The Best Beginner’s Guide To Baking with Whole Grain

Have you ever looked at a list of whole grains and wondered how to use them in baking instead of cooking them? We are often questioned about whole-grain baking. This baking guide covers some of the basics, but it will help you immensely.

Doughs made with whole grains have:

• Higher liquid/absorption requirements
• Reduced mixing requirements
• Lower tolerance to over-mixing
• Including whole grains may influence the dough’s ‘sheet ability’ and cohesiveness.
• You may need to adjust the baking time and temperature to ensure the target moisture content is achieved while avoiding excessive browning.

Ancient Grain Baking tips

Most of our ancient grains experience is in quinoa, amaranth, sorghum, millet, teff, and some with buckwheat. We use mostly whole-grain flours and particulates, as opposed to refined flours. Although some circles have a broader definition, these are the grains most commonly considered “ancient.” Use fresh-milled meals whenever possible for the best quality and no rancid-fat flavor notes. Store meal flour in a cool, dry place for best results. These flours are gluten-free and, therefore, need to be used with xanthan gum and eggs or wheat flour to achieve good textures in baking. These flours and meals are often used in cakes, cookies, crackers, flatbreads, tortillas, and muffins.

• 15% of flour basis usage is a good starting point in a wide range of baked goods and other grain-based foods.
• Up to 25% flour basis can easily be used in wheat-based bread.
  Up to 50% flour can easily be used in muffins, pancakes, and other quick breads, as well as cookies.
• Utilize multigrain blends to help moderate individual grains’ flavor, texture, and functional (processing) impact and reduce the cost impact.
• Match the absorption and taste of the application.

Flavor profiles and hydration of some ancient grains

• Sorghum – low hydration – mild, soft impact flavor, light corn flavor notes
• Millet – low hydration – bland, low impact flavor, but baking can sometimes result in bitter notes (especially in the crust or low moisture baked goods like cookies)
• Amaranth – strong hydration – earthy flavor with fresh corn husk/silk notes
• Quinoa – moderate hydration – corn and legume flavor notes

Usage example – in cookies, sorghum and millet impart crunchiness, while whole quinoa flour results in a softer texture.

For Bread, Use Hard wheat.

Depending on the wheat flavor’s strength (red wheat being the most assertive flavor), the bread can change significantly with those flavor changes. The protein content of all these berries will give you excellent bread:

• hard white wheat (mild wheat flavor)
• hard red wheat (more robust wheat flavor)
• Kamut® Khorasan wheat berries (mild wheat flavor)
• Einkorn Wheat (mild flavor)

Strategies for increasing whole grain consumption

• Substitute whole grains in your favorite recipes, eg.
• 10-15% requires little to no adjustment.
• 50% usually requires more liquid and reduced mix time in bread.

Pairings

• Use light-colored whole grains in lighter-colored foods (e.g., millet or white whole wheat in a sugar cookie or pie crust) and darker whole grains in darker-colored foods (e.g., buckwheat or rye in a brownie).

Of course, there are many other tips for baking with whole grain, but these are the most basic uses and directions. Happy baking!