Pain d’epi Bread – Wheat Stalk Bread

This French baguette bread is soft and chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside! It’s fun to make and to try something new on a classic recipe. Pair the bread with a simple herb butter, add to a cheese platter or serve as a side to your main meal.

Some of you are probably feeling a little intimidated by this bread but if you’ve ever made any type of bread before then you can definitely make the Pain d’epi Bread too, and you’ll be happy you did (trust me it’s not that hard)! If you have a scale, use it! It’s important when dividing the dough into thirds that they are the same size/weight. This will ensure that all three baguettes bake evenly at the same time.

Once you’ve proofed your dough, rolled it, and shaped it into long ropes (follow the in-depth directions in the recipe) it’s time for the fun part- making the baguette into wheat stalks! It’s as simple as cutting the ‘rope’ on an angle and twisting to the side, yup that’s it, just don’t cut all the way through!

Ingredients

A pain d’épi bread is a simple baguette recipe, which means minimal ingredients. You can easy sub bread flour for all-purpose flour but I wanted to create a recipe with ingredients that you will have in your pantry.

• Warm water
• Active dry yeast
• All–purpose flour
• Salt
• Oil

How To Make Pain d’épi bread – Wheat Stalk Bread

Step One: Make dough and let rest until doubled in size. Once dough is double in size transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and shape into an 8″ x 6″ rectangle. Fold the 8″ sides toward the middle, then fold the shorter sides toward the centre. Cover with plastic again and let the dough rest, about 30 minutes.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and cut into three equal pieces.

Step Two: Shape each piece into a 12″- 14″ rope. Flour a sheet of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet; place ropes evenly spaced on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit until it doubles in size, about 30-45 minutes. Once doubled in size, cut baguette into wheat stalks. Beginning 2 1/2 inches from one end of the baguette, hold a pair of scissors at 60-degree angle and make the first cut, leaving a little dough attached to anchor the leaf. Move the leaf to one side. Continue to the end of the baguette alternating the cuts from one side to the other.

Step Three: Place in the oven and bake until browned and crisp, about 30 minutes.

Happy Baking!

Pain D’épi Bread

Print Recipe

★★★

3 from 2 reviews

Pain d’épi bread, also known as the wheat stalk bread is an impressive twist on the classic french baguette. It’s just so beautiful and delicious!

• Author: Alie Romano – Adapted from Saveur Baguette Recipe
• Prep Time: 3 hours
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 3 hours 30 mins
• Yield: 3 pain d’épi breads 1x
• Category: Bread
• Cuisine: French

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (approx. 115°f)
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• oil, for greasing bowl

Instructions

1. Make Your Dough: In a large bowl whisk together warm water and yeast. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add flour and salt, with a fork stir until dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, knead until smooth, elastic and when poked with your finger the dough springs back, approx. 8 minutes.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest until doubled in size, approx. 1-2 hours in a warm place (away from cool drafts).
4. Shape Dough: Once dough is double in size transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and shape into an 8″ x 6″ rectangle. Fold the 8″ sides toward the middle, then fold the shorter sides toward the centre. Cover with plastic again and let the dough rest, about 30 minutes.
5. Second Shape: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and cut into three equal pieces; shape each piece into a 12″- 14″ rope. Flour a sheet of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet; place ropes evenly spaced on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit until it doubles in size, about 30-45 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, turn on the oven and heat to 475˚F. Place a large cast iron skillet full of water in the bottom of the oven, if you don’t have a cast iron skillet use a large pan (I used a large glass baking dish). This creates steam in the oven to create a crispy crust (If you have a baking stone place it on the rack above the steaming water and use that to bake your bread).
7. Third Shape: Once doubled in size, cut baguette into wheat stalks. Beginning 2 1/2 inches from one end of the baguette, hold a pair of scissors at 60-degree angle and make the first cut, leaving a little dough attached to anchor the leaf. Move the leaf to one side. Continue to the end of the baguette alternating the cuts from one side to the other (see picture above for reference).
8. Place in the oven and bake until browned and crisp, about 30 minutes; cool before serving.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: per baguette
• Calories: 437
• Sugar: 4.3g
• Sodium: 1167mg
• Fat: 0.1g
• Saturated Fat: 0
• Unsaturated Fat: 0
• Trans Fat: 0
• Carbohydrates: 95.8g
• Fiber: 4.6g
• Protein: 13.5g
• Cholesterol: 0

Keywords: Bread, Wheat Stalk Bread, French Bread, Yeast

As mentioned before this recipe is adapted from Saveur’s Baguette Recipe and you can learn more about bread making techniques from their short video (click here to see how).

FAQ’s

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