Rebecca's Whole Wheat Bread Recipe and Tutorial
Ingredients:
For 1 loaf or batch of rolls For 2 loaves or a loaf and some rolls
1 1/4 cup warm water 2 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast
1/4 cup honey 1/2 cup honey
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 7 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions:
Measure warm water from tap, bottled water, or cold
water that has been microwaved. I just feel the water
with my lips or wrist for a safe temperature like a baby's
bottle.
Stir yeast, salt, honey and water in mixing bowl. Let sit
for 10 minutes. This dissolves and awakens the yeast.
Both the sugar in the honey and the salt are necessary
to help the yeast get going. Bubbles will form.
Add all flour at once. Stir by hand just to moisten the
flour. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. This rest period is vital
for the flour to soak up the water. It will make it easier to
knead because the gluten will be softened along with the
rest of the bran, endosperm, etc.
Knead the dough in a stand mixer or by hand. The
honey will make it fairly sticky, but try not to add much
extra flour. When I use the mixer I knead for 2-5
minutes then remove the dough from the bowl. I
sprinkle only a tablespoon of flour down and finish
kneading (about 10 folds) on the countertop. Form
dough into a ball and return it to the mixing bowl to rise.
There is no need to grease the bowl.
Let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled
in size. My house is always a brisk 67 degrees so it
takes a full hour. Your home may be warmer, so it will
rise faster. I put mine in the microwave because it is
out of the way and not drafty.
Punch the dough down and pour out on the counter
top. Knead again to get the bubbles all out--about 10
to 15 folds. Form a ball.
I needed one loaf for tomorrow's sandwiches and rolls for
tonight's dinner. So this is the doubled recipe. At this point, I
cut the dough in half with a serrated knife.
I greased a 1.5 quart Pyrex loaf pan.
I rolled one half of the dough into an elongated loaf and
smashed it into the loaf pan. ***Time to form the rolls.
Then I let it rise where I can see it. I watch for
when the bread has just risen about 1/4 inch
above the rim of the loaf pan. This is my signal to
turn on my oven to 350 degrees. The oven has
10 minutes to preheat while the dough rises the
last 10 minutes.
The bread looks this tall before I put it in the
oven. If it gets taller, it has probably formed
some big bubbles near the top of the loaf.
Then I put the loaf in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes. It gets this much taller and
browner in just ten minutes.
When the timer sounds, I slip a sheet of
aluminum foil over the browned top to
keep it from getting any darker. I have
tried it the other way, putting the foil on
first then taking it off later. The bread won't rise or
cook properly on top if you do this. Let it get round
and brown before adding the foil!
Set timer for 20 more minutes. Total baking time is 30 minutes.
I remove the loaf pan from the oven and let the
loaf cool in the pan for 10 more minutes.
Then I pour it out and cool completely on a rack. If your
pan is well greased or seasoned, it should just slip right out.
If not, loosen carefully with a knife. Notice the perfect
density! No air pockets, just lovely nooks.
***For the rolls: I
take the second
half of the dough and smash it into a circular shape. I
cut in half then cut in half again. Repeat until you have
16 pieces.
Grease a sheet pan. Shape pieces in any simple or
fancy roll shape you like. Place on pan.
Let the rolls rise until the bread is done baking in
the oven. Rolls are much less finicky! They can just
keep on rising until it is their turn to bake.
When the bread comes out of the oven, put the
rolls in. Set the timer for 12 minutes. This picture
shows baked bread and raw rolls about to go in the
oven.
Here are the baked rolls. They will just
have a kiss of golden brown and will be
lighter than the loaf of bread. Everything
is done!
