Paul Hollywood's Pecan Loaf
Freeform wheat bread with pecans and molasses.
Servings 20
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 100 grams rye flour (¾ cup)
- 100 grams bread flour (¾ cup)
- 290 grams whole wheat flour (2 ¼ cups)
- 8 grams vital wheat gluten (2 teaspoons)
- 10 grams salt (1 ½ teaspoons plus a pinch)
- 10 grams instant yeast 1 tablespoon
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (20 grams)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (20 grams)
- 30 grams butter, unsalted and softened (2 ½ tablespoons)
- 350 grams water, luke warm (about 1 ½ cups plus a tablespoon)
- 250 grams pecan halves, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl, combine all the flours, the vital wheat gluten (if using) and salt. Stir well and push to one side of the bowl. Put the yeast on the other side of the bowl.
- Add the softened butter, molasses, maple syrup and three quarters (a little over a cup) of the water and stir by hand, scraping the side of the bowl, until mixed.
- Attach dough hook to mixer and put the bowl on the stand. Begin kneading on low. Add remaining water and knead on low for 4 minutes, stopping if needed to scrape the bowl.
- The dough should be kind of soft at this point. Return mixing bowl to stand and knead on medium for about 5 minutes. The dough will still be soft, but it should clear the sides of the bowl as it is being kneaded and should cling droopily to the hook. This is a terrible picture, but helpful.
- Add the pecans to the bowl and knead on low to medium for about a minute or two until pecans are mixed in and some are smashed.
- Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled. This could take 1 hour or you can let it go longer (up to 3). I let my rise for about 2 hours and ran errands.
- Scatter some flour on a large baking mat and tip the dough out onto the mat so it's coated lightly with flour. Press into a rectangle, pushing out air, then the dough over on itself once or twice to push out more air. Roll into a long cylinder and shape into a 30 cm (about 1 foot) tapered loaf. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise for another hour. It will puff up quite a bit.
- About 20 minutes before the end of the rising period, preheat the oven to 410 degrees F.
- When dough has risen, dust lightly with flour and make deep cuts on the diagonal, making "x"s. It's best to do this with a razor.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool.
Notes
Keep the flour out in case you need to use a little more.
