Let them eat cake!...I mean bread

There is nothing better than the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven, wafting through the house.  Especially on a cool winter's day.  Today was one of those days; a bread making day.  The kids finished up the last of the previous loaf with today's grilled cheese sandwich lunch, so it was time to make more.  I enjoy the bread-making process.  Using my KitchenAid stand mixer makes it so easy!  It mixes AND kneads all in one easy step!  Then all I need to do is let it rise and then pop it in the oven.  Presto, I have a delicious smelling loaf (or two) of bread!  We do have an automatic bread-making machine that we used to use all the time to make bread.  But we never really liked the shape and size of the loaf that came out of the machine.  The slices were far too large to put in the toaster, and super huge for sandwich making!  So then we started just making the dough in the machine and then baking it in the oven, until we discovered that our KitchenAid mixer, fitted with the dough hook, could complete this process for us!  And with almost better results.  Since then, the mixer has been put to extremely good use.  

I have experimented with various recipes, from white, to whole wheat, to a combo of the two, to French and Italian and herb bread.  Today I used a modified version of the King Arthur Flour Classic 100% Whole Wheat bread recipe.  I doubled the recipe. It has worked nicely for me in the past, so I figured I'd try it again.  Last time I attempted the recipe I forgot to add the salt.  And since salt helps in the rising process and the retention of moisture, it is needed, as my loaf turned out slightly dense and incredibly crumbly!  Which with 2 small children, who can make a mess without increased crumbing, was a disaster.  I'd have a panic attack at each lunch time when they ate a sandwich that would crumble like crazy! So today I made sure that I did NOT forget the salt! 

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Yield: 2 loaves (I was able to make a 1 1/2 lb and a 1 lb loaf)

Ingredients:

6-6 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

5 tsp active yeast

2 1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or olive oil)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Combine 4 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Mix to combine and allow to rest, 5 minutes.

2. Combine warm water, oil, honey and syrup in a measuring cup and add to flour mixture.  Mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes.  

3. Add as much of the remaining flour as you can, mixing on speed 2, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and a smooth ball begins to form.

4. Continue to knead, on speed 2, for 6-8 minutes.  This dough should be soft, yet still firm enough to knead. Adjust its consistency with additional water or flour, if necessary.

5. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and allow the dough to rise doubled in size, about 1 hour. 
6. Remove from the bowl and shape it into an 8" log. (You can either do this by tucking under and shaping with your hands, or roll to a rectangle and roll up from the long side, pinching at the bottom) Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan and cover the pan with the kitchen towel again and allow the bread to rise for about 45 mins. to an hour, or till the center has crowned about 1" above the rim of the pan. 

7. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F.

8. Bake the bread for 20 mins., then tent with aluminum foil (to prevent over-browning) and continue to bake for another 15-20 mins.  Bread is done when it sounds hallow when tapped. 

9. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. If desired, rub the crust with some butter to soften the crust. 

10. If you can resist, cool completely before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.

Doesn't it look delicious?!

 

Alternately:  This recipe can be done by hand, with a wooden spoon to mix and your hands to knead.  A mixer with dough hook is so much easier though! 

Now, what do you do with the crusty ends that no one wants to eat? Or with left-over bread that goes stale before you can eat it (if that ever happens)?  Make homemade whole wheat bread crumbs of course!