Brochen, but Whole Wheat

Labor Day Weekend calls for burgers.  Burgers call for a great bun.  I have made a favorite German Brochen recipe for our buns for ages.  Today, I took inventory of ingredients and fell short of bread flour, the white variety.  So, I decided to go all out for an experiment.

Here is what I did for a double batch:
3 cups 2% milk, warm
6 Tbsp butter, melted with milk
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup warm water
With these blended in a large bowl I added:
1 pkg yeast
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
3 cups bread four (White flour)
Beat in the flour till bubbles appear.
Knowing whole wheat flour needs more hydration I added a little at a time until
the dough made a nice ball.  It was Incredibly sticky.
I tumped the dough onto my kneading mat dusted with whole wheat flour.
I kneaded in whole wheat flour a little at a time.  I kneaded and added WW flour to keep the dough from collecting on my hands.
In the end, I had added about 4 cups of whole wheat four.
The kneaded ball was tender to touch, a tad sticky but not sticking to hands or mat.
I lightly oiled the bowl, allowed the dough to rise well doubled.  It was beautiful.

I divided it into 4-5 ounce lumps and formed the buns.  I like to flatten them before the final rise on cornmeal sprinkled parchment paper on the peel.  After a good rise, I slid them into a 450 degree F oven on the stone for about an 18 minute bake time.  The results smelled wonderful.  The crumb when sliced was perfect.  In comparison to the original recipe, the Combsman said, "They're just not as good as your other ones."  The master of tastebuds has spoken.  This recipe is great for those wanting more grain in the bread.  It will make a great burger bun, sandwich package, toast.  I will post the original brochen recipe and story soon so you can be the judge.  The previous "bun" recipe on this blog was from an Italian bread recipe I have used even longer than the brochen recipe.