These are the best 2 loaves I've made yet! Fresh ground whole wheat, & SOOO easy! I'm gonna post my recipe and tips... I've made 7 loaves the past 3 days, just cause it's fun! The bread I used to buy averaged $3/loaf or more... So these 7 would have been at least $21. But making my own, I have less than 50 cents into each loaf!
NOW... I currently have a 12 year old Kitchen-Aid mixer. It's great, and it's "working" for my bread, but it's not the best, to be honest. I'm saving up for a Bosch mixer. There is just nothing better. But if all you have is a Kitchen-Aid, it will work. If you're lucky enough to have a BOSCH... then double my recipe! You can even do this by hand, you'll just have to suffer through the forever kneading.
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: - HARD WHITE WHEAT IS BEST! IF YOU CAN'T GET IT, SINCE IT'S IN BIG DEMAND RIGHT NOW, THEN HARD RED WILL WORK, IT'LL JUST BE A HEAVIER LOAF & STRONGER TASTING. TRY TRY TRY TO FIND HARD WHITE. YOU WILL LOVE IT!
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MORE IMPORTANT NOTE! Since this is whole wheat, you will need a dough enhancer. If you grind your own wheat, toss 3 vitamin-C tablets right into the grinder with your wheat!
If you purchase whole wheat flour, then just crush/grind 3 vitamin-C tablets & add to the ingredients below.
This is a natural dough enhancer, & it'll save you lots of money over buying the packaged enhancer at the store. Gives your bread better texture & helps it rise higher & faster. It works great!
Here goes:
3 c. very warm water (but not too hot)
1 T. instant yeast (SAF yeast is the best!)
1/3 c. vegetable or canola oil
1/3 c. honey
1 T. salt
6 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground if possible!)
1/2 c. whole oats
1/4 c. gluten (available at bulk/health food stores & some grocery stores)
(Don't forget your ground Vitamin-C tablets!)
Add the first 5 ingredients & mix. Then add
5 cups flour, oats, & gluten flour. Mix well. Continue to add the other 1 c. flour slowly until the dough forms a ball & scrapes the excess dough off the sides of the bowl.
DO NOT add too much flour! This is the most common mistake in bread making! It will make a heavy & crumbly bread. Your loaf should stay in "ball" form even after mixing for about 5 minutes, but it needs to be a little sticky. At first, you'll think it's too sticky, but as long as it's cleaning the sides of the bowl, it's perfect! Let mix for 5-10 minutes.
(In the mean time, preheat your oven to 100-125 degrees)
Now... OIL the counter surface & your hands - (Use oil, NOT flour!) Put your dough on the oiled surface & slice WITH A KNIFE into
2 loaves. Pat down into a thick rectangle & roll it up into loaf shape, then put into greased bread pans.
Turn OFF your oven, cover loaves LOOSELY with saran wrap, & put in warmed oven to rise till double (about 45-60 minutes, depending on humidity in the air!)
Remove loaves from oven & preheat to 350 degrees. Bake loaves for 30 minutes.
YOU'RE DONE!
Remove your loaves immediately & transfer to cooling rack. Best sliced with electric knife. We can get our slices down to less than 1/2 inch thick with the elec. knife!
If your family doesn't like whole wheat bread, TRY THIS RECIPE! They will looove it. My kids wolfed an entire loaf the first night, & their friends think it's awesome!
If it doesn't work the first time, keep trying! It took 3 times before I got it down!
And remember, this makes 2 loaves... and I used my Kitchen Aid. If you have a Bosch, you'll be able to double the recipe & make 4 loaves (at least!)
SO Yummy!!!
