Monday, August 12, 2013

Whole Wheat Bread

This is my favorite bread to make right. Very lightly adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker's Recipe to make it dairy free.



Ingredients

2-1/3 cups warm water (about 100-110 degrees)
1½ tablespoons instant yeast
¼ cup honey
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) Earth Balance (NO SOY) (OR butter or your favorite butter substitute)
2½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup rye flour
½ cup wheat germ
3 cups whole-wheat flour
2¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

Directions

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey, butter, and salt with a spoon or spatula.
2. Mix in the rye flour, wheat germ, and 1 cup each of the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours.
3. Add the remaining whole-wheat and all-purpose flours. Knead at low speed with dough hook for about 8 minutes (until the dough is smooth and elastic).
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead just long enough to make sure that the dough is soft and smooth, about 30 seconds.
5. Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
6. 6. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Gently press down the dough and divide into two equal pieces. Gently press each piece into a rectangle about 1 inch thick and no longer than 9 inches. With a long side of the dough facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing down to make sure that the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place each cylinder of dough in a greased 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, seam-side down and pressing the dough gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, 20 to 30 minutes.
8. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted at an angle from the short end just above the pan rim reads 205 degrees, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the bread immediately from the baking pans (I let them cool on a clean towel on our butcher block); cool to room temperature.
9. Slice whatever bread isn't eaten on the first day. Transfer slices to gallon ziplock bag. Freeze until ready to eat. Take frozen slices and place on cookie sheet. Add a tablespoon of water to the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes until warm and soft.

1 comment:

  1. Yummy bread....I used regular yeast this time...did rise same...waiting for it to come out of oven! Have you ever added nuts?

    ReplyDelete