I find that a lot of folks are scared to attempt whole wheat bread, but if my first time exp. is anything to go by, folks its a breeze. Yeah keep some extra water handy and a little more stickier dough than an APF version probably.
The recipe Archana used yields quite a bit (Pls note that the cup measurements are US cup measurements) - she suggests that you split it and bake in batches. She is really sweet and responds to all email enquiries in detail and PROMPTLY... Also it makes more sense to halve it if you are kneading by hand. I found is really hard to knead the whole dough in one go - No kitchenaid u see.. Maybe i should put it on my list for Santa this Christmas:)
The yeast I used here is the Instant variety called 'Gloripan' - very pleased with the results and summer does help bread baking by making the rising process so much faster. Just a warning, the rosemary we get here is quite hard - maybe not so fresh - so ensure that its chopped really fine or use the dried one (halve the quantity mentioned if using dry rosemary). I followed the recipe exactly. Just added my own toppings. The first one had onion, olives and parmesan cheese and the other one had not-quite-sundried tomatoes, onion and thyme
Loved the recipe and this is a keeper - just replicating here again with my notes...
Whole Wheat Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
6 cups multigrain flour or whole wheat flour (Aashirwad brand)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (gloripan)
1/2 cup chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil and more for coating and brushing
3 cups water
Method
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, honey, yeast, and rosemary. Gradually add in the oil and water and knead well until all the ingredients are well combined. I use a KitchenAid mixer and it takes less than two minutes for me to get the ingredients together and mix it all up into a complete mass. Having said that your hands work well as well and you would build some good muscles. (Archana is totally right abt that, i had to divide into two portions and knead!!)
When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a bowl with a light fitting lid and let it rise in a warm place for two hours. Sometimes I make the dough rise for two hours and then place the same bowl in the refrigerator to be baked for the next day. This kneaded dough will stay in the refrigerator for at least 5 days, so you could bake a small portion of bread for every single day of the week for dinner or a snack.(very sensible advice)
Preheat oven to 250 C. Punch dough down and place on floured baking sheet. Pat and spread into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle and make finger imprints over the bread. Brush the top with olive oil and you could optionally sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese or even ringed onions.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.
(My oven's max peaks at 220 and i used that setting and it look lesser than 12 minutes for baking)
