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Best Yet Whole Wheat Bread


Update:  I recently learned that hard wheat has enough gluten in it to hold bread together it just needs to be activated.  Lemon juice does that!  So if you don't have any Vital Wheat Gluten you don't really need it just try some lemon juice to help activate the gluten already in it!  We have tried it and it works great!  We have also substituted the honey for agave and it gave it a little lighter flavor I kind of liked it better although it's good either way!  

As far as just regular simple bread dough goes I just love this recipe!  I have tried some "other food storage" bread recipes and they tasted more like cardboard.  I pretty much use this dough for EVERYTHING;  Fry bread, (known as scones where I grew up;) rolls, soup bowls, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, pull apart bread, pizza dough, pretzels, and of course BREAD.  You name it we have tried it with this recipe!  Again I just love how versatile it is. 

Oh and by the way my daughter is now 13 and is usually the one who makes this dough up she enjoys doing it and says if I get a bread mixer she won't use it.  She makes amazing perfect dough every time. (she says the secret is to not use too much flour if it gets sticky while kneading just oil your hands with a little olive oil) She has taught her 11 year old brother how to make it too!  Maybe I don't need that bread mixer after all! ;)  My next goal it to take this recipe and try it with other grains!

I love this bread recipe! It makes great bread bowls, yummy cinnamon rolls, and wonderful bread. It's very fool proof! I have never been a good bread maker but this turns out great every time. My 11 year old daughter made it yesterday with very little help from me. The picture is of the bread she made it turned out GREAT! She said she wants to make it again WITHOUT my help!

Best Yet Whole Wheat Bread
Hand Method: Yep I still don't have a mixer ;) (yields 2 loaves)
1/3 Cup honey or agave
1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 Cup Warm Water
1 1/2 Tablespoons Yeast
1 Tablespoon Real Salt
6-7 Cups Fresh Ground Whole Wheat Flour (I used hard white wheat)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten OR 1-2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Combine the warm water, yeast, and 2 Cups of flour in a large bowl. Let sponge for 15 minutes.
Add the honey or agave, oil, Vital Wheat Gluten or Lemon Juice, salt and 4-5 Cups additional flour until the dough is all together and the sides of the bowl are clean. Don't let the dough get too dry and stiff. Too often beginning bread makers add too much flour.  Be careful not to do this.

Knead dough by hand for 10 minutes you want the dough very smooth, elastic, and to have small bubbles or appear beneath the surface of the dough. If you are kneading by hand, be sure to use a little oil on your hands while kneading to help with the dough sticking to them.  This will help make it so you don't need to add too much flour.
Cut dough in half and form into 2 loaves and put in greased loaf pans (you can also cut the dough into 5 or 6 pieces and roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet if making bread bowls. Allow to rise in a slightly warmed oven (oven should NOT be on at this point) or other warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes).
Bake loaves at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hallow when tapped and when the outside is a golden brown color.

This Bread Recipe is VERSATILE! Use it to make cinnamon rolls, pizza, bread sticks, and more. (recipe inspired by: "Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread")

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the recipe, there's no dough enhancer, but in the instructions there is. How much, if any, do you put in?

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

I want my sister to make this bread bowl for me. What is Real Salt?

Tammie said...

Real Salt is a type of sea salt. Real Salt is the brand name!

Tammie said...

Oh sorry, dough enhancer is the wheat gluten. I will change that on the recipe. Thanks!

Lisa said...

I am looking for a great wW bread recipe? Could I make this recipe in the breadmaker ok? Could it be scaled back? My breadmaker only has settings for 2.5, 3 and 3.5 lb loaves.


...Lisa

Tammie said...

Lisa, I'm sure you could scale this recipe back and make it in a breadmaker. It may take a little playing with. If you breadmaker makes a pretty good size loaf I would probably start with just cutting the recipe in half and see how that works.

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

PS I have Real Salt now. :) :)

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

I've put this in a breadmaker. :)

Tammie said...

Hey thanks Denise that's good to know. Also I hope you enjoy "Real" Salt! ;)

L. Chase said...

What kind of yeast do you use here? Instant or dry active? Since I already have dough enhancer (2yr supply), I'm going to try it instead of vital wheat gluten. I'll let you know how it turns out. I would also like your opinion on the healthiness of my dough enhancer. Ingr: Whey, soy lecithin, Tofu, Citric Acid, Sea salt, Corn starch, Enriched wheat flour, dry yeast.

Tammie said...

I usually use SAF instant yeast or Red Star both seem to work good. The dough enhancer should work just fine in fact I have known people to add both the gluten and the dough enhancer. My opinion of the ingredients is that if I had a two year supply of it and it only takes a few Tablespoons per 2 loaves of bread and it makes yummy bread I would probably use it. But since I don't have a two year supply and the gluten seems to do the job I prefer it because the jury is still out on some of the ingredients in the dough enhancer! ;)

Peter and Linda said...

I just found your blog the other day. I love it! I was browsing and found your bread recipe here. I am currently obsessed with bread making :) I am curious what the dimensions of your bread pans are. In my experience that affects the end result because of the 4 loaf pans I have, 3 are slightly different dimensions.

Thanks! I can't wait to make your bread!
Linda

Tammie said...

Linda I used Pampered Chef Storeware bread pans. They are 6 cups in volume. I hope that helps. My recipe makes the 2 loaves pictured in those pans! Hope that helps!

Peter and Linda said...

That totally helps! I am very familiar with Pampered chef :)
Thanks!

Loretta C. said...

I decided to double the recipe and discovered that it is almost identical to the one I've been using for years. The techniques, however, are different and make such a better loaf! I am ecstatic to have bread that is lighter, softer, and spongier than ever before.
Because your recipe has hand mix instructions, I was able to use it to teach my cousin how to make bread, who doesn't have a mixer.
Also, I used 1 Tbsp of Dough Enhancer instead of 1.5 Tbsp of gluten with NO PROBLEMS.
Once, I was out of honey and substituted agave with no problems!

Rorie said...

I use this recipe (with honey and gluten) for our daily bread. My family loves it and they aren't happy if I happen to run out and have to buy store bought stuff til I can make it again! :)
BTW, this is very similar to the recipe that my mom has made for as long as I can remember.

Anonymous said...

This is the same recipe that I use. I just love it for everything , too. I have tried other grains such as spelt and kamut with this recipe. If you use kamut, I wouldn't use more than half kamut to half regular whole wheat flour, but you can use a little more than half with the spelt. If you use ALL kamut the loaves are very soft. Since kamut is so expensive, you can have a great tasting loaf with just half the kamut flour.

Emily said...

I gotta get me a bread maker like yours. I suppose in a few years...I'll have one, maybe she can take lessons from Missy. The only problem is they only last through about 10 years of bread makin' and then they're off to conquer the world...one loaf at a time. Maybe I should have Missy teach ME how to make 'em! :)

Love you...hope you are well!!!

Maile said...

I love this recipe! This past week I made hamburger buns. I rolled out the dough and used a cup to cut it into circles and baked on a cookie sheet for about 13 minutes. They were so light and even my husband didn't mind them, which is saying a lot!

This is the only recipe that I use, thank you so much!

crazy4boys said...

So, do you love your Pampered Chef Stoneware pans? Does the middle of the bread get cooked through? Have you tried other bread pans? Did I ask enough questions????

I currently use some Norpro pans but might want to exchange them for something else. Just wanted opinions on the PC stuff!

Tammie said...

crazy4boys: Yeah I do enjoy my stoneware pans! I didn't think I would because they are heavy. But I don't want aluminum and I'd rather not use things with non-stick coating so the seasoned stoneware I have grown to really, really like. I do love how evenly things cook and how they don't burn as easy on the bottom even if they are on the bottom rack of my oven.

The only other bread pans I have used are glass and metal I like glass better then the metal but I like the stone better then the glass. I have not every heard of Norpro but yeah I personally really like my stoneware.

Aimee - Choose To Be Better said...

I just had to thank you for this bread recipe! My bread has always turned out heavy and/or dry and I hate it! But now, using your tip for oiling hands and surface instead of flour, I just made THE BEST CINNAMON ROLLS for my family tonight. Seriously...awesome. The bread was so soft and light and delicious! YOU'RE WONDERFUL!! Thanks. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I made this a few times now, and it comes out nice every time! Its our new 'standard' recipe! I have a question--you put the dough into the pans without a first rise? most recipes have one rise in the bowl, then punched down and shaped, then another rise before the oven. thanks

Tammie said...

Anonymous: I actually think the bread is a little better if you let it have the first rise. But if I don't have time I don't bother and it still turns out good.

Anonymous said...

What do you use to grease your pans? I tried olive oil and the bread did not want to come out of the pans at all. . . this is a problem as I have made my own bread for years and any sweet loaf (banana, zucchini, etc.) will not come out either, even when "greased and floured." Is it just my pans? I'll line them with tin foil if I have to. . . .

Other than that I love this recipe. It has exactly the same texture, and almost the same flavor, as my 2/3 wheat, 1/3 white recipe that I've been using forever. Plus, with no white flour, it's even healthier! Thanks, Tammie, for another awesome recipe!

Tammie said...

Anonymous: I use coconut oil to grease my pans. I also use stone loaf pans that at first kind of have to be oiled really good until they are well "seasoned" then they are as good as a non-stick pan. I also am sure to use a knife and cut around the edge of the pan to loosen the bread after letting them cool in the pan for just a few minutes. If the bread is cooked well this always seems to work and they pop right out of the pan.

Sarah Gibby said...

I have never been able to make WW bread successfully until I tried your recipe. It turned out great and my family loves it.
Thanks!

Chrissy said...

This recipe was so good. Thanks for sharing. I am wondering how long fresh ground wheat flour lasts in the pantry. How long do you keep yours? Also, do you know how long cooked grains last in the fridge. I made a quinoa, amaranth, and steel cut oat cereal blend. I cooked a lot of it, do you know how long it will stay good for if kept in a tupperware in the fridge?
Thanks,
Chrissy

Tammie said...

Chrissy: I like fresh ground best for bread but I always have left over flour and I always keep it in the fridge to use for other things like cookies etc. It will keep in the pantry for a while but will loose most of the nutrition quite quickly that is why I keep mine in the fridge. You will still have all the great fiber but a lot of the nutrition will be lost.

Cooked grains should keep at least a week in the fridge. I refrigerate cooked grains all the time. If you have more than you can eat in about a week you may want to freeze some of it.

Jayson, Kim, and Lotta Carlson said...

Thank you so much for this bread recipe! I have used my mother's 100%whole w heat recipe for years but while we've lived in Denver it has fallen every time I've tried it. I made your recipe today nd used lemon juice in place of th gluten (didn't know you coul do that and didnt know you could also skip a rise!) and it turned out so beautiful!!!! THANK YOU!!!

Emily said...

You know how you just keep using a bread recipe over and over and then one day you get bored of it? Thats what happened to me and we tried your bread and KNOCK my socks off. What a happy kitchen we had making the best bread this morning. :) Maybe its the technique because that was a little different, and maybe the lemon juice, I don't know but mmmmm....

Anonymous said...

Random question...do you ever have a problem with the quality of your wheat? I've been using your lemon juice trick for a while and it works great. I just got some wheat and it won't stick together hardly at all. It does a bit better with gluten...but the lemon juice isn't helping...just wondering if you'd ever bought a bunch of wheat that acts that way.

Tammie said...

Anonymous: There are different kinds of wheat that have different amounts of gluten content. Your hard wheat has more than your soft. I use hard white wheat for this recipe. Also kneading is what helps to activate the gluten and get it doing it's thing. So be sure it is really well kneaded that could make a difference. But you may just have a lower gluten content wheat in which case I would add the gluten instead of lemon.

SLH said...

I make a half batch in my breadmaker, and it collapses every time. I live at a higher elevation...any tips?

Tammie said...

SLH: We are at over 6000 feet here so unless you are higher then that I don't think elevation would be the cause. My best guess is maybe the bread maker lets it rise too long causing it to basically over rise....that could cause it to collapse. Drastic temperature changes or being bumped or moved could also be the cause....I don't know.

I would probably try just making a normal batch in the oven and see what happens. Most of the time though mine falls if I let it over rise so that could very well be the problem.