Buttermilk Wheat Bread

so tonight there was a congregational meeting at our church which is always accompanied by a dinner. tonight they asked people to bring a pot of soup or some cornbread or rolls to share. soup and bread, my favorites! i decided i would try and get some buttermilk wheat pull-apart rolls turned out in time for the meeting, so i came home from work and got a double batch of dough started with some instant yeast since i wouldn't have time to let it rise twice anyway. well, it became apparent to me that i didn't have time even for a short rise and then since i was rushing so fast, i accidentally poured in one and a half times the amount of salt that was called for in the recipe. so, seeing that there was no way to be done for the meeting and not wanting to eat a salt lick, i mixed up another single batch of dough with no salt and kneaded them all together (not recommended, it was very difficult!) luckily the dough that had been sitting out was cooler than the one i had just made so i could tell it was adequately kneaded when the temperature evened out. all that to say, i let it rise while we were at the meeting, proofed it when we got home and pulled out four big loaves of buttermilk wheat just before midnight. a delicious mis-judgement of time. and the salt was just right.

the recipe below if for the whole thing, four normal-sized loaves (adapted from the buttermilk cluster recipe at thefreshloaf.com):

6 c. warm water (~75-80˚F)

7 1/2 t. (2 1/2 T.) instant yeast

1 1/2 c. dry buttermilk powder

1 T. honey

2 T. barley malt syrup (ran out of honey, too!)

2 T. (1/8 c.) coarse kosher salt

9 c. whole wheat flour

9+ c. unbleached white flour

just follow the regular bread-making routine with these ingredients. get a gigantic bowl and pour in the warm water. add the yeast and let it sit for a couple of minutes. stir it up. add the dry buttermilk powder, the honey and the syrup and stir to dissolve and incorporate. add a few cups of the  whole wheat flour and stir until the texture is consistent. add the correct amount of salt. finish adding the whole wheat flour in increments, stirring like crazy in between installments. start to add the white flour in the same manner until the whole mess gets hard to stir. at this point you can turn it out on a well-floured board to knead or knead it right in the bowl you're using. continue to add enough of the white flour as you knead to create a soft, smooth, slightly sticky dough. form the dough into a tight ball, flour it lightly so it won't stick and let it rise in the bowl in a warm place (~75-80˚F) until about doubled in volume (a couple hours or about the length of a congregational budget meeting if needed). punch the dough down divide it into four equal parts and shape into loaves. let them proof for about an hour in the same warm place. bake the loaves in a well-preheated 450˚F oven for twenty minutes with steam to create a thick chewy crust (spray inside of oven all over with water and shut door quickly to trap steam, bake for three minutes, spray again, bake seventeen minutes). then lower the temperature to 400˚F and bake an additional twenty minutes. (check the loaves when you lower the temperature, you may need to tent them with aluminum foil to prevent to tops from getting too dark or you may need to rotate the loaves to get an even browning especially if you're baking four at a time.) let the loaves cool about twenty minutes on a wire rack and then dig in!

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