My Love Affair with Fresh Homemade Bread

         

          In my opinion, it is absolutely impossible to bake a loaf of fresh bread and not eat a slice right out of the oven. The second the bread is cool enough to handle, I cut myself a slice. The bread is still so warm it steams when I cut into it. I top my slice with a small pat of butter and watch it seep into the bread's air pockets. I then spread on a coating of jam, contributing a perfect moist layer of fruity sweetness. To. Die. For. If you can't tell, I'm a bread snob. I was lucky enough growing up to have a mom who made fresh bread all the time. Once you get used to consistently eating homemade bread, the store-bought stuff admittedly starts to taste like cardboard. I am proud to say that I am breeding a whole new generation of bread snobs in my own home. I make all our bread from scratch. I went through a few recipes before I finally found the one that wowed me. I can thank my mother for that one. I have no clue where she found this recipe, but it seems that sometimes these elusive recipes turn out being the best. 
          So, I'm going to share with you this ah-mazing recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Bread. This recipe assumes you are using a stand mixer for kneading the dough. You can certainly knead by hand, it will just take longer. Now don't be discouraged if your bread doesn't turn out perfect the first time. It took me several tries before I had enough practice to achieve a consistently perfect loaf.  Bread making truly is an art! I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do!


Ingredients:
5 cups hot water
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup molasses
3 tablespoons active dry yeast
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons plain salt
12-15 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat gluten


Yield: 4 standard-sized loaves


Directions:
     1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees. 
     2. In a large bowl, mix together the hot water, honey, and molasses.
     3. Add the yeast, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow the yeast to bubble for 5 minutes.
     4. Add the canola oil and salt to the yeast mixture. Transfer the yeast mixture to a stand mixer bowl if you are using one. 
     5. With your stand mixer on (make sure you are using a mixer that can handle this dough capacity), add 12-15 cups of whole wheat flour one cup at a time. You will know that you have added enough flour when the dough begins to stop sticking to the edges of the mixing bowl. 
     6. Knead the bread in your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for 10 minutes.
     7. Remove the finished dough from the mixer bowl, divide it into 4 portions, and shape each portion into a loaf.
     8. Grease four standard bread loaf pans liberally with cooking spray and place a shaped loaf into each one. 
     9. Place the pans into the preheated oven. Turn the oven off. Allow the loaves to rise for 20-30 minutes, or until they have risen a couple inches above the rims of the bread pans.
     10. Without opening the oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once the oven is preheated, bake the loaves for 20-25 minutes, or until the loaves are browned on top and sound hollow when tapped.
     11. Remove the loaves from the oven and turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool.

Tips:

• You can use either whole wheat flour or whole white wheat flour for this recipe. The whole wheat flour will create a coarser, denser texture. I prefer to use whole white wheat flour because I like its lighter, airier texture and flavor. Either works great though!
• To ensure your loaves are the same size, consider using a food scale to weigh the dough once you portion it into loaves.
• Do not peek on your loaves AT ALL while they are rising in the oven. It could cause them to collapse!
• As I learned the hard way, do not let your bread rise in the oven for too long. I find that when I use whole wheat flour, it takes about 30 minutes for the loaves to rise and when I use whole white wheat flour it takes only about 20 minutes. If you don't keep an eye on it though, your loaves could over-rise and that could cause your loaves to collapse during baking.