(methodology inspired from a recipe by Samantha Skaggs)
Ingredient List (Note that all ingredients are in grams and should be carefully weighed on a kitchen scale.) :
- 940 g Whole Grain Wheat Flour
- 45 g Vital Wheat gluten
- 20 g Instant Dry Yeast
- 660 g Warm Water
- 61 g Canola Oil (or your favorite oil)
- 92 g Honey
- 26 g Lemon Juice (doesn’t have to be freshly squeezed, can be bottled lemon juice)
- 15 g Salt
I. Put 560 g of the Whole Grain Wheat Flour and all of the Vital Wheat Gluten into bowl of mixer. Mix well.
II. In a separate bowl, dissolve the Instant Dry Yeast in all of the Warm Water. Let proof for 8-10 minutes.
III. Add the yeast and water to the flour in the mixing bowl. Using dough attachment, thoroughly mix for 1-2 minutes, making sure there is no dry flour on the bottom or sides of bowl–scrape with spatula if necessary.
IV. Let the flour and water mixture rest in bowl for 10 minutes. (This is a good time to weigh the remaining ingredients and to grease the bread pans.)
V. Add Oil, Honey, and Lemon Juice to mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly for about 1 minute.
VI. In a separate bowl, add the Salt and remaining 380 g Whole Grain Wheat Flour and mix well.
VII. Add the Salt and Flour mixture to the mixing bowl.
VIII. Using your mixer with a dough attachment, knead the bread for 15 minutes.
IX. After dough is kneaded, set oven temperature to 350 F, and let it begin to heat. But, after exactly 2 minutes, turn off oven.
X. Immediately divide** the dough, form into loaves, and put in greased bread pans–the dough might be a little bit sticky, but shouldn’t be too sticky to handle. Do not add extra flour to the dough. (**I use medium-sized loaf pans and this recipe makes 4 loaves. Depending on the size of your pans, this recipe may only make 2 or 3 loaves. You will need to experiment to get the correct number.)
XI. Place the pans onto the center rack of the warm oven and let rise for 40 minutes.
XII. If your oven has a top-broiler feature that is used when pre-heating the oven, use option 2. Otherwise, use option 1. (I have a gas oven that allows me to use option 1. But I also have an electric oven that has a top element that comes on during pre-heat, so I have to use option 2 if I use that oven. The bottom line is if you use option 1 when you should have used option 2, the tops of your bread will burn before the bread is finished cooking.)
Option 1: After the 40 minute rise in the warm oven, leave the pans in the oven. Set the oven to 350 F, and cook for 30 minutes.
Option 2: After the 40 minute rise in the warm oven, carefully remove the pans from the oven. Turn on oven and pre-heat to 350 F. When oven is hot, place pans back into oven and cook for 20-25 minutes.
XIII. Remove pans from oven, then immediately remove bread from pans. Place bread on cooling racks. Cool until bread is no longer warm to the touch, or until you can’t wait any longer to eat it. However, if you are going to bag the bread to freeze or to give away, the bread must be completely cool before bagging. (Whole Grain Wheat Bread has a tendency to “glue” itself to the sides of the loaf pan. This is why it is important to make sure your pans are nicely greased. Believe me, I know . . . and it’s not a pretty sight digging out the loaves!)
Homemade Whole Grain Wheat Bread is not only tastier and much healthier than store-bought bread, but it will also fill your home with a wonderfully delicious aroma! Your family and friends will love it too!
