Whole Grain Roll – Whole Wheat and Amaranth

Whole grain roll with whole wheat and amaranth is a hearty bread loaf. It’s a little like ciabatta or French country bread with the slightly crunchy crust shell on the outside from whole wheat and soft bread inside from amaranth (like candy melting-in-your mouth).

These look like the hearty fresh loafs in brown paper bag sleeves you see in country or farmers market baskets. 🧺

Whole wheat and amaranth are the best of two grain worlds…

Because amaranth is a gluten-free ancient cereal grain with added healthy benefits: like, lysine amino acid protein that’s not found in most flours.

Lysine supports collagen production. Lysine is also found in quinoa, but amaranth is higher in protein! ⭐️

Amaranth is also high in phytate (phytic acid) that helps absorb certain minerals. So it’s an antioxidant source making it a good anti-inflammatory food for recipes. Phytate is also found in certain legumes and seeds.

So adding in a little bit of amaranth in your bread dough is no ancient healthy secret!

Amaranth is a cereal grain food that babies can be introduced to and since it’s easier to digest, if you’re having a stomach ache… it’s a filling complete meal.

I know when I have an upset stomach, I think of the B.R.A.T. diet. Banana, apples, toast (bread), and instead of rice for the “r”… substitute for amaranth. It works.

And if you’re not already making your own whole grain roll, following an easy fresh, homemade bread recipe (👇) is going to make your meals so much better… without having to run to the store.

And you can make a whole grain roll easily at home with the steps below using healthy whole grain flours like whole wheat flour and amaranth.

Amaranth is more like a millet-size and shape whole grain, more like a Cream of Wheat (if you’re familiar).

Amaranth makes a great meal builder for lunch and power breakfast.

…Plus, a great healthy add to multi whole grain rolls!

Bread rolls make great meal and food accompaniment… and especially as sandwich bread.

A whole grain roll especially holds up well on its own at room temperature, and you don’t have to separately toast sliced bread roll.

And the whole grain roll can stay fresh for a couple days without hardening (a lot like a store-bought French bread loaf would). 🥖

Below are the steps on how to make this whole grain loaf…

It’s not fancy food, but grains was something I learned along the food journey I was on.

I was doing catering, marketing, and planning food parties in American hotels, and Mediterranean restaurants (Lebanese, Spanish, and Italian cuisines) where the chefs and staff trained came from different parts of the world speaking English in their interesting accents… that transported me to the fresh Mediterranean healthy eating regions without leaving my world. 🌍

But then my food experiences inspired me to spend months abroad in northern Europe and mostly Mediterranean countries where healthy family style meals are made daily that included passing bread at the table. 🫓

And after working in hotels and restaurants, I continued to appreciate international cooking and baking shows like The Great British Bake Off that inspired my home baking. And did healthy food and nutrition research writing for publications.

Each bread has a story… and just to complete mine, my sur name even means bread in some languages. 😊

These broken bread whole grain rolls look a little like ciabatta rolls or cobbler’s shoes (not ballerina slippers). 🥖

And in Romance languages like Italian, ciabatta means slipper.

Ciabatta Bread Origin Story:

Ciabatta originated in the northern Veneto region of Italy. 🇮🇹

Unlike many Italian food traditions that have passed down since ancient times, ciabatta is a fairly new bread variety.

In the early 1980s, French baguettes were popular and spread into Italy.

Some Italians sought to make their own versions called ciabatta.

South of Venice and the Lombardy region, Tuscan and more southern region ciabatta versions are crispier.

Because southern Italy is a drier climate that’s good for thriving flour, pasta, and olive oil making.

And ciabatta bread that caught on and grew in popularity in the U.S. and U.K. by the late 80s. They started selling ciabatta in mass production.

How to Make a Whole Grain Roll:

It’s so simple to make with just 4 ingredients that many loaves of bread (and easy to make pizza crusts) use.

I first tried making bread with regular flour and realized that to get the right bake, you had to turn the oven on to higher 400°F temperatures (beyond common 350°F/180°C degrees) that’s not ideal for hot summers or apartment living.

When I switched to using whole grain flours, I found that I could bake in 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) without losing the texture and well-baked done-ness.

I also found whole grain flours like whole wheat and other whole grains added in the dough stage (like amaranth) isn’t messy on your hands like a bread flour or all-purpose flour (that also would make great tasty textured ciabatta bread).

But with whole grains like whole wheat, you get to pick up the dough (or slip off the dough hook on your machine) and move to the proofing container easily.

It’s a clean move, especially if you need to reach for your phone.

Adding in 1/4 cup cooked (on stove) gluten-free amaranth whole grain that had some water moisture, I only needed 1/2 cup water (170 grams) instead of the 1 cup if you only use whole wheat flour.

After kneading dough with the mixer dough hook (for about 7 minutes with this dough), I formed it into a flattish disc ball that I set in a plastic container bottom lined with EVOO. I left on a table in a warmer (but shaded) room spot so it would proof faster. For me in the morning, that’s close to the eastern side window.

After 2 hours, it’s ready!

I added some whole wheat flour (as the bench flour choice) that gave some texture.

And then formed into one long roll, or you can make a few smaller whole grain rolls.

On the table, this can be served breaking bread and passed family-style that I was used to in restaurants.

Or they can be made into dinner-style rolls for individual rolls that was more common when I working in hotels.

I made a few of those too with the same dough.

The simple bread shapes could’ve been baked after hand rolling and cutting… but I wanted to put some personality into them.

To get a cool textured design in each loaf without any fancy tools, you can use this trick:

Make a sharp knife-cut slit (serrated knife works well) in the pre-baked dough top  of the roll, and then roll the dough forward. Don’t overthink, just do!

You’ll see some air pockets come through pre-baked…

And it’ll look something like this on the other side (baked) where you can drizzle some olive oil in the valley…

No matter if it’s an individual whole grain rols or a sharing family style loaf, they will get gobbled up.