Whole Wheat Bread

This is the bread recipe that I use for whole wheat bread. It's from a lady at church, Annette Holm, who is an awesome bread maker and it's just really basic and easy as far as bread goes! (I've tried recipes with all sorts of things added - lemon juice, vital wheat gluten, etc). I think this one works just as well or better and is much simpler. Using honey, molasses, or brown sugar helps make bread softer.

Whole Wheat Bread

4 c. wheat flour

1 T. salt

1 1/2 T. yeast (2 pkgs)

In a large bowl, combine the above ingredients with a whisk. Add 3 cups warm water, 6 T. oil and 1/2 c. honey (or you can add 1/2 c. brown sugar to the dry ingredients) to the dry ingredients and whisk it all together.

Using your dough hook, add 3 1/2 - 4 cups more flour. You can use white or wheat. I usually do about 3 c. more of wheat and then start adding white flour a little at a time until it stops sticking to the sides. (I often use more than the recommended 4 c. more total). If your wheat flour is nice and finely ground, you probably won't need to use any white flour.

Now, here's the trick -  once you get the dough to where it's not totally sticking to the sides anymore (let the mixer run for a minute to make sure), you need to stop adding flour and let it knead the dough for 10 minutes. It takes that long for the wheat flour to develop enough gluten. It might still stick to the sides some, but not so much on the bottom, like this:

So, just turn the mixer on, set the timer for 10 minutes and let it go. It will start to get nice and smooth and elastic after a few minutes. Most of the dough should be off of the sides of the bowl now too. And if you have a Kitchen-aid like mine, it will also have climbed to the top of the dough hook.

See the stretchy gluten strands?

Place in a greased bowl to rise. Punch down, shape into 2 loaves and let it rise again. You can brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle a few oats on top. (I never do because I feel like that's a waste of an egg. But I'm cheap! And my kids would just pick them off anyway.) 

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350. If you want the bottom crust to stay softer, wrap it in a towel and put it on a wooden cutting board or table to cool instead of a cooling rack, or just let it cool and then put it in a plastic bag overnight and it will soften up.

If you have an electric knife, it will slice the bread really nicely once it's cooled.