bread recipes!

 

100% Whole Wheat Bread
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups warm or hot water
6 T butter, softened or melted
1 T lemon juice
½ cup vital wheat gluten, optional (I don’t use this currently)
1 T sea salt (or less)
½ cup brown sugar
1-2 T honey, optional
4 cups fresh whole wheat flour (I use white wheat berries)
1 ½ - 2 T yeast (I use SAF)
 
3 cups warm water
4-6? cups additional fresh whole wheat flour

The order listed is how I combine the ingredients in our large mixer. I add the 3 cups of water and additional flour after starting the mixer.
I would make half a batch if I was using a Kitchen-aid stand mixer. This batch makes 4 – 10” loaves.
I like to soak the oats a while in the 2 cups of water ~ It would be more effective to use buttermilk or yogurt for soaking, so that’s something I need to work on.
I use instant yeast which doesn’t need to be “proved.” I learned this method (starting with most ingredients in the bowl before mixing any) from my Kitchen-aid handbook as a “quick” method, and it works well for me.
Add enough flour for the dough to form into a ball in the mixer, but keep it almost sticky to touch.  It’s so much easier to demonstrate in person, and y’all are welcome in my kitchen…
I use the mixer to mix and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. It will take longer by hand. Then let dough rise until almost doubled (20-40 min depending on dough and room temperature). Punch down, divide dough, and shape; let rise again ~ 20 min.; bake ~25 min. at 350 F. (grease the bread pans) Remove from pans to cool.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
If you are new to real whole-grain breads, or you only have access to whole wheat flour from the store, you might want to begin with a combination of all-purpose (or bread) white/unbleached flour and the whole wheat. The red berries (as used in most whole wheat flour available pre-milled) has a stronger flavor, and the flour is usually coarser than I mill my own ~ Thus, it all may seem more overwhelming and heavy at first. The fresh milled white wheat berries make an amazingly better flour with mild enough flavor to use in cookie dough without problem. Yum. 
But it’s all good, so use what you have!
 


This is our usual bread recipe.  We have others we make as well… Italian Herb (because I was hungry for focaccia one day), Whole Wheat Raisin, Hearty Oat-Nut, Lee’s Special Request (because Tim’s brother asked for it… whole wheat with oats, almonds, walnuts); and Kate’s Blue Ribbon bread that started us into bread baking for real about five years ago.  Since this has gotten plenty long,  I will write another post with the recipe for sweet roll dough  :-)

:::EDIT::: 

I will add some links for those interested in investing in equipment... I have purchased items from the Urban Homemaker in Colorado, but mostly from Pleasant Hill Grain in Nebraska.  I usually buy wheat berries from a little shop in Dallas Center, Iowa (they buy by the truckload from Wheat Montana).  Lots of bread bakers use a Bosch mixer (which both of these suppliers sell), but I really like our Electrolux!  (Kate actually bought the mixer and paid for it within a year of selling bread occasionally ~ the price of the mixer has gone up quite a bit since then.)

We have purchased from Pleasant Hill Grain:
Nutrimill grain mill.
Electrolux mixer
Norpro bread pans
bread bags