carbtastic chronicles V: French-inspired whole wheat

It’s been a while since I posted an edition of the carbtastic chronicles and I know many of you have been kept up at night anxiously waiting for a blogger to bombard the internet with bread loaf photos.

Worry no more. Whole wheat coming atchya!

Okay, not really whole wheat. I’m not sure there’s a way to make a 100% whole wheat loaf without some serious add-ins (whole wheat flour is denser and heavier than white flour, making it more difficult to rise), but you can at least achieve 50% white, 50% wheat like I did here!

The inspiration for this loaf came from a super simple French white bread I made when we had a stomach bug a few weeks ago. (That loaf was eaten too quickly for me to even snap a photo, haha.) The French recipe was straight from my t-fal instruction manual. Interestingly, the recipe didn’t call for any oil or butter and included 3 tablespoons of corn meal. I was intrigued and surprised at how fluffy and chewy it turned out — and Anthony looooved it.

So for the next batch I stuck to the same recipe, but subbed in 2 cups of whole wheat flour instead of white flour. The bread didn’t rise quite as much, but was still nice and light.

Plus it had a nice neutral flavor (no herbs or spices), meaning it could go on the sweet side with butter, jam, and honey OR the savory side with soups, meat, and cheese. This bread gets along with everyone!

And just LOOK at that crust texture. Makes me want to cry, it’s so bubbly and just slightly crunchy at the same time.

And now that the delicious loaf is long gone, I might just cry again. But not really, because I just sliced up an awesome batch of cinnamon raisin bread…