Grain Mill Challenge :: Delicious whole wheat bread

I'm blogging again today at Grain Mill Wagon as a part of their grain mill challenge.

I’ve made whole wheat bread on and off for a few years now, but I have often come away with bread that tastes good but easily falls apart. Such was the case recently, so I opted to try a new recipe. I am very happy with this one and will continue to use it. The flavor and texture was great, the bread held together well, and I loved that even though it is 100% whole wheat, it was soft, moist and not too dense. Prior to trying this new recipe, I tried another recipe and used all soft white wheat, but a friend suggested combining soft and hard wheat together for better results. The store I purchase my wheat berries at does not sell hard white wheat, so I combined soft white and hard red, and was very pleased with the results. I also used coconut oil for its health benefits. This bread can be made using soaked flour, but I did not soak mine.

Whole wheat bread
Recipe found here by Simple Country Home

I  N G R E D I E N T S :

6 cups whole wheat flour (I used 2 cups of freshly milled hard red flour and 4 cups freshly milled soft white flour)

2 1/2 cups warm water (water temperature should be around 110 F)

4 tsp dry active yeast (I use bread machine yeast)

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup oil (I used coconut)

1 Tbsp. salt

3 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten

D I R E C T I O N S : 

Mill your grains.

Combine the water, yeast, and 2 cups of flour, let it sit for 15 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients, slowly adding in the last cup of flour. Depending on your altitude and humidity you will need anywhere from five and a half to six and a half cups of flour. If you are using a mixer, mix on low, the dough should pull off the sides, form a ball on the hook, and the sides should be clean. The picture on the right doesn’t have enough flour yet, the bowl is not clean.

To develop the gluten, which is what gives you soft, pliable bread, you need to alternate kneading and letting the dough rest. Once the dough is formed and pulling away from the sides of your mixer, turn it off and let it sit for 10-20 minutes.

Turn the mixer back on, the lowest speed, and knead for 5-10 minutes.

Divide the dough in half, and form the loaves. I just roll the dough between my hands to make a log that is the same length as the bread pan.

Grease your pans with butter or oil and set the bread in them to rise for about 1 hour. I set mine on top of the oven and cover them with a damp towel.

Preheat your oven to 350.

When the loaves have risen about 1 and 1/2″ above the pan, put them in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Let them cool for an hour.