Home made bread is one of my all time favorite things to eat ever. It started as a little kid when my mom and both my grandmas would always make fresh baked bread, and there is just nothing better. Of course, back then I just wanted the all white bread, but as I’ve aged my tastes have definitely changed. My mom taught my how to make bread many years ago and I started slowly adding more and more “stuff” in it to make it more hearty. I decided to try seeds a few months ago and haven’t looked back. I love the crunch and texture they give to the soft bread! And guess what, my kids even love it! I take that as a huge success because I don’t think I would have wanted this when I was their age.
Now I have to address the issue of the whole wheat. We have been grinding our own wheat for the last year just because we have a bunch of bags that we have had in storage for many years and I figure we might as well use what we have. I have been using my friends’ wheat grinders and they are wonderful, but I’m pretty sure that the store bought whole wheat is just a touch finer ground which makes all the difference in how your bread will rise. So with my home ground whole wheat bread, I usually do 1 cup of white four and the rest whole wheat just so it will rise better and be a bit fluffier. I’m pretty sure, though, that if you bought whole wheat flour from the store, you could get away with all whole wheat flour and it would come out great. So there’s my 2 cents on whole wheat flour. Take it for what it’s worth and see what works for you. 🙂
Now here’s my other 2 cents on bread. Don’t be afraid to make it! I promise you, mine doesn’t come out perfect everytime. Even though it tastes great, sometimes it just doesn’t rise like you would like it to. Don’t give up! Keep trying and you will get better an better at it. It really is so easy if you plan for the time. And so delicious!!
Ok, now that you are 4 cents richer, let’s get to work on this yummy bread! 🙂
In the bowl of your mixer, add 2 cups WARM water. You want it pretty warm but if you can’t leave your finger in it for a long time without it hurting, it’s too hot. Think hot tub warm. Next, add in your dry yeast and a pinch of sugar. Give it a quick stir with the whisk attachment and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it looks good and foamy.
Add in the oil, honey, salt, wheat bran, 1 cup flour, gluten flour, oats, and flax seed. Turn the mixer back on with the whisk attachment and beat it for about 30 seconds to a minute until it’s combined really well.
Take the whisk attachment off and put on the dough hook.
Add in the pumpkin, sunflower, and chia seeds along with 1 more cup of flour. Turn the mixer on the let it get all mixed together. From this point on you will add the flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough starts to pull itself away from the sides of the bowl. You have enough flour when it cleans itself off the sides while it’s stirring. Note: you don’t want to add too much flour or it won’t rise well! Stop just when it still looks moist, but not sticking to the bowl. I ended up using a total of about 4 C flour, but sometimes depending on the humidity, it only takes 3 1/2 C, so just add what you need.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled. Usually about 45 minutes to an hour. You can speed things up with a warmish oven, but just make sure it’s not too warm or it will kill the yeast. It should be less than 170 degrees. I will turn it on to 170 and then turn it off when I put the bread in to rise. If you are doing this, it will only take about 30 minutes or so. Just watch it.
Once it is double in size, punch it down and scrape it out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead it slightly back into a nice ball and make sure all the air bubbles are out. Using your dough cutter or a knife, cut in half.
Flatten each chunk of dough with your hands into a thick square that is about as long as your bread pan and then roll them up into a loaf shape and place in sprayed 8 inch bread pans.
Let them rise until doubled in size again. About 45 minutes or so.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully place both loaves into the oven and bake 35 minutes. When they are done, take them out and let them sit about 5 minutes. Turn them out and place on a cooling rack and let cool completely before cutting into them. At least 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 C warm water
- 1 1/2 T active dry yeast
- 1/4 C olive oil
- 1/4 C honey
- 1 C rolled oats
- 1/4 C gluten flour
- 1/4 C flax seed
- 1/2 C wheat bran
- 2 t salt
- 3 1/2 - 4 C whole wheat flour
- 1/4 C shelled pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 C shelled sunflower seeds
- 2 T chia seeds
Instructions
- In the bowl of your mixer, add 2 cups WARM water. You want it pretty warm but if you can't leave your finger in it for a long time without it hurting, it's too hot. Think hot tub warm. Next, add in your dry yeast and a pinch of sugar. Give it a quick stir with the whisk attachment and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it looks good and foamy.
- Add in the oil, honey, salt, wheat bran, 1 cup flour, gluten flour, oats, and flax seed. Turn the mixer back on with the whisk attachment and beat it for about 30 seconds to a minute until it's combined really well. Take the whisk attachment off and put on the dough hook.
- Add in the pumpkin, sunflower, and chia seeds along with 1 more cup of flour. Turn the mixer on the let it get all mixed together. From this point on you will add the flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough starts to pull itself away from the sides of the bowl. You have enough flour when it cleans itself off the sides while it's stirring. Note: you don't want to add to much flour or it won't rise well! Stop just when it still looks moist, but not sticking to the bowl. I ended up using a total of about 4 C flour, but sometimes depending on the humidity, it only takes 3 1/2 C, so just add what you need.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled. Usually about 45 minutes to an hour. You can speed things up with a warmish oven, but just make sure it's not too warm or it will kill the yeast. It should be less than 170 degrees. I will turn it on to 170 and then turn it off when I put the bread into rise. If you are doing this, it will only take about 30 minutes or so. Just watch it.
- Once it is double in size, punch it down and scrape it out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead it slightly back into a nice ball and make sure all the air bubbles are out. Using your dough cutter or a knife, cut in half. Flatten each chunk of dough with your hands into a thick square that is about as long as your bread pan and then roll them up into a loaf shape and place in sprayed 8 inch bread pans.
- Let them rise until doubled in size again. About 45 minutes or so.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully place both loaves into the oven and bake 35 minutes. When they are done, take them out and let them sit about 5 minutes. Turn them out and place on a cooking rack and let cool completely before cutting into them. At least 30 minutes.
Notes
Macros; Calories 138; Fat 5; Carbs 20; Protein 5 Each slice is about 3/4 inch thick.
This wonderful wheat bread is full of nutty flavor. Four different seeds give this bread a memorable and wonderful texture. This bread makes a filling breakfast toast or a keep you-going-sandwich slicer.