Nuts... Noix...

Still on my bread making spree, a few days ago I tried another recipe from the new bread recipe book mentioned in my last post.

Pain aux noix is a french bread. Its typically made with a mix of white and wholegrain flour resulting in a fairly complex texture and flavor. Coarsely chopped walnuts are added to the dough at the end of kneading, hence the name, which literally means "nut bread".

The recipe in the book calls for walnuts but I had half an open pack of pecans so decided to give my pain aux noix a little twist by using pecans instead of walnuts... I'm not sure why walnuts are usually used - perhaps its more flavorful? I'm making a mental note to try it again with walnuts.

Three types of flour - white, wholegrain, rye - was used in this recipe, which I think contributed to a deep flavor in the loaf. The bread goes really well with cheese. I personally found the texture a little heavy than expected, not too sure if it was due to insufficient rising or just the combination of wholewheat and rye flour in the recipe... will try the recipe again soon to find out!