Pain Aux Noix

Taken from a traditional French recipe, this pain aux noix (pronounced pehn' oh nwah') simply translates to "walnut bread." Made with local spelt flour to enhance the nutty taste of the walnuts, the bread uses nonfat dry milk and local unsalted butter to create a tender crumb, and a touch of local maple syrup sweetens it just enough to deepen the flavors. It's not suitable for those with nut, wheat, or dairy allergies, but for the rest of us, it's wonderful!

The bread is not made entirely from spelt flour; I balance the spelt with organic unbleached wheat flour with wheat germ to give it its characteristic tenderness. I try to keep from adding too much flour overall to these loaves in order to let them rise spectacularly and to keep a soft airiness to what could become a brick of a loaf in less gentle hands.

Of my whole grain breads, I think I like this one the best! I especially like this bread in a grilled cheese sandwich (preferably with a sharp cheddar or maybe Muenster). It also makes an excellent French toast, and it's great toasted just with a light coating of butter. Pain aux noix with spelt flour lasts well -- usually a week or more -- and it freezes and thaws reasonably well.

I usually have limited quantities of this bread on my shelf at Local Roots each week. Let me know if you keep missing it!