Farro is an ancient grain that dates back 7000 years and is a mainstay of the Italian diet. It's especially prevalent in the land-locked Umbria region, just north of Rome. Farro has a crunchy, chewy and delicious texture and is wonderful in soups and as a substitute for rice in risottos and other rice-based dishes. It's low in gluten and high in protein and fiber. It's perfect for this Whole Grain Farro Nut Bread!
A few years back I purchased a grain mill attachment (well worth the investment!) for my KitchenAid mixer so I now mill my own farro flour to make this delicious Whole Grain Farro Nut Bread. Sometimes I mill corn and other grains to vary the flour mixture but I've found that this is by far my favorite farro bread recipe. If you don't have a grain mill attachment then purchase farro flour; not always easy to find but available at specialty stores. One online shop you might try is Molino Rachello, headquartered in Italy. Alternatively you can make the bread with spelt flour although it's not quite the same thing.
Ingredients:
300 g whole-grain farro flour
200 g whole-wheat flour
325 mL tepid water
25 g fresh compressed yeast
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ tablespoon salt
100 g mixture of walnut and pecan halves, and sunflower seeds
Procedure:
Use the dough hook on a Kitchen Aid, or other similar mixer, to prepare the dough.
Mix the tepid water, honey and yeast until dissolved directly in the mixing bowl.
Add the olive oil, and then the two flours and salt.
With the mixer set on number six, or a medium-high setting, knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it separates from the sides of the mixing bowl and forms a round and uniform dough ball.
With the mixer still running add the nut mixture to the dough and knead until fully incorporated.
Allow the dough to rise until doubled in bulk directly in the mixing bowl. This can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
I usually place dough in the oven to rise, with the oven light turned on. It's a dry and draft free spot that's sufficiently warm to favor dough risings.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp dishtowel while it's rising. I find that a hotel variety 
is a great way to cover rising dough as it fits snugly around the bowl and is loose enough for the dough to rise unimpeded.
While the dough is rising grease the sides of a loaf pan and place a piece of oven paper on the bottom of the loaf pan.
Once the dough has doubled in bulk remove it from the mixing bowl, knead it for about 30 seconds, and shape it so that it will fit in the loaf pan.
Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes, until it's nearly doubled in bulk.
Place in a 350°F preheated oven and bake for one hour.
Allow to cool for 15 to 30 minutes then gently removed the loaf from the loaf pan.
Once the bread is completely cool wrap it in tinfoil to keep the bread from drying out. You can also store it in the refrigerator.
This Whole Grain Farro Nut Bread freezes well and will last for up to six months.
Note: Whole grain farro flour is not always easy to come by. When I make Whole Grain Farro Nut Bread I mill the grains myself as I find it yields a fresher tasting bread. The KitchenAid mixer has a fantastic milling attachment. With it can use almost any grain to mill flour yourself when you make bread.
Please note that the below printable recipe can be viewed in metric or U.S. conventional measurements; just click on your preference within the recipe.
Ingredients
- 300 g whole-grain
flour - 200 g whole-wheat flour
- 325 mL tepid water
- 25 g fresh compressed yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 100 g mixture of walnut and pecan halves, and sunflower seeds
flourInstructions
- Use the dough hook on a Kitchen Aid, or other similar mixer, to prepare the dough..
- Mix the tepid water, honey and yeast until dissolved directly in the mixing bowl.
- Add the olive oil, and then the two flours and salt.
- With the mixer set on number six, or a medium-high setting, knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it separates from the sides of the mixing bowl and forms a round and uniform dough ball.
- With the mixer still running add the nut mixture to the dough and knead until fully incorporated.
- Allow the dough to rise until doubled in bulk directly in the mixing bowl. This can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
- I usually place dough in the oven to rise, with the oven light turned on. It's a dry and draft free spot that's sufficiently warm to favor dough risings.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp dishtowel while it's rising. I find that a hotel variety is a great way to cover rising dough as it fits snugly around the bowl and is loose enough for the dough to rise unimpeded.
- While the dough is rising grease the sides of a loaf pan and place a piece of oven paper on the bottom of the loaf pan.
- Once the dough has doubled in bulk remove it from the mixing bowl, need it for about 30 seconds, and shape it so that it will fit in the loaf pan.
- Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes, until it's nearly doubled in bulk.
- Place in a 350°F preheated oven and bake for one hour.
- Allow to cool for 15 to 30 minutes then gently removed the loaf from the loaf pan.
- Once the bread is completely cool wrap it in tinfoil to keep the bread from drying out. You can also store it in the refrigerator.
- This bread freezes well and will last for up to six months.
Notes
Nutrition
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Thanks Wendy...I do keep a Biga on hand at all times. Buying that attachment for my KitchenAid...well for the amount I'd be using it...probably not worth it...and my dear friend, our kitchen is about a quarter the size of yours...so storage is always an issue. How nice to inherit that mother yeast! Love Cheddar and English Cheddar is amazing!
I get your point on kitchen space but the next time you’re at a kitchen shop take a look at the attachment just in case you change your mind!
Buonasera Wendy! I made this loaf today and as we sampled it we couldn't help but feel we were virtually breaking bread with you. The bread....It's a winner. I did coarsely chop the nuts though. And substituted the dried yeast readily available here for the fresh yeast you used. I wonder if you might want to add a note about how to convert from fresh to dried? I will definitely be making this loaf again....lucky me to be able to actually find farro flour and stoneground wholewheat flour! Tomorrow for breakfast...slices of the bread with some excellent Canadian Cheddar. BTW...thinking late Feb.! Can hardly wait to see you!
I never buy farro flour and instead I finely grind it up in my KitchenAid milling attachment. if you have a KitchenAid then this attachment is really invaluable, also to grind up corn kernels to make fresh corn bread.
Yeast is always an enigma and especially in terms of its conversion. A few months ago I wrote an in-depth article about yeast in all its forms so you might want to check that out.
I recently inherited a mother yeast from a dear friend's husband who passed away and I have to say that's the yeast I've been using to make all my breads. if you don't have a mother yeast, Phyllis, yes it's well worth getting one started; a life changer in breadmaking!
I'm drooling just thinking about your wonderful Canadian cheddar, something I almost never have access to!
Hi, I found this lovely interesting recipe. Ground half of the Farro coarsely in my coffee grinder for some extra nuttiness and opted for chia seeds and hemp instead of oil, upped the water a bit for the chia absorption. Dense and lovely! Thank you!
So glad you like the recipe and I love your idea of using a coffee grinder to grind the farro!
I can report back that it was some of the most delicious bread I’ve ever eaten, and my family agrees - there wasn’t a scrap left after our NYE celebration (except for the piece I saved back for my breakfast). I’ll definitely be making it again! Thanks and Happy 2020!
Fantastic Carolyn! I'm so glad you loved it - I do too!
Those are great ideas! I went ahead with just the farro and actually forgot to add the baking soda (whoops...), but I added a tiny bit more water after reading about dough hydration aiding rise in whole wheat breads. It seems to be rising nicely and will be going into the oven shortly. I also did your corn muffins which smell absolutely amazing! The grain mill is awesome, I can’t wait to taste these tonight at our New Years Eve celebration 😊 I’ll let you know how the bread turned out once it bakes!
This looks delicious! I received the KitchenAid grain mill for Christmas and I’m anxious to try it out, but all I could find in my grocery store was farro. I have some hard wheat on order but it will be several weeks before it arrives, so I’m just curious if you have ever made this recipe using 100% farro flour? I have some whole wheat flour I can use if it’s really necessary, but I was hoping to be able to make it using only flour I ground myself. I understand I might not get the best rise with just the lower-gluten farro but I thought I’d check to see if there are other issues I might run into. Either way I’m super excited to try this bread! 😊
You can always try adding some baking powder to get some rise to the bread. I find it works well with grains that are low in gluten. Give it a try and let me know how it works! You‘re going to absolutely love the grain mill!
Another great thing you can make is corn bread. Just stick some popcorn in the grain mill and you’ll be amazed at the wonderful flour you obtain. There’s a recipe for my cornbread on my site.
Yes, I baked it! Since it was evening by the time I got started I just used my bread machine on "dough" setting - it may have kneaded it a bit too much - not sure, but it rose in less than 1 hour. Interesting texture - wet but still handle-able. Came out well so I guess kneading in the machine is ok ... had it for breakfast this morning and I love it!
Fantastic! So glad you love it! Farro is my favorite grain to use in bread!
Thanks, my dough is rising now. Fingers crossed !
I went ahead and ground my farro. Eagerly waiting for your reply on recipe 🙂
Good morning Amma,
You’re absolutely right that I need to update a few details in the recipe! You did the right thing to go ahead and grind your farro as that is the first flour ingredient.
The other missing instructional detail pertains to the mixer; I use a KitchenAid mixer but any similar mixer will work equally as well!
As soon as I am back at my computer I’ll make sure I update these details but in the meantime post a comment if you have any other questions.
Thank you,
Wendy
It's Sunday morning, I have farro, I have a mill, I've cleaned the kitchen and I am eager to make bread with farro flour.
Can you help me understand your recipe? It says:
300 g whole-grain flour
200 g whole-wheat flour
What kind of flour are we supposed to use for the first one? Is that one supposed to be 300 g farro flour?
Then it says
100 g mixture of and , and
What ingredients are these supposed to be (after the "and" and "and"?)
Under Procedure, it says
Use the on a , or other similar mixer, to prepare the dough.