I love making bread. I love the tactile nature of kneading. I love the way it makes your house smell while it bakes. I love the way a pat of butter melts right on top of a slice just out of the oven.
Bread is a wholesome, communal food, and I personally think it's very important to have homemade bread at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it's often overlooked in favor of homemade stuffing, turkey, and side dishes--people forget about the bread and just buy store bought.
I think this should be changed! You're already spending time in the kitchen making stuff for Thanksgiving - why not spend just a little more time and have some awesome bread?
I knew this was the perfect entry for Blogsgiving Dinner, a fun little online party hosted by Meghan from Cake ‘n Knife and Susannah from Feast + West. There are more than 60 blogs sharing recipes this week! And I'm one of them.
Now, regarding this recipe. I like bread that is on the more moist side, which is difficult, because I also like really whole grain-rich breads, which tend to run on the drier side. But guess what? I've had an epiphany. Add Greek Yogurt to your bread, and it will instantly be more moist.
I had a bunch of Greek yogurt in the house because I was working on a pie recipe that I will post very soon. I over-bought Greek yogurt. . Like, more than I could eat, more than my sweetheart could eat. So I had to get creative. I started putting Greek yogurt in EVERYTHING. In chocolate sauce? In oatmeal? In a bowl of fruit? Yes, yes, yes. And, in my bread.
This is an adaptation of one of my favorite bread recipes ever. It's easy, it's accessible, and you don't even get your hands too dirty.
The Greek yogurt addition was, I'll just say it, brilliant. Not only does it impart a nice level of moisture to the bread, but it also gives it a pleasant tanginess. Like, if I were to taste this bread and you wanted to know what it was, I might guess it was some sourdough variant.
The blue corn and whole wheat flour mixture is my favorite, giving the bread a sort of earthy, wholesome taste that goes perfectly with all of your Thanksgiving fixings. Promise me you'll try this one, ok?
Blue corn honey wheat bread with Greek yogurt
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: 1 large loaf
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup blue corn flour
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (I used Greek Gods honey yogurt)
Procedure
- Combine the water and yeast. Once the yeast begins to bubble lightly, proceed.
- Mix all of the remaining ingredients with the yeast mixture in the order listed.
- Knead, either by hand with a dough scraper or with a stand mixer, until it has progressed past a shaggy texture to a solid, slightly sticky mass. This can take up to 5 minutes by hand; less when using a mixer. It will never quite take on a smooth elasticity as if you were using all-purpose flour, but it will become smoother. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise at room temperature until it’s quite puffy and doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- Gently deflate the dough with your hand (a gentle pressing, not a knockout punch), and shape it into a fat 9″ log (it may still be slightly sticky; I used lightly oiled hands). Place it in a lightly greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. If you'd like, press seeds, nuts, etc, on the top of the loaf.
- Cover the pan, and let the dough rise for 2 hours or even overnight, or until it has formed a crown which extends 1 inch or slightly more over the rim of the pan. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the bread uncovered for 20 minutes. Tent it lightly with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top, and when knocked lightly, yields a slightly hollow sound.
- Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out onto a rack to cool. Go ahead, give it a taste if you can’t resist (who can resist warm bread?). When completely cool, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature.
ABOUT BLOGSGIVING DINNER: The idea is based on an old-fashioned potluck dinner party. Each blogger is bringing one or more dishes to the party, so be sure to stop by each one and get some ideas for your own Thanksgiving meal. We’ll be posting to social media with the hashtag #blogsgivingdinner, but you can see all the whole menu in Part 1 and Part 2 of the recipe round-up.