While she was here, she was witness to the weekly bread baking! Her words were, “You know, I do a lot of cooking, but not much baking. I was watching you and that seemed really easy!”
So there you have it! Mama Cook’s Homemade Whole Wheat Bread is really easy! No, really, it is! {And yummy too – if I do say so myself!}
So here is the recipe {originally from The Family Homestead – but with a couple of revisions.}
Mama Cook’s Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
1 T yeast
1/3 cup oil (I use coconut oil, but any oil will do)
2 t. salt
1/3 cup gluten flour
7 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground is best, but if you do not have a mill, whole wheat flour is better than white flour! I grind Hard Red Wheat Berries – my family likes the texture better!)
1/3 cup honey
1 T yeast
1/3 cup oil (I use coconut oil, but any oil will do)
2 t. salt
1/3 cup gluten flour
7 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground is best, but if you do not have a mill, whole wheat flour is better than white flour! I grind Hard Red Wheat Berries – my family likes the texture better!)
Mix 1st four ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit approximately 5-10 mins, until bubbly.
Add remaining ingredients. Mix! If you have a stand mixer, you will want to knead this about 7 minutes. I currently do not have a stand mixer, so I knead mine by hand approximately 10 minutes.
Let rise until double in size – approx. 30 minutes. {I have skipped this step with much success, but recently my loaves have been “falling” after baking unless I do a double rise.}
Punch down and divide into 2 balls. Press into 2 greased loaf pans.
Let rise a second time in your oven. Then turn on oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes! Remove from pan onto a cooling rack so the bread can release its moisture.
Cut and enjoy!
I usually bake 6 loaves of this bread per week. I simply triple the recipe, so it is the same amount of effort with bigger results! Each loaf costs about .75 cents per loaf. You will want a really sharp serrated bread knife for cutting slices thin enough to make sandwiches. Try it once…you may never go back!
Thanks for stopping by! Be Refreshed!
Can you show a picture of your loaf pan? Where do you get one? Ginger
ReplyDeleteLora,
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous! What kind of grinder do you have?
What kind of loaf pans do you use and where did you purchase them?
This reminds me of times in Wisconsin...on Saturdays my aunt would do laundry and bake bread all day...
Tara
FOR THIS BREAD!!!
ReplyDeleteA wheat grinder is about $60-100, but will pay for itself within a year's time!
Brushing the tops of the bread with a little melted butter will keep them softer longer, if you do not go through bread like a 10 person household!
This bread always makes Mama's house smell soooo good! (And if you have a husband who is "so not into wheat bread," give it to him anyway, and when you go back to white one week, he will complain that the bread is too plain and not filling! I guarantee it!)
Hi Lora,
ReplyDeletecan you explain what is gluten flour? We have a lot of glutenfree stuff here in Germany but I thought that all "normal" flour contains gluten. So why do I need the gluten flour? I make a lot of bread for my family of 10 and I love to try new recipes.
Love from Germany
Niccy
Niccy...you are correct, all "normal" flour contains gluten...only when it is whole wheat flour, it still has the bran portions. This will cause a significantly dense bread...gluten flour, or it is sometimes termed as "vital wheat gluten" is flour that specifically has the bran and starch removed and is very high in protein. If you add it to your whole wheat recipe, it will add a fluffiness to the bread. I have substituted "white flour" for gluten flour, and it works closely to the same, but without a much nutrients! I hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteI love having an international follower - it challenges me to continue to think globally!
:) Lora
So I tried it with my Bob's Red mill All purpose Gluten-free flour. It works wonderfully. I used & and 1/3rd cups of the flour(seeing as I can't use gluten flour. ;) )
ReplyDeleteI made this for the first time last night- is it supposed to be really dense? I had to take it out of my KitchenAid and kneed myself because I feared it would burn it out. It tastes good but is very dense... :-)
ReplyDeleteSarah - yep, should be pretty dense...more than store bought bread anyway! I did burn out the motor in my Kitchen Aid...literally having to take it outside because of the smoke pouring out of it! You could add more gluten for a fluffier texture! Hope that helps! Glad you tried it!
DeleteI've made two rounds of this so far and it tastes really good. For the first round I added cracked wheat in with the flour to give texture, but that also made the whole thing too dense and heavy. The most recent time, I let is rise even longer the second time and used no cracked wheat, but its still pretty dense. The taste is wonderful. I was just wondering if you happen to know any adjustments to make it a little lighter/fluffier.
ReplyDeleteJust made this last night. My boys ate some bread for breakfast. They loved it!!! Bryce said it tasted like real bread, like manna. :) I used spelt instead of whole wheat flour. Thanks Lora!
ReplyDelete