Whole Wheat Bread

Like any living, breathing human, I absolutely love the smell of freshly baked bread. I also love the taste of freshly baked bread. Recently I thought about how cool it would be if I could bake bread a couple of times a week rather than buying it in the store. Wishful thinking probably, but I'm gonna try. I've ventured into the world of baking a couple of times. Bread can be particularly tricky. I consider myself not a chef but more of a direction follower. A recipe tells me exactly what to do and I nod politely and carry out those orders. Bread recipes are frustrating to me because the recipe will tell me to add flour until the dough "looks right" whatever that means. Over time, I've been able to figure some of these things out, but it's a nonstop quest for improvement. 

Yesterday morning I baked white bread using a recipe from the BHG cookbook. The bread loaves ended up smaller than I expected. (Though I'm positive I killed the yeast.) The bread ended up much denser than I wanted, but delicious nonetheless. It turned out to be ideal for dipping in vinegar & oil. 

This morning, I baked a whole wheat bread (recipe below) from the same book. It rose a lot better than my first attempt, but it still didn't fill the pan the way I expected. Again, it turned out denser than I'd like but very very good. Everyone in the house loves it.

I may try again this weekend using a recipe out of our mixer cookbook. Bread recipes in that book are tailor made for those with a Kitchenaid mixer, like us. Also, that book usually requires you to let the dough rise a lot longer than the BHG recipes. 

Makes 2 loaves

3 3/4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 package active dry yeast

2 1/4 cups milk

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tsp salt

1) In a mixer bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and the yeast. In a saucepan, heat and stir milk, sugar, butter and salt just until warm and butter melts. Not too hot (less than 125) or you'll kill the yeast like I did on Thursday. Add milk mixture to the flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds then on higher speed for 3 minutes. Mix in remaining flour (1/2 cup at a time, starting with whole wheat flour) until it becomes a smooth elastic ball. Knead 6-8 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise in warm place until double in size (45-60 min). 

2) Punch dough down. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Cover, let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two 8 by 4 by 2 inch loaf pans. 

3) Shape each dough half into a loaf by patting or rolling. Place the shaped dough halves in the pans, seam sides down if rolled. Cover and let rise in warm place until nearly double in size (about 30 minutes). 

4) Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 35-40 min or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 5-10 min to prevent over-browning. Remove bread from pans and cool completely on wire racks.