Baking with Barley Flour

This past week I can feel how the season is rapidly changing with the cooler weather settling in. We have a fire in most evenings now to keep the house warm enough. After a beautiful few weeks of dry weather, the rain is winding it's way back to us and it's time to hunker down.

This usually means some subtle changes in our diet as well - when the weather turns colder and the dark starts to close in around us for the winter season, it is time to eat more nourishing cooked foods, easily digested stews and soups. As well as to start dipping into some of the foods preserved during the summer. 

One food which I would not eat a lot of in the warmer months would be barley. Once the season leans towards winter or colder weather however, I always think of delicious barley lamb stews, barley and broccoli dishes and barley bread.

Barley is an interesting grain, it has been around forever and used since ancient times. Along with spelt it is one of my favourite grains to use as a flour for baking breads, cakes and other lovely foods. It is also fairly easy to work with.

Barley adds a nutty flavour to a bread, the consistency however is slightly different then using other flours because there is a very low gluten content, making a more cake like appearance. That is why I alway team it up with spelt or some other flour.

This week was a great week with the cooler weather to make some honey barley bread - this is a wonderful tasting bread which is also fairly sweet and is great for breakfasts or as a dessert with butter and jam.

To make barley bread I used 4 cups of barley flour mixed together with 3 cups of whole grain spelt (all organic of course). Then added a little salt and some bread soda. I decided to add in 1 tablespoon of honey per cup of flour to make this a nice sweet bread.

I had wondered about using only water to make this bread - but knowing a few things about milk I decided to use this. Milk adds flavour, improves texture, sweetens the bread and breaks down some of the gluten, it also makes a nicer softer crust - which is what I wanted. 

So, to the flour I added 2 cups of goat's milk and 1 cup of water. Once this was all mixed up it was like a very thick cake mixture- I also put in a handful of sunflower seeds to give it a little more crunch. 

Honey Barley Bread 

This bread also cooks a little faster and was probably done in about 45 minutes or so. Everyone loved it - with its softer crust and sweetness, very much like a little treat! 

Barley Facts:

Barley is an easy to grow grain

It's been used for thousands of years

It has a low GI (glycemic index)

Low starch content, but high in fibre 

It doesn't rise as much as other flours

Good source of magnesium and selenium

If you want to try something different, get some barley flour and use it in any of your favourite recipes or make some lovely soft bread! 

Have a healthy day,

April

Sliced barley bread