Easy Peasy Whole Wheat Bread

When I make bread, which I do about once every two weeks, I make one of two recipes. This is my favorite of the two because it is the fastest, easiest, tastiest, 100% whole wheat bread I have ever had. I got it from my sister-in-law Becky about two years ago, and have been making it and passing on the recipe ever since.

Bread is one of those things that take time to get right. I will be the first to let you know that I have had my share of failures in the bread department. However, this recipe is pretty hard to mess up (although I have done it -right Aubrey:).) The thing I like the best about this recipe is that you don't have to let it rise and then put it in the loaf pans and then let it rise again. You take it straight from the mixer and form it into loaves and put it in the pans. It rises for a half hour and then cooks for 23 minutes. Doesn't get much easier then that folks.

Oh, and it only has 6 ingredients. If you store wheat, this is a great way to keep it rotating.

Set your oven temp to the lowest setting *this is very important, make sure you do it before you start combining the ingredients*

Combine:

4 cups warm water

1-1/2 or 2 Tbsp yeast. The origianal recipe calls for 2. (I do 1-1/2 ,it makes it a little better for sandwiches)

Let stand 10 minutes

Add:

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup honey

1 Tbsp salt

9-12 cups wheat flour.

I start with 9 and then add more if it sticks to the sides of the bowl while it mixes. Try to NEVER add more then 10 1/2 or 11. Depending on the area you live in you may have to add a little more. I have a wheat grinder and grind my own wheat into flour. I have found that it is best to have the flour completely cooled or even refridgerated for a day before I make the bread. The dough tends to be stickier if you add warm flour and then you end up adding more flour.

To Mix:

put all ingredients as listed into a Bosch or Kitchen-aid mixer. Turn onto lowest setting and as soon as the dough is together and not sticking to the sides, time it for 5 minutes. During that time if the dough starts sticking badly slowly shake a little more flour around the edges a little at a time to defer the sticking. Your bread will still work even if your dough is really sticky, it will just be harder to work with.

Once the dough is done, pour a tablespoon or two of oil onto a clean, flat surface. Your counter should work great. Spread the oil around and then dump the dough out onto it. Knead it with your hands for a minute and then divide it into four equal sections. Flatten out each section one at a time. This helps smash out any air bubbles. Then roll it up like you would cinnomon rolls and squish the ends and form it into a loaf. Throw it at your counter a couple times to get out any remaining air bubbles and then place it into a greased bread pan. Repeat with the remaining three sections.

Place pans in the oven (which has been preheated to the lowest temprature you can set your oven at. 150 or 200 degrees works well. Once the pans are in, turn the oven completely off and set you timer for thirty minutes. The dough will rise. When the timer goes off. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees and bake for about 23 minutes.

That's it. Easy Peasy