Bread Recipe

I have made my own sandwich bread now for not quite a year.  Why is it that making bread is so soul-satisfying?

Whole Wheat Bread recipe:

1/3 cup oil (canola, etc. Coconut oil is a healthy and tasty choice, but a big pain to use, I find)

1/3 cup honey

1 tablespoon yeast

2 cups warm water (105 F, +/- a few degrees)

Mix in KitchenAid with bread hook, and let sit 5-10 minutes, until bubbly.  Then add:

2 tsp salt

7 cups flour  (My perfect mix, after much experimenting, is

        4 cups whole wheat flour

        2 cups white flour

        1/3 cup gluten flour (vital gluten, bulk foods at Fred Meyer or

                        Bob’s Mill)

        1/3 cup oat bran, wheat bran, or some healthy roughage stuff

        1/3 cup flax seed, cold milled or your preference)

Mix in a little at a time.  Let mixing become kneading on the KitchenAid for 5-10 minutes, until it is the right elasticity.  This can be done by hand, but this is not soul-satisfying to me.  I prefer to clean up the kitchen while the machine does the hard work.

Cover bowl with large plate (to save plastic wrap) and let rise 1/2 – 3 hours, whatever is convenient to your schedule.

Divide dough in half.  “Squish” down into a rectangle, then roll up into a loaf size shape, doing your best to have no air bubbles.  This gives it a better shape than just shaping it freehand.  Put in greased loaf pans and let rise until they are the size you want them to be (1-5 hours, as your busy schedule allows).  Bake 30 minutes at 350. 

Take loaf out of pan right away (or it gets soggy as it cools). 

 

Final step—have your oldest climb up on the counter to put her slice in the toaster and place her knee on a warm, fresh loaf.  Sigh heavily.