Pane Integrale (Whole-Wheat Bread) Recipe (2024)

Recipe from Jim Lahey

Adapted by Christine Muhlke

Pane Integrale (Whole-Wheat Bread) Recipe (1)

Total Time
3 hours, plus 18 hours for rising
Rating
5(382)
Notes
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Ingredients

Yield:Makes one 10-inch-round loaf

  • cups (300 grams) bread flour
  • ¾cup (100 grams) wheat flour
  • teaspoons (8 grams) table salt
  • ½teaspoon (2 grams) instant or dry active yeast
  • cups (300 grams) cool water (55 to 65 degrees)
  • Wheat bran, cornmeal or flour, for dusting

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)

1453 calories; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 295 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 47 grams protein; 1632 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Pane Integrale (Whole-Wheat Bread) Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt and yeast. Add the water, and using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

  2. Step

    2

    When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to gently scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

  3. Step

    3

    Place a cotton or linen tea towel on your work surface and very generously sprinkle it with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour, using at least ⅓ cup. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam-side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

  4. Step

    4

    Thirty minutes before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees, with a rack positioned in the lower third, and place a covered 4½-to-5½-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack. If using a lid with a plastic handle, be sure that it can tolerate high temperatures. You might have to unscrew it and plug the hole with aluminum foil.

  5. Step

    5

    Using thick potholders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam-side up. (Use caution: the pot will be very hot.) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

  6. Step

    6

    Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burned, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or potholders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Ratings

5

out of 5

382

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

John from Decorah

I have found that using a piece of flour-dusted parchment paper on a cookie sheet for step 3 is much better than a cloth. After placing the dough ball on it to riise, I cover it with the same large pyrex bowl that I used to mix the original dough. I can see through the bowl and monitor the rising. When it comes to step 5, it is simple to slide one's hand under the parchment sheet and then plop the dough into the pot. No sticking and no messy towel to clean!

Dan C.

This is not a whole wheat bread (pane integrale). It contains 75% refined flour. Bread flour is not necessary to make bread!

Lynn

I just pick up the risen loaf with the parchment and put it in the pot. The parchment does fine in the oven.

Drew

By "wheat flour" do you mean whole-wheat flour?

I don't see the point of this recipe. Calling it "Pane Integrale" doesn't change the fact that it's just copying Bittman's recipe ("Jim Lahey's No Work Bread").

Parsa

Now I see why most bread recipes call for reducing oven temperature after removing lids! My loaf was already burnt when I checked on it 15 minutes after removing the lid. Next time, I will try reducing the temperature to 425 or 400 after the first 30 minutes. Otherwise a solid recipe!

Kate

Measuring by weight when baking is the easiest way to assure success, because the moisture content of flour can vary greatly. I suggest purchasing a kitchen scale which will set you back by about $25-$50 depending on the quality. Once you have it you will find numerous uses for it in your kitchen, including baking.

Catalina

I agree. Mis-named.

Katharina

The first time I baked this, I decided to just simply do the second rise on a baking sheet under the bowl and then just put it straight into the oven (without the bowl, obviously) and bake for 30 minutes - done! Out came a beautiful round loaf without the fuss. Second time I added sunflower seeds, because why not?

Poppy

I love this bread - it's got great texture and great tangy flavor from the long fermentation, but I've had to make some changes to get the results I want. My loaf's bottom burns at 475, I've had to go to 450. I also can't get any good height on my loaf from the technique listed. Instead, I shape it to get good surface tension in a nice boule and then let it rise on parchment, which I use to transfer it to the oven (as others have mentioned). I do have to score it, since it goes in seam side down

ES

Deliciously crunchy crust! Mind didn’t prove correctly - maybe too cold? - so it was smaller and flatter than I expected, but it baked up with a thick, golden country bread crust. Will definitely make again.

Peter

Step 3, use parchment paper and cover with the bowl.Reduce heat after taking off the lid

Eloise

Why is this called whole wheat bread? It has 2/3 white flour and only 1/3 whole wheat flour.

Dawn

I usually drop the oven temperature 25-50 degrees after I take the pot lid off. It helps to keep the bread from burning.

Julie R

Made exactly according to recipe, was much firmer dough than I anticipated. It didn’t really double on first rise, but I just carried on. Baked in cast iron Dutch oven. Absolutely delicious, chewy crust and somewhat dense texture that allowed ease of slicing.

Parsa

Now I see why most bread recipes call for reducing oven temperature after removing lids! My loaf was already burnt when I checked on it 15 minutes after removing the lid. Next time, I will try reducing the temperature to 425 or 400 after the first 30 minutes. Otherwise a solid recipe!

chris

This was great. Not too dense. A good way to get some whole wheat mixed into my typical all bread flour no knead recipes.

james

I used a banetton instead of wrapping in a tea towel. Works fine. Also I didn’t have the right size pot so I used a 9 inch spring form pan and a pot cover. Worked perfectly.

Henry

I made this with 2 cups AP flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour. I don’t quite understand the point of coating seam-side down with cornmeal if it’s going up eat up seam-side up in the pot. It makes more sense to do the second rise on parchment paper and don’t flip it when you put it into the pot along with the parchment paper.

Wouter

I was wonderkng, in the second rise, what is considered warm? More than room temperature? And if so: how do I do this?

Jeanne

I use the parchment paper method now with all my no-knead breads. Thank you, posters, for the suggestion.

Amy

Can this be made with AP instead of bread flour? If so, would any other changes need to be made?

Poppy

I love this bread - it's got great texture and great tangy flavor from the long fermentation, but I've had to make some changes to get the results I want. My loaf's bottom burns at 475, I've had to go to 450. I also can't get any good height on my loaf from the technique listed. Instead, I shape it to get good surface tension in a nice boule and then let it rise on parchment, which I use to transfer it to the oven (as others have mentioned). I do have to score it, since it goes in seam side down

jfrye

Excellent bread. Did the parchment and bowl technique.

maggsf

I love this recipe! Though I’ve found it baffles to perfection in about 25 minutes total

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Pane Integrale (Whole-Wheat Bread) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade whole wheat bread so dense? ›

The reason why whole wheat loaves end up so dense is because whole wheat flour has very little gluten as compared to white all-purpose flour. Gluten is important for giving the dough – and final loaves – structure. Without it, loaves tend to end up flat and dense.

What happens when you bake with whole wheat flour? ›

Whole wheat flour includes the bran and germ, which act like little “shards” cutting the gluten strands while the dough is mixing and resting. This leads to a bread that is more dense and less elastic.

What makes whole grain bread so hard to bake? ›

That's because it contains flakes of bran which can actually cut the dough like knives. “Those will slice through the gluten strands when you're kneading the dough,” says Jonathan Bethony-McDowell, a research baker in Washington State University's Bread Lab, a facility used in national wheat breeding programs.

Why is my whole wheat bread not rising in the oven? ›

If your bread is not rising at all, there is usually a problem with the yeast. It might be out of date or, often, dead due to high temperature. Yeast begin to die at 120℉ (49℃). To see if the yeast you are using is active, add a little to warm water with a little sugar and look for bubbles after 5 - 10 minutes.

How do you make bread lighter and fluffier? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

How do you make bread airy and not dense? ›

If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread.

Do you need more liquid when baking with whole wheat flour? ›

The stiffer/drier the dough, the harder it is for it to rise. The solution: When substituting whole wheat for 100% of the white flour in your own favorite yeast recipe, do this: For every cup of whole wheat flour substituted, increase the liquid in the recipe by 2 teaspoons.

Do you need baking powder with whole wheat flour? ›

Leavening Agents: You might need slightly more leavening agents, like baking powder or yeast, when using these wheat flour to help with the rise and fluffiness of your baked goods.

What do you need to add more of when baking with whole wheat flour? ›

Occasionally you will need to add slightly more liquid. When using all whole-grain flour in quick breads, select whole-wheat pastry, white whole wheat, spelt or kamut flours. Use 1 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of flour.

How do I make my whole wheat bread less dense? ›

  1. let your bread rise longer the next time. In most cases, this alone will fix your dense bread.
  2. knead dough intensively. The result is well-aerated, lighter bread that's made quickly.
  3. shorten the bulk fermentation time or try another flour brand.
Aug 27, 2023

Can I mix bread flour and whole wheat flour? ›

You can make this bread 100% whole wheat, or you can use a combination of whole wheat and bread flour for a slightly taller, fluffier loaf. It's wonderfully soft and flavorful either way! If you're new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.

How do you make whole wheat flour taste better? ›

If you convert a recipe to all whole-grain flour and find the result too dense or wheaty, try adding a tablespoon of orange juice in place of the same quantity of liquid to mellow the wheaty flavor. You can also add back a small portion of all-purpose flour.

What happens if you don t let bread rise enough before baking? ›

If baked too soon or too late, loaves can collapse and have a dense, gummy center. “There are so many factors that affect rise time, so exact time will vary for every baker.

Does whole wheat bread need more water? ›

So, 1,000 grams of flour and 750 grams of water will always be 75% hydration; it doesn't matter if the flour is rye, whole wheat, buckwheat, or gluten-free. However, whole-grain flours are “thirstier,” and doughs made with whole-grain flours typically require more water.

Can too much flour make bread not rise? ›

Too Much Flour

The big lesson here: too much of any ingredient can make your bread not rise—even flour. Too much flour can make your dough stiff and dry. And we all know what happens if there's not enough liquid for the yeast to use: It doesn't work how it should.

How do you fix dense whole wheat bread? ›

  1. let your bread rise longer the next time. In most cases, this alone will fix your dense bread.
  2. knead dough intensively. The result is well-aerated, lighter bread that's made quickly.
  3. shorten the bulk fermentation time or try another flour brand.
Aug 27, 2023

What causes homemade bread to be too dense? ›

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

Why is my homemade bread dense and heavy? ›

Fermentation is at the heart of many of them. (FYI: Fermentation refers to the process yeast goes through to make bread rise or proof.) If the fermentation is too fast or too slow, too long or too short, or not as predicted, dense bread is often the result.

How do you make whole wheat baked goods less dense? ›

Sift the whole wheat flour a couple of times to give it more air which will result in lighter baked goods. This doesn't mean you have to own a flour sifter. Instead, a fine strainer works just fine. Just sprinkle the flour through it a couple of times.

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