Bee- Here is the bread recipe. Tasty, and surprisingly easy to make.
Whole wheat bread
6 c. warm water
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
2 tablespoons Dough enhancer (You can buy this, I just use 2 T lemon juice)
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten (I don't use this at all, my bread comes out just fine!)
2 tablespoons instant yeast
10-15 cups whole wheat flour
1. Combine water, oil, honey and salt, dough enhancer, wheat gluten, yeast, and 6 c flour in mixing bowl. Turn the machine to speed 1, then on speed 2 and continue to add flour until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl (6-8 minutes).
2. Put the dough into well greased pans immediately. Let the loaves rise until they are double in size.
3. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
My tips:
*This recipe makes 4 loaves.
*It takes a bit of practice to get a nice shape to the dough before you place it in the pan. I'll stretch the loaf out to the length of the pan, and then kinda shape it and pinch the bottom closed. The loaf will rise and move out to the sides of the pan, it doesn't have to be perfect.
*I let the loaves rise in the oven, with the oven light on to warm the oven just enough for them to rise. I usually let them rise for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, then just turn the oven on to 350 and bake for about 40-45 min. I don't worry about the oven heating all the way to 350 before I place the loaves in, especially since I've just risen the loaves in the oven anyhow.
We've been making bread since Sept 2010- one month before dd2 was born. With the exception of the odd loaf of sourdough or french bread, we've only bought I think 2 or 3 loaves of brown bread since then. We usually freeze 2 loafs and then keep the other 2 in the fridge while they're being eaten. The frozen loaves still taste fresh once they've been thawed.
Hope that helps- let me know if you try out the recipe! Baking bread isn't as difficult as it may seem.
So thank you to you all for the help you lend in this process.
