healthy bread

Here’s another no knead bread that I love. It’s crunchy on the outside and on the inside too! I make it with two kinds of flour (whole wheat and white) and then I add a half cup of cracked wheat to the dough. The result is a fabulous high-fiber bread with a golden crust and a delicious nutty interior with lots of crunch.

Cracked wheat is made by milling raw wheat berries into smaller pieces, preserving the nutrient and fiber rich bran and germ layers. So this delicious loaf has extra fiber and protein, and cracked wheat is also a good source of iron.

If you like hearty, farm-style bread with extra crunch, you will love this recipe. I have never been able to find cracked wheat at the  store so I order it online, solely to make this recipe. Cracked wheat is a series of uncooked, hard, dry pieces and looks like this:

I have also made the same recipe with steel-cut oats but it does not have the flavor or texture that this one does.  I use the overnight version to allow the uncooked cracked wheat time to soften. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I found a better way to make my 100% whole wheat no knead bread. I’m using the same ingredients but I recently found that you don’t always need the resting period for no knead breads while the oven heats up so I tried it with this whole wheat version and it turned out great. And it saves time. I plan to experiment with all my other no knead breads and will report back on each one if they are just as good without the resting time.

I get the best result in my 3 1/2-quart Dutch oven so the bread can not spread too much. Keep in mind that this is a heavier, more dense loaf than the original white flour version but if you want an easy, healthy, high fiber bread recipe, this is it. The only difference between this recipe and the old one is that the old one had a 2-hour resting period before baking. So the total time for this recipe just went from 13 hours to 11 (but you’re sleeping most of this time anyway).

For my new and improved, faster 100% whole wheat no knead bread, click here for the recipe.

It pays to experiment. Today I decided to try making whole wheat no knead bread faster to avoid the overnight wait. I increased the amount of yeast and it worked! Most no knead breads use 1/4 teaspoon of yeast so I tried 1 teaspoon and let the dough rest for just three hours instead of overnight. I was so happy with the result. It’s a nice hearty loaf with a soft interior. This is not 100% whole wheat because that is a heavier, dense loaf. This is 2/3 whole wheat to 1/3 bread flour but it’s still a good source of fiber.

So now I have NINE different variations of no knead bread from Fruit & Nut Bread to Multi-Grain to No Dutch Oven at all. And I’m working on number ten! Keep in mind that any whole wheat bread will never be as soft and crispy as the white version but this is still a delicious, hearty, healthier whole wheat bread and it takes almost no work at all. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I never dreamed I could make my own rye bread as good as the one at the deli but I did. And it’s not only as good, it’s easy too…  because there’s no kneading! I grew up on rustic breads and rye is my favorite, especially with caraway seeds and now I’m making my own!

I have made this bread using the faster method using hot water, and also the overnight method that uses cool water. They both turn out the same. It’s not a big loaf, usually measuring 7 inches across and 3 inches tall.

Caraway seeds give it that “rye bread” taste but you can leave the seeds out and you still get a nice rustic farm bread. I think this is my 6th variation of no knead bread. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones