, leathery crust surrounding an inedible wad of spongy, glutinous paste. It was awful," he wrote in "Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads," which is devoted to rectifying such problems.
Granted, Reinhart's initial whole-grain foray was circa 1970, and the bread included no yeast. Still, for decades, bakers have been tugged between the mounting knowledge that whole grains are nutritious, even essential to good health, and the age-old notion that they taste like dull, earnest bricks.
Thankfully, he and Boyce did not give up. They attacked a common problem: How do you temper the weight of whole grains while letting the full range of flavors and textures shine through⢠If you can manage that, you can win over the most jaded cookie lover.
"It's a genuinely exciting palate of ingredients," says Heidi Swanson, the author of "Super Natural Cooking" and the popular blog 101 Cookbooks. Just as farmers markets have introduced consumers to a wider range of fresh ingredients, "whole grains kind of bring that ethos of the farmers market into the kitchen pantry," she says.
Mark Furstenberg, who formerly owned the BreadLine in the District of Columbia, agrees. Although he loves a well-made baguette, "almost all the breads I make at home these days are with whole grains," he says. He is planning to bring that emphasis to his own new bakery and breakfast restaurant, which will offer a line of wood-fired breads made with organic whole grains.
In this shift, a relatively recent crop of cookbooks has proved to be groundbreaking. Reinhart's bread book appeared in 2007. A year earlier, Lorna Sass released "Whole Grains Every Day Every Way," a highly informative book that explored whole grains in salads and main courses as well as baked goods. That same year, King Arthur Flour delivered its "Whole Grain Baking," a 600-page tome.
Now Boyce, 35, who worked as a pastry chef at Spago and Campanile in Los Angeles, has produced "Good to the Grain: Baking With Whole-Grain Flours" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $29.95) with Amy Scattergood. The book takes waffles, scones, cookies and muffins in new directions, using a dozen grains, including amaranth and teff. Among the friends, relatives and neighbors who scarfed up the goods I tested, not one mentioned the word "healthy." In short, by coaxing out the flavors of whole grains in new ways, Boyce managed to turn the stereotype on its head.
When you think about it, Boyce's approach isn't entirely new. After all, the culture of cooking with whole grains dates back thousands of years. Think of staples such as Scandinavian rye crackers, French pain de campagne loaves (white, whole-wheat and rye flours), Italian farro risotto (emmer wheat, an ancient grain), Middle Eastern tabbouleh (bulgur wheat), Japanese soba noodles (buckwheat), Indian roti (whole wheat) and Ethiopian injera (teff).
In fact, grains such as barley, with its distinctive nutty note, and spelt, another ancient relative of wheat that has a sweeter and milder taste, were once far more common than white flour. No wonder the famous French baker Lionel Poilane described his signature dark whole-grain sourdough miche that he developed in the 1980s as a "retro-innovation" -- that is, going forward in new ways by learning from the past.
But if the past was about whole grains, they largely became a footnote as methods and tastes shifted to white flour.
What makes whole grains whole⢠The grain is made up of three parts: the bran, a fibrous coat that surrounds and protects the seed; the nutritionally rich germ; and the protein- and starch-filled endosperm that feeds the plant and springs from the germ.
In white flour, the germ and bran are sifted out, which means many of the grain's natural vitamins, antioxidants and minerals are lost. The refined flour is later enriched with a handful of nutrients.
But enriched flour does not equal whole grains, which have been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and reduce rates of diabetes. They have also been associated with lower weight in people who eat them over a long time.
Barley and oats also are distinguished by their soluble fiber, which reduces cholesterol. Spelt is high in protein and packs four times as much fiber as whole wheat. Buckwheat has twice the B vitamins of wheat. The list of whole grain benefits is so long it could easily fill a book.
Given that knowledge, the government recommended in 2005 that Americans consume half of their grains as whole grains in at least three or four servings a day, depending on age and gender. (A serving amounts to about one slice of whole-grain bread or one cup of dry cereal.) Companies responded by rolling out new whole-grain products, boosting consumption by 20 percent by 2008. But whole grains still amounted to just 11 percent of all grains consumed rather than the 50 percent recommended, according to a survey by NDP Group, a market research firm.
One reason might be that whole grains throw a wrench into our acquired taste for white flour -- and the recipes for cookies, breads and cookies made with it.
"A common mistake is to use whole grains for classic kinds of baking for which they're not suited," Furstenberg says. "We need to use them in a way that enhances the food we're making."
These cookies are chewy on the inside and crisp at the edges. The whole-wheat flour gives them a nutty taste that goes well with brown sugar. The key, though, is to use high-quality chocolate that you chop yourself.
Make ahead: Best eaten the same day, the cookies last up to 3 days in a sealed container. The dough can be refrigerated a day or two in advance, but be sure to form the balls of dough before chilling. The cookies will be thicker than those made at room temperature. Adapted from "Good to the Grain," by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood.
• 3 cups whole-wheat flour, plus more for the work surface
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4- and 1/2-inch pieces
Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; heat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl, adding any large bits of grain or other ingredients that remain in the sifter.
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat on low speed for about 2 minutes, until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture and beat until barely combined. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, and beat on low speed just until evenly distributed.
Lightly flour a work surface. Transfer the dough to the work surface and use your hands to fully incorporate any remaining flour or chocolate from the bowl.
Scoop 3-tablespoon mounds of the dough onto each baking sheet, spacing them 3 inches apart (about 6 mounds per sheet). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until evenly browned. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool before serving or storing. Repeat to use the remaining dough.
Makes about 24 4- or 5-inch cookies.
Nutrition information per cookie : 240 calories, 12 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 40 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams protein, 33 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams dietary fiber, 240 milligrams sodium, 21 grams sugar
Here's a good baking tip: Fill alternate wells in a muffin pan, so each muffin has room to spread out and bake evenly. For this recipe, use two 12-well muffin pans or one large 24-well muffin pan (with 1/3-cup wells). When greasing the pans, make sure you grease outside the rim of each muffin well so the muffin top does not stick.
Make ahead: The muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 day, but they are best eaten the day they are made. Adapted from "Good to the Grain," by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood.
For the topping:
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons spelt flour
• 2 tablespoons oat bran
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/8 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
For the muffins:
• 4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 medium-size carrots, peeled and grated (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup regular or low-fat buttermilk
• 1 large egg
To make the topping: Combine the spelt flour, oat bran, sugars and salt in a medium-size bowl. Add the butter, and use your fingers to work the mixture to the consistency of coarse cornmeal. The faster you work, the more solid the butter will remain.
To make the muffins: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a little butter to grease alternating muffin wells in a 12-muffin pan.
Sift together the flours, oat bran, sugars, allspice, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, pouring into the bowl any grain or other ingredients that remain in the sifter. Add the carrots and stir to coat.
Whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk and egg in a separate bowl until thoroughly combined. Use a spatula to incorporate the butter mixture into the flour mixture.
Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to portion the batter evenly among the 8 prepared muffin wells. The batter should be slightly mounded. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the mounds of batter and press it into the batter slightly. Bake on the middle rack for 32 to 35 minutes; the muffins should smell nutty and the bottoms should be golden brown (twist one out to check).
Place the muffin pan on top of the stove and gently twist out the muffins, letting them cool on their sides halfway out of their individual wells; that will help keep them from becoming soggy.
Serve warm.
Makes 8 muffins (with large tops).
Nutrition information per muffin (using low-fat buttermilk): 310 calories, 12 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 55 milligrams cholesterol, 8 grams protein, 49 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams dietary fiber, 600 milligrams sodium, 21 grams sugar.
Barley has very little gluten, which means it needs another agent -- all-purpose flour, in this case -- to bind it. The barley flour and bits of butter ensure the tenderness of this crumbly scone, while the jam caramelizes at the edges. Adapted from "Good to the Grain," by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood.
For the scones:
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing the baking sheet
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons barley flour, plus more for the work surface
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup regular or low-fat buttermilk
• 1 large egg
For assembly:
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam or marmalade
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
To make the scones: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a little butter to grease a rimmed baking sheet.
Sift the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl, pouring into the bowl any grains that might remain in the sifter. Add the butter, then use your hands or a pastry knife to break the butter into pieces the size of grains of rice. The quicker you work, the more solid the butter will remain, which is important.
Whisk together the buttermilk and egg in a small bowl, then pour it into the flour mixture and stir until barely combined.
Liberally flour a work surface. Transfer the dough to the surface and dust the top of it and your hands with additional flour, folding the dough a few times so it is not sticky.
Divide the dough in half. Flour your hands and pat each piece into a disc 7 inches across and about 3/4 inch thick. Use the pastry scraper to loosen the disc from the work surface.
To assemble: Spread 1 disc of dough with the strawberry jam or marmalade. Place the remaining disc on top, pressing down gently so the dough settles into the jam. Brush the top of the second disc with the melted butter, then sprinkle it with the sugar.
Use a sharp knife to cut the double-decker disc into 8 equal wedges. Carefully transfer them to the baking sheet, spaced a few inches apart. Bake on the middle rack for 22 to 26 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. The scones are ready when their tops are golden brown and some of the jam or marmalade has bubbled over onto the baking sheet.
Use a metal spatula to transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool slightly (and to keep them from sticking to the sheet as they cool).
Serve warm.
Makes 8 scones.
Nutrition information per scone (using low-fat buttermilk): 330 calories, 14 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 60 milligrams cholesterol, 5 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams dietary fiber, 600 milligrams sodium, 17 grams sugar.
