I mentioned in a previous post that we had started making our own bread, well my good friend Meagan spent the afternoon with us and asked for the recipe so I'll share it with all!
This is my MIL's recipe, so I don't claim to be an expert by any means- I've made the bread a total of 3 times now and miraculously it has turned out each time! She makes rolls using this recipe for all of the major holiday's and on that lucky occasion (for us!) when she gets ambitious!
Here are the exact directions she sent me...
You can adjust the size down. This recipe makes 5-6 loaves of bread OR 2 large cookie sheets of rolls.
7 cups warm water
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey or sugar
add:
2 T dough enhancer (if you have some, you can make them without, its about $10 for a can at health food store)
1/2 cup gluten flour (also at the health food store. I don't use it when I use the dough enhancer)
1 1/2 T salt
3 T yeast
- Add flour (up to about 12 cups) I use 8 cups of whole wheat flour and the rest white (2/3 wheat 1/3 white)
- Add - and as it starts to get pretty thick - add it more slowly
- When the dough starts leaving the sides of the mixing bowl and stops sticking to the bowl - that is enough!! (the dough will still be sticky to touch at this point - but as the gluten develops, it will not stick so much)
Knead. (my mixer has an auto knead and stops when it is the right consistency) If you don't have that- to test and see if the dough is ready - pull a small piece and see if it s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s a ways before breaking. The more it stretches, the better texture the bread will have.
Let it rise at least 15 minutes (up to 30) punching it down as it rises
Put the dough into GREASED bread pans, if you are making rolls - pull off a chunk about the size of a tangerine. Roll it in your hand, flatten it out- Dip one side in melted butter, fold in half, and place on cookie sheet. (they should be touching the other rolls)
Let them rise again till almost double in size
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes???
TO CHECK for doneness: Choose a roll near the center of the pan - pry it open and see if it looks done (not doughy) Also, the tops should be browning by now.
Baking bread is tricky - but I have included the little tricks in this recipe- Don't be discouraged if it doesn't turn out perfect the first time. I've been making them for years and finally learned some of the tricks for success. Even with those tricks - sometimes they turn out better than others.
And here are my notes on the recipe :)
- I half it cause my good 'ol kitchenaid can't handle 12 cups of flour!
- We get 2 large loafs of bread
- I use all whole wheat flour and usually end up needing around 7 cups of flour before it stops sticking, sometimes a little more.
- I don't have auto knead, so I do the pull and test for the right consistency. So far they've all turned out ok :)
- I usually bake it for 30 minutes or longer, but like I said those are large loafs (we only have 2 loaf pans, you could probably get 3 smaller loafs out of the half recipe) and we use ceramic pans which increases cooking time. (normally I would have 2nd handed it or bargained shopped for bread pans, but I was in a crunch and ceramic were the cheapest type at $6.50, followed by glass at $7.50, and metal at $10.50!!! wowzers!)
- I make 2 batches at a time and freeze all but 1 loaf. This bread goes bad faster then store bought bread, so it needs to be frozen if you are not going to use it within a couple days. (fridge might work too for storing the open loaf, but we eat ours fast enough that the counter is fine) Freezing it also helps with slicing, makes for thinner slices and it doesn't fall apart when slicing!
Enjoy- it really is great bread- we are lovin' it!
(and on a side note, it can take your body a couple days to get adjusted to whole wheat bread... i.e. it may clean you out!)
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