Dad's Wheat Bread

Growing up, my parents made all our bread. Thanks to a few lessons in bread-making, and the gift of kitchen mills for each of us, my siblings and I have continued this tradition. I recently had some requests for my bread recipe, so I thought it would share here. (I didn't think to take pictures until I was half way done, but there are pictures illustrating the second half of the process.) This is my dad's simple wheat bread recipe for every day use. It can be modified in many different ways, (ie. white bread, part wheat, part white, artisan bread, etc.) but this is the basic recipe that I have cut down from my dad's six 1.5 lb loaves (I come from a big family) to three 2 lb. loaves (poundage depends of the size of your bread pans...most available now are 2 lb, which is why I make that size).

Ingredients:
4 cups lukewarm water*
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs. yeast
1/2 cup oil

2 Tbs. salt**
8-9 cups whole wheat flour***
1/3 cup wheat gluten****

Instructions:
In the bowl of a mixer (I use a kitchen aid with the dough hook attachment) or a regular mixing bowl, combine water, sugar, yeast and oil. Allow to sit for five minutes or until yeast is foamy (it's eating the sugar, and getting fat! Kind of like humans).

Add a few cups of the flour, the wheat gluten, and the salt, and stir until well combined. Continue adding flour a cup at a time until you can no longer stir the mixture (always stir in the same direction). At this point, if you are not using a mixer, you will need to turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead the rest of the flour in by hand. If you're using a mixer (faster and easier) just keep adding the flour. When you have added 8 cups, check to see if the dough is still very sticky. If so, add the remaining cup of flour a little at a time (today I used a total of 8 1/2 cups) until it is the right consistency. Make sure you don't add two much flour, or the bread will be very dense and not raise up. A good gauge if you are using a mixer, is that the dough will pull away from the sides of the mixer. Once the dough is the right consistency, continue to mix or knead for a few minutes.

If you are kneading by hand, return the dough to the mixing bowl. Cover the dough bowl with a clean towel, or plastic wrap, and allow the dough to raise for about 30 minutes. It should roughly double in size.

punched-down dough

Once the dough has raised, punch it down, and turn it onto an oiled surface (at this point, you don't want to add any extra flour to the dough...it can make it tough). Divide the dough into three equal parts (for your three loaves). It is helpful to use a kitchen scale to make sure they are even. I don't have one, so I just guess.

One at a time, roll the dough out into a long oval, as wide as the length of your bread pan. Roll the dough up into a loaf, pinching it together at the ends and the seam so that it becomes fairly congruous. rolled-dough formed into loaf. the fingers belongs to Olivia, who loves to snitch bread dough, or "masa"

Rolling your loaves helps create a spring inside the bread that will help it raise. This is especially important for wheat bread, as it has a tendency to turn out dense and flat. Coat your bread pans well with cooking spray, and place the formed loaves inside.

formed loaves in pans

Allow the loaves to raise, 40 minutes to an hour. I like to place them in a warm oven (I heat it to 150, then turn it off) to help the process along. raised loaves

When they are ready, bake them at 350 f (my oven runs hot, so I bake at 325) for 25 minutes.

When they are done, your kitchen will smell wonderful! Pull them out, and turn the hot loaves out onto a cooling rack.finished loaves

*The water should be neither too hot, nor too cold. Too cold, and the yeast won't grow, too hot, and it will kill the yeast. Body temperature is about right...try running the water over the inside of your wrist. When it feels like the same temperature, you've got it right!
**Salt can kill the yeast. The flour protects the yeast from the salt, so don't add the salt until you have started adding flour, but don't forget the salt, or you will have some bland bread! (Believe me, I know.)
***If you are milling your own wheat, it helps to mill it right before you make the bread. I keep some pre-ground for pancakes, etc, but I try to grind it fresh for bread...it turns out so much better! (And helps keep from getting flat, dense bread.) We always use hard white winter wheat. Also, if you don't have a mill, you can use store-bought wheat flour, though I have never tried this. You can use white flour if you want, or any combination of the two flours. White bread is yummy, but not very healthy.
****Gluten is found in wheat. You see a lot of products boasting "gluten-free" but the truth is that gluten is only bad for you if you are allergic. If you are, you probably already know it. Otherwise it is very healthy for you. You can find wheat gluten in the grocery store by specialty flours. Amazon.com sells a less-expensive version. The gluten, again, helps to fluff up the wheat bread, and gives it a more palatable consistency than some traditional wheat breads. If you don't have wheat gluten, you can use a bit of white flour in place of the whole wheat four. That helps too (but again, a bit less healthy).

While you are at it, whip up some strawberry freezer jam and some homemade peanut butter (just grind up the peanuts in the food processor, add salt and honey to taste, and a couple tsp. of oil if necessary for consistency), make yourself an all-homemade PB&J, and see how awesome you feel about yourself!

Also, to modify this into a fun Italian loaf, or artisan bread, use white flour, skip the oil and the gluten, and form into a circular or braided loaf sprinkled with basil, parmesan, etc. Put a metal or glass dish of water in the oven while the bread bakes to form a nice crust. You can use this same technique to make individual bread bowls for serving soup. Lots of fun possibilities!

Enjoy!