Choosing whole-wheat bread is one way to increase fibre intake, but some people prefer things like pizza dough or sandwich break without a grainy texture. The solution? Pulses.Julie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
There is a fibre frenzy in the social-media wellness world – “fibremaxxing” has fibre enthusiasts increasing (and often blowing far beyond) their recommended daily intake in order to increase satiety and improve gut health.
Consuming far more dietary fibre than your digestive system is accustomed to can cause gastrointestinal distress, but discovering ways to boost fibre intake is a good thing. According to Health Canada, Canadians only get about half of what they need. Choosing whole-wheat bread is one way to do it, but there are some things – pizza dough, cinnamon buns and even sandwich bread – that many of us prefer without a grainy texture.
Here’s my way around this: pulses, such as lentils, beans and chickpeas, which are high in fibre and protein. Canned pulses, which tend to be softer than those that have been dried and boiled, disappear into your baked goods when puréed, boosting fibre while maintaining that white-bread flavour and texture. Two cups of navy beans – the little white ones – contain about 38 grams of fibre. Those two cups also deliver 42 grams of protein – the other darling macronutrient of the wellness world.
You can add puréed beans to all kinds of baked goods — white kidney or navy beans work well in bread, buns, waffles and pizza dough. You can even add baked beans (including the maple-flavoured kind) – try them in muffins and quickbreads.
Your recipe may need some adjusting – for example, I reduce the water in my go-to white sandwich bread slightly when I add a can of puréed white kidney or navy beans. Cooked split red lentils are even easier to work with, mimicking oats in cookies, scones and muffins. Treat them like an addition, as you might add raisins, nuts or chocolate chips, and stir in 1/3 to 1/2 cup to increase your overall fibre intake.
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Bean-boosted Bread
Puréeing canned beans with some of the liquid in your recipe helps make them as smooth as possible. Put them through a food processor or a food mill. (When making something sweet, I often purée them with the sugar and egg in a recipe.)
- 2¼ cups warm water
- 1 tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 19 oz (540 ml) can white kidney or navy beans, drained
- 6 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra if needed)
- 2 tsp fine salt
- ¼ cup butter, softened
Pour 1 cup of the water into a large bowl and sprinkle over the yeast; let stand for five minutes, until it dissolves and starts to get foamy.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the beans with the remaining 1¼ cups water until as smooth as you can get it. Add to the yeast mixture (in the bowl, or transfer to a stand mixer) along with about half of the flour. Stir until well blended. Add the rest of the flour, the salt and butter and stir with the dough hook (or by hand) until well combined and shaggy. Continue to knead for several minutes, until it’s smooth and elastic. If you used a mixer, turn the dough out onto the countertop and knead a few times until it’s smooth and uniform. Shape into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover with a towel and let it sit for an hour or two, until it’s roughly doubled in size.
Butter two loaf pans or line them with parchment. Divide the dough in half and pat each piece into a rectangle that’s about the size of a standard piece of paper.
Starting at a short end, fold it in thirds, like a letter. Place seam side down in the loaf pans, tucking the ends in. Cover and leave them for an hour, until they puff right up out of the pan.
As they rise, preheat the oven to 375 F with the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the loaves are deep golden. Turn out of their pans onto a rack to cool.