This week I want to talk about making bread. Last week we talked about yeast and I wanted to follow it up with my bred recipe and how I make bread. I usually make 2 loaves at once. when I was first starting to make bread, my husband wouldn’t eat it. Every recipe I tried was hard on the outside and dense on the inside. I wanted to make it so he would eat it and he wanted something more like store bought bread. So I searched and searched and finally found this recipe. He loved it, but I wasn’t 100% happy with the recipe, so I started playing with it a bit until I was happy with the sugar content and also the elasticity on the bread. I have finally found a balance. We all love it and I am able to rotate my wheat storage and make healthy bread for my family!
So today I am going to take you through the process of it all! It usually takes me a couple hours to make, and I make it about 3 times a month.
Wheat Bread recipe (Single loaf recipe, if you want 2 loaves you need to double it.)
1 1/4 cup warm water
3 tsp active dry yeast
1/8 cup honey or 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 white bread flour
3 1/2 Tblsp wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)
Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes.
Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down and make into 3 separate balls of dough. One per loaf.
and shape into loaf or rolls.
Let rise again until double
bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
I also use this recipe to make hamburger buns. To do this I just add a bit more yeast and shape the dough into 1 ounce balls and let them rise slightly. then I just push them down on the top with my palm to make them flat. They then need to rise again and they will look like this.
I then bake them until they are golden brown.
If you have any questions let me know! also if you try the recipe let me know! I love it. It really is like store bought bread. totally soft and chewy!
