I would like to make whole wheat bread without yeast. Does anyone have any recipes to share?

Also, I have made loaves of bread and the top sort of separates from the bottom. I tried covering the loaf with a damp cloth will it was rising but that didn't help. Any suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

-- susan banks (susan.banks@sait.ab.ca), December 10, 2001

Answers

I posted a question about doubling a bread recipe Saturday and one of the first people who answered was CJ Tinkle. We went on to exchange e-mails and I have dubbed her my Bread Guru. She knows everything there is to know about baking bread, I think. She'll help you!

-- Debbie in Mo (risingwind@socket.net), December 11, 2001.

LOL, well in light of that response I better answer! But, I have to say I'm a yeast baker myself, so I've never tried to make wheat bread without it. Do you mean like a quick bread, like banana bread? Try adapting an existing quickbread recipe, like pumpkin bread, substitute the pumpkin for applesauce, and cut down on the sugar, replace white flour with wheat. Tis worth a shot! Your loaves of bread that separate, sounds like perhaps you are adding too much flour, is the dough pretty stiff?

-- CJ (cjtinkle@getgoin.net), December 11, 2001.

I recently tried an Irish Soda Bread recipe and it came out great! I made mine with all purpose white flour but I also saw a recipe for making this with wheat flour. I think it was at allrecipes.com. It is slightly sweetened but not as much as banana or other quick breads.

-- Susan (smtroxel@socket.net), December 11, 2001.

Would you be interested in making a sourdough starter? You can do it without yeast, but it will take some time of feeding and separating and making bread that doesn't fully rise--until you have a strong starter.

The starter picks up naturally occurring yeast in the air. OF course if you are a baker there will naturally be more in your air.( or if you are in Wisconsin, in your "dairy air"--Sorry, could not resist that old advertising joke from WI)

I saw once where fermenting grape skins were used to "capture" the yeast, although I don't know why that would be more efficient than a normal starter.

I have starter recipes but most start with yeast. Are you interested in one? There after, most recipes add yeast as insurance, but as I said, if you keep feeding the starter, eventually it will be self- propelling.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), December 11, 2001.

Was going to get around to trying this recipe, hopefully by the weekend :), so it ISN'T tried and proven.... however I'll pass it along.

Guiness Beer Bread

4 cups flour 2 T baking powder 1 T salt 1/4 cup sugar 12 oz Guiness Draught Beer 2 eggs (slightly beaten)

Preheat oven to 375 Sift dry ingredients, add eggs & beer, mix well. Pour into greased pan 9x5x3. Bake for 70 min. Remove from pan and let cool. Enjoy!

-- Mary (zoots25@hotmail.com), December 11, 2001.

The separating crust problem is probably due to letting the bread rise too long in the pans. Put the bread in the oven when the dough is at the top of the pan or just a little above - it will rise substantially more in the oven if the dough is healthy.

The simplest yeast-free bread is simply to mix whole-wheat flour with water and a bit of salt to make a stiff dough, knead 300 times, shape into a baguette, and bake on a thick layer of cornmeal at 350. This 1960's Tassajara bread is all about the whole-wheat flavor and is really good sliced thin with cheese or peanut butter, NOT as a sandwich bread, it's more like a soft cracker.

-- (megatron_revised@yahoo.com), December 11, 2001.

Now I have in interesting question. I have a friend who makes wonderful wheat bread. Her original recipe calls for all wheat flour but her children did not like it so she substituted with half regular flour. The interesting part it this recipe does not call for any milk. She has said she would share it but has not yet. Has anyone heard of a recipe like this. She is originally from Maine so it may have come from there. I would love to have a copy. Thank you

-- Chris in PA (CLMngs@aol.com), December 12, 2001.