Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

I bake our family's bread. It saves us money and I really loved homemade baked goods. Me and girls are pretty crazy about it. Thankfully I have some of those Debbie Meyer's Bread Bags which keep the bread very well. Anyways, it's not an original recipe; it's from the bag of King Arthur Flour. My special touch is to add Vital Wheat Gluten.

Here it goes:

Classic 100% Whole What Bread
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet of active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tsp of Vital Wheat Gluten
1/4 cup honey, molasses or maple syrup [I use honey.]
3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup dried nonfat milk
1 1/4 tsp salt

Mixing: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. (You may also knead this dough in an electric mixer of food processor, or in a bread machine programmed for "dough" or "manual.") Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though no necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Shaping: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it into an 8-inch log. Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the bread to rise for about 30 to 60 minutes, or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan. A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly.

Baking: Bake the bread in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. Test it for doneness by removing it from the pan and thumping it on the bottom (it should sound hollow), or measuring its interior temperature with an instant-read thermometer (it should register 190 degrees at the center of the loaf). Remove the bread from the oven, turn it out of the pan, and cool it on a rack before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature. Yields 1 loaf.

5 comments:

chandy said...

I have never made bread from scratch... I fear that it would not be much of a cost savings for me, as I could easily polish of a couple loaves a day. But I would like to try it sometime for a special treat!

Erin said...

Thanks for sharing! How long does your bread last before molding, etc?

Charissa @ The Stromski's World said...

It sounds like a lot of work. How often do you make this? Do you use it for sandwiches etc.?

Jessie said...

Well, in the bread bags that I mentioned, the bread doesn't mold before I use it up. And one loafs lasts us no longer than one week. I think you would be mold-free for about five days. If you refrigerate, longer. However, I leave mine on the counter.

And yes, this is our sandwich/toast bread. I make the girls' lunches on it and it's fabulous for grilled cheeses. And usually when I make it, I slice up a bit for dinner that night. We love fresh baked bread in this house!

I usually slice it thin, no more than 3/4 of an inch.

Jessie said...

Also, I make this about once a week. It's actually not that much work. Once you make it, you'll understand what I mean by it not being a lot of work.

Give it a shot. I'd be happy to make it with you one day so you can learn. :)