The Bread and Nothing but the Entire Wheat Bread

I’m in an experimental mood these days, trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that to see how things turn out. My energy level is my limiting factor, but I like to churn out bread, cake or cookies on those days that I can.

First up: entire wheat bread from the Fannie Farmer cookbook. I was drawn to this recipe for a few reasons. First, it’s a yeast-raised batter bread which requires no kneading. It’s easy enough to knead bread with my heavy duty mixer and dough hook, but my energy level, low at the best of times, was just not up to it that day. I was also curious about it as an original recipe, one which had been omitted in subsequent editions. It looked interesting and relatively easy to make. I was sold!

This cookbook was first published in 1896 as the Boston Cooking School Cookbook, written and edited by school principal Fannie Merritt Farmer. It became an immediate hit and was named in her honor not too long after the first publication. It’s had several editors since then, the latest being Marion Cunningham, who brought back some of the original recipes that previous editors had omitted. This bread is one of those originals.

The recipe uses 100% whole wheat flour, called entire wheat in Fannie’s day. I wondered how it might turn out. Most “whole wheat” bread these days is made with up to 50% white flour to give it extra height and lightness. My own experiments with whole wheat breads made with less or no white flour led to dense, chewy loaves that went dry or moldy before they got eaten. I usually eat all my home made bread, but not in these cases.

Miss Farmer surprised me, though, with a loaf that was toothsome but moist and light. The crust was delightfully crunchy and both my husband and I scarfed it down. I have only one objection: the modern-day recipe called for only one loaf but my finished product produced somewhat more than that. I went back to the original recipe and noticed that it poduced two loaves, not one. Perhaps there was an error in the edited, modern version? I scooped out enough dough to fill two mini-pans and stuck those two in the oven next to the larger loaf pan. It baked for about 40 minutes before I pulled out those wonderful, aromatic loaves.

I strongly recommend you buy or borrow a copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, edited by Marion Cunningham and try this bread for yourself. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy this bread is to make and I guarantee at least one loaf won’t make it past dinner!