I have a cookbook with recipes from members of the Archdiocese of Chicago. You know where this is going, right? As soon as they named the new Pope, I went straight to the book to see if he'd submitted a recipe. Sadly, no recipes from Pope Leo, but there was this one for Franciscan Brown Bread. I couldn't resist trying it, and made it as a Dutch oven bread.
What is Franciscan Bread
So what is Franciscan Bread? It's not one particular bread, but rather a style rooted in the order founded by St. Francis of Assisi. The defining traits of poverty, simplicity, and humility were reflected in the bread. That is, no frills, but just the basics: flour, water, salt, and maybe a little yeast or sourdough starter. The definition has expanded, as Franciscans make all kinds of bread, even beer bread. So a Franciscan style bread might be simple, or it might just be a good loaf of bread made by a friar.
Brown Bread
This particular bread is a brown bread because it's made with different whole grain flours and molasses. On paper it's pretty simple looking, but it has an amazing flavor, especially if you use a good molasses. Another bonus is it only calls for one rise. You can give it a longer fermentation if you'd like. So far I've made it several times by mixing, shaping, letting it rise once and baking in the Dutch oven. I'm going to chill my next round of dough overnight just for fun, but the bread already has so much flavor the way it is.
Ingredient Notes
- Yeast -- Active dry, but quick should work too.
- Molasses -- Any mild molasses. I've been using Golden Barrel Baking Molasses. It's so good you'll want to drink it straight.
- Shortening -- The Archdiocese book lists shortening. I've tested with shortening and butter. The shortening gives it a softer crumb. Spectrum is now my favorite brand.
- Whole Wheat Flour -- All loaves were tested with Pillsbury's whole wheat. If you use King Arthur's whole wheat, brand, you might need more water because that flour is a thirsty son of gun.
- Rye Flour -- KAF organic, or whatever good rye flour you can find.
- Bread Flour -- I almost always exclusively use King Arthur's bread flour. For this recipe, start with just 3 cups, add another ½ cup while kneading, then add the last ¼ cup only if the dough needs it. If you are using a bread machine you could probably get by with just the 3 ½ cups.
- Salt - I used Morton kosher and felt like 1 ½ teaspoons was enough.
Recipe
Franciscan Brown Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 6 tablespoons molasses (120 grams)
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour (100 grams)
- ½ cup rye flour (65 grams)
- 3 ¾ cups bread flour, plus more as needed (divided use) (420 plus 70 plus about 30 grams)
- 2 ½ tablespoon shortening (Spectrum) or butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Put the 2 cups (no more than that) of warm water in the stand mixer bowl. Add the yeast and molasses and let the yeast activate (foam).
- Add the whole wheat flour, rye flour and shortening or butter and give it a stir, then add 3 cups (420 grams) of the bread flour, holding back remaining ½ cup (70 grams) and ¼ cup (30 grams) to use later.
- Sprinkle the salt over the dough, then put the mixer on the mixing stand and beat with the paddle (not the dough hook) for about 2 minutes.
- At this point the dough will be extremely soft and sticky. Using a scraper, scrape it away from the sides of bowl.
- Sprinkle part of the reserved ½ cup of flour onto a mat, then empty the dough onto the mat and sprinkle the remaining of that ½ cup over the dough. By hand, knead all of the ½ cup of flour into the dough. It should start to hold its shape, but you will probably end up needing that last ¼ cup. Add that last ¼ cup very gradually and only as needed until dough peels off the mat and has some elasticity to it. It will be a bit sticky, but should form a ball.
- Spray a little cooking spray on your fingers or just use a little oil and mold the dough into a big round. Meanwhile, line a large bowl with a big piece of parchment paper by scrunching it up and pressing it into the bowl. Transfer the round of bread dough to the bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in bulk.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. and if using the Dutch oven method, put the Dutch oven and its lid in the oven to preheat. If you are not going to use a Dutch oven, just preheat to 375F.
- Once the bread has risen, carefully lift the parchment with the bread round and carefully drop the whole thing into the hot Dutch oven. Put the lid on. Bake at 450F for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake with the lid off for about 20 more minutes. Let cool completely.
WIthout Dutch Oven
- If baking without the Dutch oven, just put the risen loaf on the baking sheet and bake for about 45 to 55 minutes at 375F. You may need to shield with foil during the last 15 minutes.
- If you'd like to make two loaves, follow the directions for rising, but after the dough has risen empty it out onto a mat and cut in half by putting a greased chef's knife down the middle and separating. Without punching it down too much, shape each half into a round. Bake the rounds side by side at 375F. for about 45 to 50 minutes.
Anna says
If you try it in your bread machine, let me know how it goes.
Sue K says
I think we would love this!