USING WHOLE WHEAT OTHER THAN BREAD

Here is a great newsletter put together by Karen Reed of the Hickories Ward - 

When I received my assignment “Using Whole Wheat Other than Bread”, I spent a few minutes scratching my head and then heading straight to the internet! Finding recipes that are 100% whole wheat can be difficult if not for the main reason it can be tough to stomach. When introducing whole wheat to your family you need to slowly work it into your cooking.  Most recipes which require flour can have portions substituted with whole wheat. 

A couple of years ago Renae Corn of Corn Farms gave an excellent presentation on cooking with wheat to my ward. She has kindly given permission to use some of her points from her booklet “Cooking with Wheat with help from MOM!!!”.

The type of wheat you use depends on what type of cooking you are doing. Hard Red is best for bread, pancakes, brownies, cookies, apple cake, carrot cake and banana bread.   Hard White makes good tortillas, pizza dough, French bread, biscuits and noodles.  A Soft Wheat flour is good for pastries, cookies and unleavened breads. Many times people have a hard time when whole wheat is introduced into their diet. This can be a reaction to the tannic acid in certain wheat strains. It is recommended to start off with hard white which has no tannic acid.

Other than bread and substituting white flour in baking, you can use wheat as an extender, pasta, to make cereal, wheat berries and wheat sprouts.

Some of Renae Corn’s Recipes:

CRACKED WHEAT AS A MEAT EXTENDER

1 1/3 C cracked wheat

4 C water

Place in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil.

Stir and turn heat to low. Cook until done, about 15 min.

You may add this to 1 lb of hamburger for Tacos, Spaghetti,

Casseroles or Sloppy Joes.

PASTA

3 ½ C whole wheat flour

5 large eggs

1 T oil

1 ½ t salt

Water if needed

Put all ingredients into a bowl. Mix until stiff. Knead for 5 min.

Dip a clean cloth into warm water and wring out. Wrap cloth around the dough and let dough rest for about 30 min.

Divide dough into 4 parts. Roll out and cut with a pizza cutter. (Or you may use a pasta machine) Let noodles dry for about 20 min.

To cook, bring 6 quarts of water, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a full rolling boil.  Add noodles and cook until firm to the bite. Drain and toss with sauce, oil, or butter. Serve hot.

HONEY GRAHAM CRACKERS

2 C whole wheat flour

2 t baking powder

¼ t salt

3 T brown sugar

¾ t cinnamon

1 cube butter

2 T honey

2 T of milk

Stir together dry ingredients. Then cut in butter. Add honey & milk. Mix well. Press onto a cookie sheet. Roll smooth w/rolling pin or pastry roller. Prick with a fork.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 min. Cut w/pizza cutter when done.

DEEP DISH BROWNIES

1 C + 2 T butter

 ¾ C cocoa

2 ¼ C sugar

¾ t baking powder

2 t vanilla

 ¾ t salt

4 eggs

1 ¾ C chocolate chips

1  C Whole wheat flour

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. Blend ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in pan.

Bake 40-45 min. Cool.

Here are some recipes for cereal that I found at http://mormonsite.wordpress.com/recipes/

Cracked Wheat Cereal

CROCKPOT OR THERMOS METHOD

Boil 2 cups water in the microwave and put it in the crock
pot (might as well use it for something) and pour in 1 cup cracked wheat and
1/4 tsp of salt. Leave it overnight. In the morning I warm it in the
microwave – it comes out perfect. The only problem with using a thermos is
finding one with a large enough mouth so you can get the cereal out easy.
The crock from the crock pot holds the heat long enough, we just wrap it
with a towel and leave it on the counter.

STOVETOP METHOD

Bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt (optional.) Dump in 3/4 cup cracked wheat. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir frequently for one minute or so. When you first add the wheat, you may think the mixture is too thin, but the wheat quickly absorbs the water. You can vary the cooking time depending on how soft you want the cereal. Also, vary the wheat/water ratio depending on how thick you want the cereal.

Add raisins, nuts, or whatever, for variety. Makes one large bowl. Enjoy!

WHEAT BERRY CEREAL

If you don’t have access to a grinder to crack wheat for cereal, you can cook the wheat kernels (in my family, we call them “wheat berries.”)

§  Boil several cups of wheat kernels for about 45 minutes. Vary the cooking time depending on how soft you want the berries.

§  Drain and store in your refrigerator.

To use, heat a bowl of berries in your microwave oven. Add raisins, nuts, oatmeal, fruit, etc. for variety. Enjoy!

The internet site www.foodnetwork.com can be a very good resource for whole wheat cooking.

Pretzels

·         Yield: 16 pretzel sticks (serving size: 1 stick)

• 1 packet instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more, if necessary
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Combine yeast, honey and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Let sit for 5 or 6 minutes, or until mixture begins to foam. While yeast mixture is sitting, combine whole-wheat flour, all purpose flour and 2 teaspoons salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add flour mixture and oil to yeast mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated and dough begins to form. Switch to dough hook and mix on low to medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until dough is smooth but still pliable. If the dough is very sticky, add all-purpose flour, by the tablespoon, as necessary.
Remove the dough from the bowl and roll into a long log. Cut log into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a 10 by 1-inch tube. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Twist each dough stick several times and arrange sticks on cookie sheets, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart. In a small bowl beat the egg with water and brush on dough. Combine 1 tablespoon salt with sesame seeds and sprinkle evenly among dough pieces. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a golden crust has formed but pretzels are still soft inside. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Wheat Pizza Crust (4 7” pizzas)

• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Proof yeast in a measuring cup with lukewarm water.
In a food processor add whole wheat and all purpose flours, proofed yeast, oil mixed with honey and salt. Pulse processor to combine all ingredients. Then process until the dough forms a ball on the blade. Remove dough to a large oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes or until dough has doubled in bulk.
Punch down dough and transfer to a floured board and knead briefly. Divide dough into 4 equal portions and roll each piece into a ball. Place the balls of dough, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Bring the dough to room temperature before proceeding.
On a floured board roll and stretch each piece of dough into a 7 to 8-inch circle. Place each circle on a wooden pizza peel or pizza pan and top as desired.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. and bake 7 to 8 minutes per pizza.

Soft Whole Wheat Ginger Spice Cookies

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4-cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs. water
• 1/4-cup molasses
• 2 Tbs. white sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together flours, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and one cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and then stir in water and molasses. Gradually stir dry ingredients into molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut-sized balls and roll them in remaining two tablespoons sugar.
Place the cookies two inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for five minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Prevention Magazine advocates the use of whole wheat in cooking. They have a website www.prevention.com where you can find many whole wheat recipes. Also their “Flat Belly Diet Cookbook” by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass is a good resource. This recipe is great for use in a pumpkin pie. It can be found under “Ginger Pumpkin Pie” in their internet site recipe search.

Whole Grain Pastry Crust

1 1/4 cups whole grain pastry flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

4 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor, combine the flour and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Pulse until blended. Add the oil and butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles a fine meal. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed, and pulse just until the dough forms large clumps. Form into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Coat a 9" pie plate with cooking spray.

Place the dough between 2 pieces of waxed paper and roll into a 12" circle. Remove the top piece of paper and invert the dough into the pie plate. Peel off the second piece of paper. Press the dough into the pie plate and up onto the rim, patching where necessary. Turn under the rim and flute. Chill in the refrigerator. Add pumpkin filling and bake according to instructions.

Sprouting Wheat

Basic Sprouting Equipment

            A quart jar

            A piece of cotton gauze or nylon

            A strong rubber band

1. Measure out the wheat making sure to remove the broken seeds.

2. Place the seeds in a jar half full of warm water. Pull out the “floaters” or “sinkers”. Floaters are when the majority of the seeds rest on the bottom and sinkers are when the majority floats instead.

3. Secure gauze or nylon over the mouth of the jar with the rubber band. Soak 6-8 hours in a warm location in the kitchen.

4. Drain the seeds by turning the jar upside-down. Leave it angled to one side in the sink for a few minutes. Rinse again gently in warm water to remove contaminants. Allow to drain once more, then place in a warm, dark place or covered with a towel in a window so that germination may begin.

5. Drain and rinse seeds 2-3 times each day. Drain well to prevent souring of sprouts. Wheat should sprout in 24-48 hours. Harvest when sprouts are 1/8” long.   

Thank you for reading through my very long winded article. Good luck with your cooking and baking!

Karen Reed