Whole Wheat Bread

Fresh from the oven (the white dots are the millet)

My mom gave me a wheat grinder for Christmas 2010. At first I looked at it and thought..never gonna use that. Then I decided to give homemade whole wheat bread a try...and I was HOOKED! We have bought maybe 4 loaves of bread since, and those were just for back up when I ran out of frozen loaves and didn't have the time to make more. I scoured the internet for the best recipe and I have to say I found it. It stays moist on our counter in a plastic bag for as long as it takes us to eat it (probably 5 days), it is SO easy to make (especially with my Bosch that my mom also gave me, thanks Mom!), and it freezes well. My husband always loves to be the first to cut into a newly thawed loaf from the freezer because he thinks it tastes the best that way. I am giving you the way that I make this recipe. I realize that it varies depending on person, humidity, altitude, and your horoscope :) so check out the original recipe and make it your own like I did!

Tips: Make sure your yeast is fresh or is fresh from the freezer. It really does make a difference in how your bread turns out. If your yeast has been sitting in the fridge awhile it will need a little longer to rise, and will give you a denser bread.

Lightly adapted from "The Urban Homemaker"  Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Bread 
Yields 5-6 loaves

2/3 C honey
2/3 C canola oil
6 C warm water
3 TB instant yeast (make sure it's fresh or fresh from the freezer)
2 TB salt
15-18 C fresh whole wheat flour
3 TB dough conditioner or enhancer
1/2 C vital wheat gluten
1/3 C whole millet (optional but we love the crunch!)

 Combine the warm water, yeast, and 2 Cups of fresh whole wheat flour in your Bosch. Allow to sponge for 15 minutes. Add the honey, oil, dough enhancer, salt and 13-16 C additional flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. My dough is usually sticky to the touch still, do NOT add too much flour!

Knead the bread 6-10 minutes in your Bosch. I watch it and add more flour if needed, again be sure not to add too much.

Oil your hands up and drop dough into your greased loaf pans. Baker's Joy spray with flour in it works best. The dough is still pretty sticky at this point so what I do is distribute it among the pans and then go wash my hands and put some more oil on them to form the dough. My favorite way to form a loaf is to make a ball and then pull both sides of the ball and fold them under to form a loaf shape with a beautiful top.  Allow to rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes. Do not allow to over-rise, this can happen quickly so check it at 25 minutes! I actually don't let mine rise more than 30 minutes because we like the bread to be dense enough to cut easily. I have let my bread over rise a couple of times and while it doesn't ruin the taste it makes it hard to cut and eat because it has lots of bubbles at the top.

Bake loaves for 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cover the tops with foil for the last 10-15 minutes if you want a lighter brown color on top. Take one loaf out of the pan and tap the bottom to listen for a hollow sound. OR just stick an instant read meat thermometer into the bottom of the loaf and make sure it's at least 180 degrees in the middle (because what does "hollow sound" even mean?!). Eat a slice with honey butter right away and let the rest of the loaves cool. Once cool place in freezer bags and freeze. Or double bag in the cheap cheap twist tie plastic bags from Walmart or the dollar store (what I do because I'm....cheap).

 To thaw: place on counter for at least 4 hours, leaving your freezer bag sealed. If you need to quickly thaw you can (and I often do, though it's not quite as good as letting it thaw naturally) by placing the open bag in the microwave and zapping it on low heat for 15 seconds at a time until you're satisfied.

So good and so good for you!

Note:  I have 3 small and 3 large loaf pans and so that is what I normally use. Or I will use 2 large and 3 small loaf pans and make 12 rolls in a muffin tin. Freeze the rolls and pull out as needed for supper, they really are tasty with meals!

With Love,

Lindsey