Some foods bring back specific memories. Walnut bread takes me back to the early 1980s, when I went to high school (Folkehøjskole in Danish) in Rødding. The local baker had a walnut bread that was dark yet fluffy, and we often bought it and shared it with our friends in the corridor.
It was a mystery to me how they could make a dark bread so fluffy, as I thought that rye flour, for example, would make it heavy. I was also amazed by the flavour.
I didn't know about malt flour, which is the "secret" behind the colour and partly the taste. The other "secret" is to scald the walnuts and use the water in baking - it distributes the walnut flavour.
You can mould the dough into a loaf instead of a bun - it will need to be a little firmer, i.e. have a little more wheat flour.
Dark malt flour and "walnut water" give this recipe extra flavour.
Delicious walnut buns
The combination of walnuts and dark malt flour gives a deep flavour that makes these delicious buns a pleasure to sink your teeth into.If you don't have gluten and baking enzymes, simply replace them with the same amount of wheat flour
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer
Ingredients
4-6 hours before baking or preferably the day before
- 200 g walnuts
- 250 g water
- 200 g wholemeal weat flour
- possibly 20 g Sourdough starter, preferably rye sourdough
Baking time/baking day
- 750 g wheat flour, 12% protein content
- 35 g gluten or wheat flour
- 20 g baking enzyme or wheat flour
- 50 g dark malt flour
- 18 g salt
- 18 g dry yeast (instant dry yeast) or 60 grams of fresh yeast
- 25 g oil
- 450 g water - if needed, add 1-2 tbsp more while kneading
Method
4-6 hours before - or preferably the day before
- Roughly chop the walnuts. I pour them into a freezer bag and bash them with the side of a meat mallet. There should be pieces large enough that you will occasionally bite into some walnuts
- Pour them into the bowl of your mixer and pour 250 g of boiling water over them
- Allow it to cool to room temperature. If you have a sourdough starter, dissolve it in the mixture
- Add the whole weat flour and mix until all the flour is moist.
- Cover and leave for 4-6 hours. In summer you can refrigerate it, but if your kitchen is semi-cool, you can leave it on the worktop.
- For more and deeper flavour: If you have added sourdough starter, it should be left at least until the next day. It can also be left for 2 days for a fuller flavour. In summer, refrigerate overnight so your dough doesn't get too warm.
Baking time/baking day
- Add the rest of the ingredients. If you are using fresh yeast, dissolve it in the water.
- Pay attention to the temperature in your kitchen. In the summer, make sure the water is cold as the other ingredients will be at a relatively high room temperature.
- Start the mixer on low speed with dough hook. Let it run slowly for the first few minutes and then increase to medium speed
- Let the machine run for 12-15 minutes. The dough will be quite moist, but should release the bottom of the bowl when kneaded. The temperature should not exceed 28° centigrade. If the dough doesn't release completely, that's fine too.
- Pour the dough out onto a floured table or in a dough box and let it rest covered for 20 minutes
- Stretch the dough by pulling it in on itself as you turn so that you pull on all the "corners". Stretch the dough until it resists and doesn't "want" to be stretched anymore. Let it rest on the table, folded side down, for 40 minutes.
- Repeat the above and let the dough rest again, 30-40 minutes
- Be prepared for the dough to be a little sticky. You can sprinkle flour on the table to better control it.Weigh the dough so you know how big your pieces should be. For example, weigh the dough into 24 equal pieces.
- Each piece is stretched the same way you stretched the large lump of dough. Make sure the joints are facing down when you place the buns on either baking paper on 2 baking trays or on 2 greased perforated trays.
- Leave the buns to rise, covered, until they have at least doubled in size. This is where you need to use a little flair and keep an eye on the buns. You want them to rise as much as possible, but not so long that they collapse.If the kitchen is cold, you can put a box over the plates with steam underneath to help the process, but it's not necessary. Time is also fine.
- Place a "steam helper" in the oven. I use a container with granite chips, but an empty baking tray or similar is also fine.Preheat the oven to 250° ()fan off) for at least half an hour before you put the buns in.
The baking itself
- You can choose from several options:
- 1: "hard baking" at high heat, preferably on a baking steel or baking stone for a "rustic" result.Carefully transfer the baking paper with one portion of buns to the baking steel/stone.Pour 1 dl boiling water into the "steam helper" and quickly close the oven door. Turn the heat down to 230° and bake the buns for 18-20 minutes.Repeat with the next portion
- 2: "regular baking" at medium heatPlace a plate of buns in the oven, pour 1 dl boiling water into the "steam helper" and bake the buns for 20-23 minutes at 210°, fan off. Or bake both trays at once at 190°, fan on. Then you should turn the trays over and swap them halfway through
- 3: "Rundstykke-method of baking"Place both perforated plates in the oven, pour 1 dl. boiling water into the ‘steam helper’, quickly close the oven and turn down to 190° C. After 6 minutes, remove the ‘steam helper’ from the oven. After another 6 minutes, turn the plates over and swap them. Then open the oven for a few seconds every 2-3 minutes to let the moisture out. Bake until the buns are crispy but not too dark, probably 22-25 minutes in total depending on the oven
- Regardless of baking method: cool on a cooling rack.If the buns lose their crispiness again after ‘rundstykke-baking’: before serving, spray them with water and heat them for 5-6 minutes in a convection oven (200°) or airfryer. Then they come to life again.
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