Whole Wheat Bread

I have been experimenting with a lot of different combinations for making whole wheat bread.  I finally have one recipe whose texture and flavor I really like.  AND the big bonus is that it passes muster with Aditya’s standards of a good bread he can eat.  I make mine with fresh wheat flour ground at home.  I also grind my flour super fine.   In the recipe I am just going to mention whole wheat flour, but do keep in mind that type of flour used and how it was ground can make a difference in the end product.

Ingredients

• 4 ¼  cups   Whole Wheat flour
• 1 ½ Cups Water
• 3 Tbsp Gluten
• 2 Tbsp Potato Flakes
• 3 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Tsp Salt
• 2 ½ Tbsp I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
• 2 ½ Tsp Active Dry Yeast
• ¼ Tsp Liquid Soy Lecithin

Method

• Put Ingredients into the bread machine according to the Manuals instructions and knead the dough.
• Remove the dough from the machine, once the dough cycle is over. Shape it into a loaf to fit into your loaf pan
• Allow to rise for at least 1 hour up to a max of 3 hours.
• Bake in n oven, preheated to 350 degree F for 30 min or till done.
• Remove the bread from the oven and tent it with silver foil for 30 min to ensure a soft crust.
• Remove from pan and allow the bread to cool on a wire rack.

Yields one 2 lb loaf.

Notes

• You can finish baking the bread in the bread machine. There are 2 reasons why I don’t finish the baking in the bread machine.
  • One- I am not too fond of the holes it leaves in my bread where the machine blades were.
  • Two – My machine makes the bread too high to fit into the toaster properly.
• You can substitute I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter with oil, butter or Smart Balance.
• Potato flakes are optional, but I like the way my loaf turned out with them. The potato flakes act as a dough enhancer.

You can also knead your dough with your hands, a stand mixer of food processor. Just ferment your yeast in a ½ cup of warm water for 10 min before proceeding