Muesli Spelt Rolls – BBB

Ah, don’t be surprised — or be surprised — that the amount of rolled oaks, seeds, dry fruits and nuts total 78% of the flour weight of the muesli rolls, making them heavy weights in nutritional terms. These rolls are ideal to eat for breakfast, convenient to grab on the go or as energy food to pack for sports. More than just being a healthy bread, the addition of honey, molasses and chocolate imparts a sweet note and depth of flavor. See the cheat sheet below for the list of ingredients and the crucial steps in making the rolls. Yes, the list is very long, but they are all good, healthfully good… Rolled oats, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, dry cranberries, apricots, honey and chocolate. Mostly bread pantry staple items. (This is what the Bread Baking Babes are baking this month. The chosen recipe is from the book Bread by Dean Brettschneider.) The red highlights in the cheat sheet show the changes I’ve made to the recipe.

80% bread flour, 20% spelt

Changes to the original recipe are intended to push the envelope further in the nutritional quotient. I doubled the amount of whole wheat flour from 10% to 20% of the total flour weight. Substituted spelt flour for whole wheat. Spelt is widely believed to be better tolerated by people with certain wheat allergies.

Soft and supple crumb

Every time when there is an increase in the amount of whole grains, the challenge is to produce bread that’s light and moist with an open crumb structure — something less dense. I approached that by raising the hydration level. I put in extra water, little by little, at the start of bulk fermentation, to the upper limit at which I’m able to handle a sticky dough. Hydration percentage of the muesli rolls is roughly 80%.

I resorted to soaking the rolled oats, seeds and dry fruits to ensure that the bread would be moist, not only for a softer bite, but for improved keeping quality and extending the fresh life of the bread. The extra step is worthwhile, I believe. The finished rolls were both moist and tender with open crumb, not big holes but fine shreds, better than I’ve expected for my first attempt at this recipe.

Rolled oats, seeds and dry fruits are presoaked

For dry fruits, I used apricots and cranberries for some color and flavor in a sea of brown. I left out the chocolate chips, which I’d be sure to include next time around. I wanted to test out how this recipe worked with the already lengthy list of ingredients. Chocolate would have added a welcome sweet indulgence and creaminess, like spreading Nutella on the rolls — a real treat. I left it out so that I can revisit the recipe and do it again.

80% hydration dough

Add extra water, little by little, if necessary