I love this bread! I swear that almost every time I try a new recipe from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book I decide that it's my new favourite. First it was the Loaf for Learning (aka yogurt bread), then it was buttermilk bread, and then fresh milk bread. Each time I thought I must've found THE best whole wheat bread recipe and then somehow the next one would come along and be even better! So, maybe in a few months I'll be back saying that I've found some new favourite. But I have trouble imagining something that could top Featherpuff.

It's not that there isn't a place for a variety of breads. There is. Sometimes you want a hearty crusty loaf. Sometimes you want a dense, chewey pumpernickel. Sometimes you want a tangy sourdough rye. Variety is great! But, for my I-just-want-a-slice-of-bread bread, my I-want-a-tasty-sandwich bread, my this-needs-to-go-in-a-small-child's-lunch bread... Featherpuff is a beautiful fit. And it packs a pretty good nutritional punch too!

Like all of the Laurel's Kitchen recipes, it's 100% whole grain. This gives it a healthy dose of fiber and a bit of extra protein (relative to white bread/flour) to boot. The addition of milk, eggs, and cottage cheese boosts the protein even more. It's still bread. It's still largely starch. But this is probably one of the more nutritionally complete breads you're likely to find. And it's light and fluffy and tender and delicious.

It's so light and fluffy, in fact, that this is one bread that you can't enjoy warm. If you try to slice it before it's completely cooled, it will just squish. It's worth the wait though. It's wonderfully light and tender and also relatively sweet. Even people who don't normally like wholegrain bread will likely find this one appealing.

I foresee myself coming back to this recipe a lot.

Featherpuff dinner rolls.

Featherpuff Bread

From Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 eggs
• 750g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 60g powdered milk
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold
• 1 Tbsp. butter¹, softened (optional)

Directions

1. Add yeast to warm water and set aside.
2. Combine cottage cheese, honey, and water and warm gently (to 40 or 50°C).
3. Remove from heat, stir in eggs, and mix well².
4. Combine flour, powdered milk, and salt and mix thoroughly.
5. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture followed by the cheese mixture.
6. Working from the centre outward, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.
7. When most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto your work surface and begin kneading.
8. After 10-15 minutes, all the remaining flour should be incorporated and the dough should be becoming more supple and silky. Smear the butter on your work surface and continue kneading for another 10-15 minutes until all the butter has been taken up. Adjust the dough as necessary during kneading, adding flour if it's too loose or water if it's too tight³.
9. Form the dough into a ball and place it, smooth side up, into a bowl to rise. Cover the bowl with a shower cap or damp tea towel to stop the dough from drying out.
10. Rising time will vary depending on the temperature of the room. Start checking around the 1 hour mark. Wet a finger and poke it 1cm or so into the dough. If it sighs and sinks back or doesn't fill in at all, it's ready to be knocked back. If it immediately starts to fill in, it needs a bit more time.
11. Once risen, turn the dough out onto your work surface. I like to knock it back by kneading it just a few strokes.
12. Shape it back into a ball and return it to its bowl to rise again. This rise should take a bit less time than the first⁴.
13. Knock the dough back again and divide it into two equal portions.
14. Shape each portion into a ball, pulling the gluten into a tight, smooth sheet across the top. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
15. Shape each ball into a loaf⁵.
16. Cover and set aside to rise again. Be careful not to overproof. For the last rise, you still want to hole to be filling in a bit.
17. If the loaves have risen very well, slash the tops to give them room to spring in the oven.
18. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 45-60 minutes⁶.
19. If desired, brush the top of each loaf with a bit of butter for a nice gloss.
20. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

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¹ Either salted or unsalted is fine. Unsalted will give the crust a shine without noticeably affecting the flavour. Salted will add a subtle hit of salt along with the gloss. ^Back
2 Mixture should be warm, but not so hot it cooks the eggs. ^Back
3 Err on the side of too loose over too tight. Featherpuff is meant to be a relatively soft dough anyway. ^Back
4 Laurel's Kitchen says the second rise should take about half the time of the first. I usually find it's closer to three quarters. Start checking at half, but be prepared for it to take up to as long as the first rise. It generally shouldn't go past that though unless the room has somehow gotten dramatically colder between rises. ^Back
5 For a standard rectangular pan loaf first flip the ball smooth side down. Press into a flat round. Fold the round into thirds to make a rectangle. Grab one of the short sides of the rectangle and roll it up like a jelly roll to form a cylinder. Place seam side down into a greased loaf pan. ^Back
6 A very light, well-kneaded, and well-risen bread will bake up faster. If the yeast seems a little sluggish and the rise not quite so high, it will likely need the full hour. ^Back