I have never been super successful on homemade bread. Which is shameful because I come from a long line of amazing bread makers. I've tried a few times, and if my mom was standing right next to me through the process, it seemed to work out pretty good, but as soon as I was by myself, I ended up with bread that looks like this:
Why? I have no idea. But, now that we are in a Corona Virus Quarantine, I am taking this opportunity (and this necessity) to learn to make yummy, normal looking homemade bread! Someone recently brought me a delicious, beautiful loaf of bread, so as soon as the Quarantine started, I called her and asked her for her recipe. It turns out I was making it much harder than I needed to. This recipe kneads it using my Kitchenaid mixer and only rises once. It kind of makes me feel guilty because it is so easy, but it looks like I worked really hard!
Easy Whole Wheat Bread
adapted from: melskitchencafe.com
5-6+ c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. active yeast
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten
2 3/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey
1/2-3/4 Tbsp. salt
In the bowl of your stand alone mixer (mine is a Kitchenaid), stir together your yeast, 3/4 cup of the warm water and a pinch of sugar. Cover it with a towel and let it sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. After 5 minutes your yeast should look nice and foamy. Add 3 cups of flour, gluten and 2 more cups of warm water to your yeast mixture and stir it using a wooden spoon. Cover it with the towel again and let it rest for 10-12 minutes. Add the lemon juice, oil, honey and salt and mix it on low speed, using your dough hook.
With the mixture running on low speed, continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and it isn't too sticky. I have found that I need a little more than 6 cups total flour to get mine to the right consistency. I also have to occasionally use my wooden spoon to scrape the flour off the bottom of the bowl. From Mel's recipe, she says "A little stickiness is ok, as long as the dough forms a ball and doesn't leave a lot of residue on your fingers." And that is pretty much exactly how mine turns out. Let the mixer knead the dough for 5-6 minutes on low speed. (Once mine is done kneading, I find that it is a little stickier than it was when I started kneading, but the bread is coming out nice and soft, so I think that is ok).
Turn the dough onto your greased counter (I spray mine with cooking spray) and divide it in half. Shape each half into a smooth loaf and place it in a lightly greased loaf pan. The pan size that I have found to be the most successful is the one that is 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 X 2 1/2. Cover your pans lightly with a towel and let them rise for about an hour, or until they are 1-2 inches above the pans. Here is another tip that I have had to figure out: my kitchen is never super warm, and my bread wasn't rising very well. Now, I heat my oven to 200 degrees, and then turn it off and open the oven door. My bread is rising on top of my oven and this little added heat seems to make all the difference for how well it rises. Yay! When your bread has risen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the bread for 28-32 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and baked through. When you take it out, turn it onto a wire rack and brush the top with butter. And, please eat a slice warm, with butter and honey, and think of me!
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