I got this recipe from my friend Sue Walker in Meridian, Idaho. Jeremy and I had been married for five years and we were living in our first home. My only previous attempts at bread making involved a bread machine and a mix. I was certain I was not a wheat bread fan. As part of a Relief Society activity, Sue hosted a small group of wannabe breadmakers in her home for a class on baking bread. She taught me about wheat grinders, honey storage, proofing yeast, kneading dough......you name it! At the end of the class we got to have a hot slice of bread covered in butter and honey. I was sold! I had never had such yummy bread. I made my first loaves of bread the very next day. It has been over ten years since that class. I am so thankful for Sue and her patience in teaching all of us. It feels so good to make bread for my own family. I hope my children will continue to bake bread in their homes once they're grown.
I use a Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment to make this recipe. See the photo of Annie, the dough hook is the white thing on the left. It can be done in other machines or by hand but since I don't have a lot of experience trying it without my mixer, you'll have to experiment with your own machine. Do not use a hand held mixer for any kind of bread dough. It will kill the motor on your mixer.
Are you ready to try? Here's the recipe I got from Sue. If you still feel uncertain about bread, give me a call and we can do it together. There's nothing like a hands on lesson if you're not very experienced with wheat dough.
Sue Walker’s Whole Wheat Bread - makes two loaves
6 c. fresh ground whole wheat flour (½ red, ½ white) – or use store bought whole wheat flour; Separate into 3 ½ cups and 2 ½ cups quantities - more or less may be needed, some days I use 7 cups
1/3 c. vital wheat gluten (available in bulk food section of Winco or the bread aisle in Broulim's)
1 1/2 T. instant yeast, I prefer the SAF brand
2 ½ c. hot water (120 degrees)
1 T. salt
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey
1 1/2 T. lemon juice from concentrate
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In mixer bowl, stir together 3 ½ cups flour with gluten and yeast. Add the hot water all at once and mix with a rubber spatula for one minute, scraping sides – get everything wet. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 10-20 minutes. After 10 minutes, the mixture should be puffy and bubbly, almost double in size. If it is not bubbly, let rest for another 5-10 minutes.
- Add salt, oil, honey, and lemon juice, and mix with dough hook on low speed for one minute. Add remaining 2-2 ½ cups flour about a cup at a time, mixing well at low speed between each addition. The dough should be starting to pull away from the sides of the bowl, almost forming a ball, more or less flour may be needed. Scrape down sides of bowl to encourage dough to hold together. Turn the oven off.
- Beat/knead dough on low speed (2 or 4 on my Kitchen Aid) for 7-10 minutes – until dough leaves the sides of the bowl clean and forms an elastic ball. You may need to add more flour, a Tablespoon at a time until the dough stops sticking to the bowl. The dough will be like a soft, tacky ball.
- Turn dough onto oiled counter top. I just spray a little section of my counter with cooking spray. Divide into two equal portions, shape into loaves and place in oiled pans (I use Pyrex 8 x 4 pans). Let rise in the (turned off) warm oven for 15-30 minutes, until dough reaches the top of the pans.
- While loaves are still in the oven, turn oven to 350 degrees and set timer for 35 minutes. Once the timer goes off, remove pans from oven and let cool on racks. Remove from pans as soon as possible so your bread doesn't sweat and get a soggy exterior.
