Whole Wheat Bread

This weekend is going to get crazy, and it all starts tonight.  Shi has a swim meet in Tim-buk-tu (okay, Lakewood), the YW are doing their fundraiser for camp - a Drive Thru Dinner and Bake Sale - Bill's helping grill burgers and dogs, and Lex may or may not have to work (I'm not a fan of "call ins."  They put you on the schedule, but you call in to see if they are busy enough to need you or not.  Good idea for the store manager, bad idea for an employee - and her family - who may want to make plans.)

Since Shi won't make the fundraiser, she had the assignment to make some signs.  Of course, we were up until almost midnight last night finishing them off.

They were looking a little pathetic ugly sad around 11 pm, then I had a rare brainstorm.

Glitter.  It makes everything look better.  Except the floor.
I think we salvaged them.  If the sun is out this evening, they will look amazing.  If it's raining, they will most likely go back to looking sad.  Either way, Shi and I will be oblivious.

I had been asked to make bread to sell at the Bake Sale.

I made a batch of white bread late last night, and decided that I would try a recipe for wheat bread this morning.  The recipe called for dough enhancer, and for some reason I thought I had seen it before at the grocery store... so after getting the girls off to their FINAL DAY OF SEMINARY FOR THE YEAR, I headed to Safeway... then Walmart... then King Soopers (yes, 6am).  No dough enhancer.  I determined to make the bread anyway.  I found the recipe here a long time ago, but had never taken the opportunity to make it, most likely due to my aversion to whole wheat bread ingrained in childhood from sack lunches with sandwiches made from small, dense, dark loaves.  If they were tuna sandwiches, it was even worse.  My mom was determined to feed her family healthy.  She would grind wheat and bake bread weekly, I'd guess.  I can vaguely remember conversations about how that store-bought Wonder-type sandwich bread was nothing but air.  No nutritious value.  "Wheat for man," she'd say.  I certainly see her efforts were valiant and worthy, but at the time it just felt like torture.

But, thanks to such upbringing, I have a desire to feed my family healthier, too.  I buy wheat bread, I just don't eat it.  And I'll admit to a twinge of guilt every time I put that white bread in my cart.

Back to today.  I was going to make wheat bread (from wheat I ground myself last night, even), and I was going to see if Shawni's recipe really WAS "the BEST home-made bread."  Dough enhancer or not.  (I could always blame a less-than-successful attempt on that anyway.)

The results:

One of my loaves turned out looking a little "funny" - certainly not Bake Sale worthy - so I decided to cut it open and give'r a try.  Oh. My. Stars.  Light, fluffy, de-lish.  I wouldn't have believed it was 100% whole wheat had I not ground the wheat myself.  I think it's better than my white bread recipe, AND it's really just as quick and easy.

Here's the recipe:

BEST Whole Wheat Bread Ever 

(I've renamed it)

Put these in a small bowl and let sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients:

(note:  use a bowl... and not too small of a bowl... I used a liquid 1-cup measuring cup and it foamed over the top... so my bread was most likely lacking a bit of leavening)
2 tbs. yeast
1/2 c. warm water (tap hot)
1 tbs. sugar

In mixer, combine:

5 c. warm water (tap hot again)
7 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour

Mix.

Add:

2 tbs. salt
(you could possibly use less, if you are watching your salt.  I could definitely taste the salt in the finished loaf)
2/3 c. oil
2.3 c. honey 

(if you put the oil in a two cup measuring cup first, then add the honey right in there with it, it will come out all slick into the mixing bowl)
2 tbs. vital wheat gluten
2 tbs. dough enhancer 

(didn't have it, didn't use it... I think the bread still turned out awesome.)

Mix all together.

Add one more cup of wheat flour.

Add yeast mixture, and mix again.

Gradually add 3-5 more cups of wheat flour until dough starts coming off the sides of the bowl (I used about 4-1/3 cups). You don't want it to be too dry but not too wet either. Tough call, but the more you make it the more you will realize how it should look.

Knead for 10 minutes - either by hand or in the Bosch
(I think I've mentioned how much I love the $5 Bosch my mom found at her local DI years back and gifted to me.  It isn't pretty - less so now that I've used it for years - but it gets the job done.  Love it.)

Separate and shape into four loaves of bread (I spray Pam on my hands while I do this so it's not so sticky).

Put in well oiled bread pans. Let rise for 35-40 minutes or until almost doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes.

Another thing I learned:  Bread rises faster/higher in glass baking pans.  I didn't know.  Now I do, and plan to purchase a few more glass pans in the future.  When I have some extra dough.  Haha.

Wish me luck for the busy weekend...