Certified Organic Whole Wheat Flour

CBF is now licensed by the
 health department to sell flour
 in the Treasure Valley. We are starting our fifth season of producing a local whole wheat flour. The wheat is grown, harvested and milled here at the farm. Having the grain in my crop rotation has been a huge benefit to improve the farm’s soil.

The flour can be easily purchased by contacting Beth. We can arrange for an on-farm pickup or a Boise delivery. Call me to work out the details 697-6208 or email me.

I also plan to sell the flour along with beans, paprika, sweet pepper jam and whole wheat pizza crusts at the Capital City Public Market this November and December. Stay tuned for more details.

Several Boise bakeries and restaurants use the whole wheat flour in their products.

Gaston’s Bakery uses a lot of the flour in a variety of products. Their talented bakers craft a whole wheat artisan bread, crackers and a pre-baked, 100 percent whole wheat pizza crust. Le Cafe Paris (which is the restaurant side of Gaston’s) uses the flour in crepes and other menu items.

Zeppole Bakery incorporates my flour in their honey whole wheat bread. Anytime you buy a loaf of this delicious bread you are eating local organic wheat.

Bittercreek and Red Feather restaurants use CBF’s flour in seasonal specials and their pizza crusts. They also purchase breads from Gaston's Bakery which include the flour. Owner Dave Krick has been instrumental in encouraging local restaurants/bakeries to use the flour.

If you’re at the Capital City Farmer’s Market this season, visit Les Crepe Gitane. Chef Brian Dudney, aka Turk, uses the whole wheat flour in his gigantic crepes. He’s diversifying this year by adding pizza to his booth. So the pizza crust will be blended with CBF’s flour, too.

At the College of Idaho, Bon Appetite uses the flour, wheat berries and cracked wheat in their amazing, diverse menu.

More flour details.

The flour is available year round, and ground to order, usually milled within 48 hours of your purchase. It is a fine grind and can easily be substituted for that white, boring stuff. It has a sweet, nutty flavor. If you need cracked wheat, whole wheat berries or a special grind, please contact me at 697-6208.

Prices include tax.

   3-pound bag ($2.50/lb.) =  $7.50
   5-pound bag ($2.50/lb.) = $12.50
  10-pound bag ($2.00/lb.) = $22.00
  25-pound bag ($1.75/lb.) = $43.75

Flour Tips

I suggest you transfer the flour from the paper bag to a sealed glass, metal, ceramic or plastic container. Milled close to your purchase date, its flavor is best if used within one month of purchase. I recommend freezing the flour if not used within four weeks.

Flour made from a hard red spring wheat is preferred by bread bakers. Bread flour needs to have 12 percent protein content. Though Canyon Bounty’s whole wheat flour is 9 percent protein, it’s easy to bake great bread by adding Vital Wheat Gluten to the bread recipes. About 1 Tablespoon of gluten per cup of flour in your bread recipe will improve texture, elasticity and help the dough to rise.

I highly recommend Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Cookbook. Laurel Robertson is a champion of whole grains and boldly shares her expertise with quality and creative recipes. Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grains bread book is another fine one to make delicious breads and crackers.

I would encourage you to always substitute some whole wheat flour for white flour whenever you’re baking. For cookies, I try to use 25 percent whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flavor and fiber experience is really enhanced when you start substituting whole wheat for white flour.

Canyon Bounty’s Flour has been used successfully in pancakes, pizza dough, gravy, rous, loaf bread (both by hand and machine), crackers, cookies, cinnamon rolls, pie crusts, tortillas and pita bread. Enjoy!

Recipes

Irish Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

Seeded Crackers

Old-fashioned 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Graham Crackers

Irish Whole Wheat Soda Bread

(James Beard, Beard on Bread)

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 level teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon double acting-baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt or 2 teaspoons regular salt
1½ to 2 cups buttermilk

Combine the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to distribute the soda and baking powder, then add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough similar in quality to biscuit dough but firm enough to hold its shape. Knead on a lightly floured board for 2 or 3 minutes, until quite smooth and velvety. Form into a round loaf and place in a well-buttered 8-inch cake pan or on a well-buttered cookie sheet. Cut a cross on the top of the loaf with a very sharp, floured knife. Bake in a preheated 375° F oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the loaf is nicely browned and sounds hollow when rapped with the knuckles.

Let the loaf cool before slicing very thin; soda bread must never be cut thick. Mr. Beard likes it sliced paper thin and buttered, and makes wonderful toast for any meal.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

(Alton Brown, I'm Just Here for the Food)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
-----
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk*
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Shift together all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Combine all the wet ingredients: eggs, buttermilk, butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Let batter rest for 5 minutes. Heat griddle; once hot rub with a little butter then wipe it off with a paper towel. Ladle batter onto hot griddle and cook until bubbles form in the batter and the bottom is golden, approx. 3 minutes. Flip and cook side two for approx. 2 minutes.
* Fresh out of buttermilk? Try one of these substitutions: 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup (let stand 5 minutes before using) or 1 cup milk plus 1¾ teaspoons cream of tartar or 1 cup plain yogurt.

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

(Laurel Robertson - The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book)
1½ lb. loaf for bread machines

1½ Tablespoons honey
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons warm water
2 Tablespoons butter or oil
2½ cups + ½ cup whole wheat bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons yeast

If your machine does not begin with a preheat period, fill the bucket with very warm water and let it stand while you gather all your ingredients, then pour water out. This will help maintain the warmth the yeast needs.

Measure the honey and water in a clear liquid-measuring cup, and stir to dissolve honey completely. Add oil. If you choose butter instead, add it after the flour. Put all ingredients except the extra ½ cup flour into bread machine's bucket according to the manufacturer's protocal. If you use butter, add it in ½" pieces in the corners. Start machine.

If you have not made this recipe before in this machine with this flour watch the mixing and first part of the kneading carefully. If the dough looks flabby or gets gooey under the paddle, add the reserved flour a little at a time, until the dough makes a firm ball. It must be firm (quite a bit firmer than nonmachine dough!) or the loaf will collapse when baking begins, and sometimes before. It's fine to encourage the mixing with your rubber spatula, though given time the machine will usually gather in all the odd bits of flour.

When the loaf is done, remove the bucket from the machine. Turn the loaf out onto a soft towel and gently extract the (hot!) paddle if it is stuck in the loaf. Wrap the towel around the loaf while it cools. The towel lets the loaf cool more slowly, softening the crust and given the center of the loaf a chance to firm up so that slicing doesn't mash and mangle.

Seeded Crackers

(Peter Reinhart, Whole Grain Breads)
Simply put these are delicious.

1¾ cups whole wheat flour
6 Tablespoons of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or a combination of the two, ground into flour
3 Tablespoons flaxseeds, ground into flour
6 Tablespoons whole sesame seeds
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons water
1½ Tablespoons honey or 2 Tablespoons sugar or brown sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

To make the seed flour: place sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds in food processor or blender. Use short pulses to grind the seeds being careful to not turn the seeds into butter. It’s okay if seeds are not too finely ground. Combine the flour, seed flour, salt, water, honey and oil in a bowl and mix until the ingredients form a ball of dough. Add extra flour or water as needed to make a firm dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 3 minutes, adjusting flour or liquid as needed. The dough should feel like modeling clay and have a satiny surface. It should not be soft, sticky or crumbly. Cover the dough and let rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Mist the work surface with oil spray or wipe it with just a touch of oil on a paper towel. This makes it easier to lift the dough later. Transfer the dough to the work face and working from the center of the dough out to the four corners, roll it into a rectangle, dusting the top of the dough with flour only if needed to prevent sticking. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch. If the dough begins to spring back, let it rest for a few minutes. Continue rolling until dough is 1/8 inch thick. Use a pizza roller to cut the dough into small rectangles (2x3 inches). Transfer the individual crackers to the baking sheets being careful crackers do not touch. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate pans 180 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer. Crackers should turn a rich brown on both sides. Crackers crisp up as they cool.

Old-fashioned 100% Whole Wheat Bread

(Beth Hensperger, The Bread Bible)
This sweet and nutty recipe uses the sponge method. Makes 3 medium round loaves.


Sponge
3 cups warm water (105° to 115° F)
1 cup dried buttermilk
2 Tablespoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
¾ cup honey
3 cups fine to medium grind whole wheat flour

Dough
½ cup vegetable oil
1¼ Tablespoons salt
5 to 5½ cups fine to medium grind whole wheat flour
Rolled oats for sprinkling

1. To prepare the sponge: In a large bowl, whisk together the water, dried buttermilk, yeast, honey and the 3 cups whole wheat flour and beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap* and let stand in a warm place until foamy and doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Gently stir it down with a wooden spoon.

2. In a large bowl using a whisk or in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the oil, salt, 2 cups of the flour, and the sponge. Beat hard until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time using a wooden spoon if making by hand, until a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl is formed.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and springy, yet slightly tacky, about 5 minutes, dusting with flour only 1 Tablespoon at a time as needed to keep the dough from sticking. If kneading by machine, switch from the paddle to the dough hook and knead for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and springy and springs back when pressed. If desired, transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead briefly by hand. Do not add too much flour, as the dough must retain a definite sticky quality, which will smooth out during the rising process. The dough will also have a slightly abrasive quality from the whole grains.

4. Place the dough in a greased deep container. Turn once to coat the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until puffy and almost doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Grease or parchment-line a baking sheet and sprinkled it with the rolled oats. Divide it into 3 equal portions. Form each portion into a round ball. Place each ball at least 4 inches apart on the baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until not quite doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

6. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the over to 375° F. Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until deep brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped with your finger. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the tops to slow browning, if needed. Transfer the loaves immediately to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

* It is important to retain the moisture in the dough by using plastic wrap during all risings; this prevents the formation of a skin, which would dry out the top of the load and prevent it from attaining a full, rounded dome during baking.

Graham Crackers

(Mollie Katzen, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest)

3 cups whole wheat flour
6 Tablespoons butter
½ tsp. salt
½ cup honey
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. cinnamon

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Melt together the butter and honey. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork, then push the dough together with your hands. Don't knead or over mix. Place the dough on a well-floured surface, and roll it with a well-floured rolling pin to 1/8" thick. Cut rectangles (approx. 1¼ x 3") with a knife, and prick them with a fork. Place on a lightly-greased baking tray, and bake for just 10 minutes in a 375° oven. Cool on a rack. Makes about 3 dozen.