I’ve made a couple of loaves using recipes from Heathy Bread in 5 Min a Day and I’ve found the flavor to be surprisingly bland. TBH, some mass-produced store-bought bread has better flavor.
The first loaf was made using the recipe on the King Arthur website. The dough was only in the fridge overnight (≈8 h) so I thought the short bulk period might have contributed to the blandness.
The second loaf was made using the 100% Whole Wheat Master Recipe. The authors give the option of adding or omitting vital wheat gluten, as well as adding sweetener and/or oil. I split the difference on the VWG and hydration level and added 4% honey and ≈2% oil, and let it rest in the fridge for two nights (≈60 h).
The loaf had a little bit more flavor, but still did not compare with the 100% WW from Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads that uses the same ingredients.
I was going to make another attempt and increase the honey to 8% and hope for more flavor. I have also considered adding yogurt or unfed sour culture to boost flavor. Any other suggestions for improving the flavor of these breads would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
You don't list one of the more important "ingredients" time. I find that cold fermentation really improves the flavor, though most of what I bake is just flour water, salt, Vitamin C and starter, I generally don't add sweeteners or VWG or oil.
Thanks for the response. The second loaf I made, I noted that the bulk sat in the fridge for ≈60 h (just above the ingredient table). I would hope that would be plenty of time to develop flavor.
That should be plenty of time to extract some flavor. While I bake primarily with 100% whole wheat, I switched to wild starter many years ago, so can't offer much on improving flavor with commercial yeast, other than bumping up the salt a bit - while many recipes recommend 2% , others go to 2,5% or higher, and that can impact taste.