Sunday, October 16, 2011

Whole Wheat Bread

Home baked bread is a real treat! I love the process of watching a ball of dough turn into something warm and aromatic and yummy. I also appreciate controlling what goes into my bread. Did you know that most breads have high fructose corn syrup? Well, now you do. Thankfully many top brands now make a loaf without it. But it is still nice to have your own home made bread from time to time.
I originally got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but have made changes to it. Another tip for making bread is to spoon your flour into the measuring cup. Don't dip the cup into the flour. Usually too much flour will get into your recipe this way and make a dense bread. If you don't have the grains listed, substitute it for what you do have. I usually don't have sunflower seeds on hand. So I will add an extra tablespoon of quinoa.


 Doesn't this already look great?

 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F (43 degrees C))

 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
 2 teaspoons instant yeast
 6 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
 5 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
 1 tablespoon flax seeds
 1 tablespoon flax seed meal
 1 tablespoon rolled oats
 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
 1 tablespoon quinoa
 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
 1 teaspoon salt
 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1.Pour warm water and maple syrup into a small bowl, and stir to dissolve the maple syrup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the liquid, and let stand until the yeast bubbles and forms a creamy layer, about 10 minutes.


2.In a bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, gluten, flax seeds, flax meal, rolled oats, sesame seeds, quinoa, sunflower seeds, and salt until the seeds are dispersed evenly. Pour the liquid yeast mixture into the flour mixture, add the coconut oil, and mix everything together. Scoop the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead as much of the flour into the dough until smooth and springy, about 10 minutes. Allow dough to rest for 15 minutes, then knead for another 5 minutes.

3.Form the dough into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, and turn the dough over several times to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

4.Grease 2 9x5-inch loaf pans. Punch down the dough, and cut into 2 pieces. Form each piece into a loaf, place into the loaf pans, seam sides down, and cover the pans with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

5.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake the loaves in the preheated oven until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans about 3-5 minutes before turning out to finish cooling on racks.





 Doesn't this look yummy?

Bread crumbs. Another reason I make homemade
bread. Send the sliced bread through the  processors
until its crumbs. Season with garlic salt.
 Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Spread the crumbs in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.
Cook until dry. Store in a airtight container. I use my
bread crumbs for baked onion rings!


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