BOTD: Malted Barley Rye Bread

Pale chocolate barley malt is something I picked up at a brewing store. There's no chocolate, and it's not something you drink. Instead, it's malted barley that's roasted until it's dark and chocolately. People who brew beer use this sort of malt to make dark beers. Or so I'm told. But if it's a grain, I'm going to try to bake it into a bread. And that's just what I did.

The barley made the rye a little darker than it would have been otherwise, and added an interesting flavor as well, complementing the rye nicely. I left this one seedless, but feel free to add caraway if you like.

The nice fellow at the brewing store ground the barley for me, but it was a little coarser than I wanted, so I whizzed up a tablespoon of it in my spice grinder, which is simply a coffee grinder that I use for spices.

If leaving a dairy product unrefrigerated overnight makes you nervous, you can refrigerate the mixture instead of leaving it on the counter. Let it come to room temperature the next day before you continue. Or use water instead of buttermilk.

This bread wasn't a fast riser, and the oven spring wasn't huge, either. But it's got a nice texture and good flavor. It would stand up nicely to big flavors - sauerkraut and sausages come to mind, but it's not so strong that you couldn't make a sandwich with it.

Malted Barley Rye Bread

1 tablespoon pale chocolate barley malt

1 cup dark rye flour (4 oz.)

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon yeast, divided

1 1/2 cups bread flour (6 3/4 oz)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil.

In the evening before you want the bread, combine the barley malt, rye flour, buttermilk, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix well, cover with plastic wrap, and leave it on the counter overnight.

The next day, add the remaining ingredients, and knead with the dough hook until the dough comes together in a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl.

Stop the mixer and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes, then knead again until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl (or a clean bowl if you prefer), drizzle with olive oil, cover the bowl and let it rise until doubled, about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal.

Knead the dough briefly and form it into a tight ball. Place it on the prepared baking sheet, and let it rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Slash the loaf as desired, and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Let the bread cool completely on a rack before slicing.


This post has been sent to Yeastspotting.