Epic Bread Fail

I guess I’ve been lucky in the bread department in the past. I don’t make it regularly, but I love the process. I particularly love testing it when it’s done – hot out of the oven with some honey on top, just to be sure. A couple weeks ago I made a wheat bread with some oat flour and molasses that came out well, and last week I thought I’d try one with oats and wheat germ and wheat flour just to give it that superhero quality I like. It was dense and grainy as I kneaded it, but was looking pretty good in general. Here it is midway through the rise:

It smelled heavenly while it was baking, and then it came out like this:

I think that ‘substantial’ would be a kind word for it. What happened? What could cause such a well intentioned loaf to turn out so flat and dull? Let’s just take a look up close…

Ah yes – now, can you see what I’ve done here? You can? Well I wish you’d tell me, because I have no idea. Maybe it just had one too many ingredients.

It doesn’t taste awful, but it’s too much of a dense, nutrient-rich endurance food to be enjoyable. So if you’re planning an incursion, let me know and I’ll ship it right out to you. Otherwise, it’s going to the chickens.