Wednesday, February 17, 2016

100% Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

I dislike when recipes are called "The Best." It's subjective, so what you think is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe probably won't be what I think is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. With that being said, this is my favorite wheat bread recipe. Since I started making bread, I've tried lots of different recipes in my quest to find what I wanted: 100% wheat, low-cost, preferably no vwg, and doesn't dry out too fast. This is the one that has best met my requirements, and the taste is great to boot.

I'm not sure how I came across it, but it's originally from food.com.



100% Whole Grain Wheat Bread

YIELD 2 LOAVES

INGREDIENTS

2 3⁄4 cups hot water
1⁄3 cup olive oil, any oil is fine
1⁄3 cup honey (when I'm feeling poor, I use brown sugar and add a little extra water, and it's still delicious)
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon salt
7 1⁄2 cups of 100% whole grain wheat flour
2 tablespoons dry active yeast


DIRECTIONS
Place the first five ingredients in the bowl and mix.
Add: 2 Cups 100% Whole Grain Wheat Flour. (to cool the water and end up with warm dough) Mix then add 2 Tbs of Dry Active Yeast. If your not sure about your yeast proof it in a little warm water first.
Add: 4 Cups of 100% Whole Grain Wheat Flour.
Mix until the consistency is some what even. Then continue to slowly add flour 1/2 Cup at a time until the dough quits sticking to the sides of the bowl. It should be tacky to the touch. The trick is to have enough consistency to stand up with the least amount of flour so the bread will be fluffy. It will most likely be 6 1/2 cups but in any case do not exceed 7 1/2 cups of wheat flour. You can trade one cup of wheat flour for one cup of all purpose white if you wish. Don't over mix or the bread will be tough.
When your dough is finished, leave it in the mixer, cover the bowl and let it rise for about 30-45 minutes. The dough will be larger but it doesn't need to double.
Grease two bread pans with Crisco. You can also flour the pans to reduce sticking.
Mix the dough again just enough to knock it down at least close to the original size.
Drop the dough on a floured surface so you can work the dough and shape it. Shape it with your hands to make a nice ball getting enough flour on it so it isn't sticky. Divide the ball in half and do it again. Shape the loaves by turning the dough under it's self over and over. When the dough is shaped the sides and ends will be sealed and all you will see is a nice oblong shaped loaf with smooth sides and top. Drop the loaves in your bread pans and let them rise until almost doubled. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 36 minutes. If you forgot to preheat 41 minutes. (gas oven).
When done turn the bread out of the pan to a rack to cool. You can eat it right away (a great time for real butter) don't wrap it until completely cooled. (Condensation will make it soggy) Put in tinfoil to store on the counter. If you put it in the refrigerator it will turn into a brick. Enjoy.
My notes: I'm not sure, but I probably always use more than 7 1/2 c flour. Fresh ground flour is fluffier. Also, it does stick quite a bit in the pan. I always need to grease well my non-stick pans when I make this bread. I also only cook it 27-30 minutes.


4 comments:

Joanna said...

How is Holly liking being an inside cat?

I should start making my own bread, but everytime I make a recipe I don't like it.

Brian said...

Holly is way too comfortable. I've started kicking her out for longer stretches of time to help her remember she's an outdoor cat.

Janet said...

I like the recipe I use from Jacob's mom, but it never cooks up right for me and I can't figure out why. It uses odd ingredients, though, like vwg, dough enhancer, and soy lecithin. I'll probably try this.

Preston said...

Made the bread. I liked it, even with all the extra flour Andrew dumped in. It has more sugar than my regular recipe, and I don't know if I would use molasses everytime, but it was good.