Ever since George Washington Carver first started experimenting with the peanut plant in the early 1900′s, the peanut has become one of America’s most versatile legumes. The peanut has become so ingrained into American culture that the USA team competing at the 2005 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie decided to present a peanut bread as one of its contest entries. Team USA named their bread ”Jimmy’s Bread”, a tribute to the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, who was once himself a peanut farmer.
Jimmy’s Bread, whose formula is detailed in this post, derives its nuanced peanut flavor from freshly roasted peanuts which have been ground into a fine meal. A whole wheat sponge gives the bread its depth of flavor. To add esthetic appeal, the loaves are shaped in the form of a peanut shell. Dab a bit of fruit compote on a slice of this bread for a sophisticated version of the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
- 20 g King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 165 g King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
- 120 g Water
- 1/8 tsp. Instant Yeast
- 365 g King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 345 g Water
- 10 g Salt
- ½ Tsp. Instant Dried Yeast
- 305 g (all of the above) Biga
- 30 g Peanuts, freshly roasted and finely ground
The night before baking, the sponge is prepared by mixing the whole wheat and all-purpose flours, water and yeast until a homogenous mixture is obtained. The water temperature should be adjusted so that the final temperature of the sponge is 72-74ºF. The bowl containing the sponge is then covered and allowed to ferment at 72-74ºF for approximately 12 hours.
The next morning, the peanuts are roasted in a toaster oven at 350ºF until fragrant, about 5-10 minutes. The peanuts are allowed to cool to room temperature, then ground into a fine meal. This can be done either by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, be sure to use short pulses to ensure that the peanuts are not overprocessed into peanut butter.
All the ingredients in the final dough, with the exception of the water and peanuts, are then placed in the bowl of a home stand mixer. Approximately 80-90% of the water is then added and the mixer is run at speed 2 until all the ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes. The mixer is then set on speed 3 and mixing is continued until the very loose dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of the bowl, about 10 minutes. At this point, the remainder of the water is slowly added and mixing is continued at speed 3 until all the water is incorporated, about 5 additional minutes. The mixer speed is then reduced to speed 2 and the peanut meal is added. Mixing is continued until all the peanut meal is evenly incorporated, about 3 minutes.
The dough is then placed in a lightly oiled container, covered and fermented for 2 hours, folding the dough twice at 30 minute intervals into the fermentation. At the end of the 2 hour fermentation, the dough is divided into 4 pieces of 225g each, and each piece is lightly rounded. After resting under a plastic sheet for 20 minutes, each piece is tightly formed into a batard. After allowing the batards to rest under a plastic sheet for an additional 20 minutes, they are then shaped into fendus (shaping a fendu can be found here). One of the fendus is placed, seam side down, on a floured couche with the ends touching each other, forming a teardrop shape. This is repeated with a second piece of dough, this time placing one end above and one end below the ends of the piece already on the couche. The 2 dough pieces will thus form a single peanut shell-shaped loaf, as shown below:
This is repeated for the remaining 2 pieces of dough. After allowing the loaves to proof, seam side down, for about 45 minutes at 74ºF, they are then flipped onto a transfer peel and then slid from the transfer peel to the oven peel so that they are now seam side up. The loaves are then loaded into the oven and baked at 475ºF for 25 minutes, the first 10 minutes under steam. Allow the loaves to cool before slicing.