Whole Wheat Bread
I have been searching for a good 100% whole wheat bread recipe for a while that used all whole wheat not half whole wheat and half white that would raise and be fluffly like white bread. I found this recipe over at the Recipe shoebox and had to try it out. I have made it twice since Thursday!! It turned our really well. I adpated the recipe a little bit. The trick is to use 100%white whole wheat flour. You can get this at any grocery store. I have even heard people using this flour for cookies and cake but I can say I tried it in my chocolate chip cookies and I could taste the whole wheat flour. I am not going to go crazy and use it in my baking because lets face it if I am going to have a cookie it is bad for me anyway so why not have it taste great as well but I will be baking my bread with this flour for now on.
Mix the yeast and vital wheat gluten with 1 cup of the flour;set aside. In a large bowl or your mixer, Mix the water, bread flour, oil, eggs, salt, honey, and 3 cups of wheat flour until smooth. Add the yeast flour mixture and mix for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the flour one cup at a time and wheat germ, sunflower seeds or flax seeds until forms a soft dough. Knead on a greased or floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat all the dough with oil. Cover and let raise until doubled in size about 1 hour. Punch down the dough and divide into 3 portions. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30-40 minutes. Bake @ 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the top with butter. Remove from the pans and let cool on wire rack.
Doesn't that look tasty!!
Note: i use instant yeast because you don't have to let the yeast sit in the warm water and activate or worry that you got the water temp just right not to kill the yeast. But you can use active dry yeast if you want just add it to the water and let it sit then add all the rest of the ingredients. YOu can find instant yeast at any grocery store!!
Note:the original recipe didn't use eggs and the first time I made it I didn't use the eggs but I had better results and the bread rose better using the eggs. Eggs help bread raise better!!
Note: I placed a cookie sheet full of water in the bottom of the oven when cooking the bread. It helps prevent the bread from drying out and cracking while baking.
Note: roll out the dough or shape it on a greased surface instead of a floured surface because adding more flour to the dough will also make it dry.
