The Bread Making

There's something about making your own bread that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that bread is sometimes called the staple of life, and being able to successfully produce it is empowering. At least to me it is.

I double the batch everytime I make it. I'm giving you the single batch recipe but the pictures reflect the doubling. Oh, and I'm not very good at taking pictures of food, so just bear with me. :)

Honey Wheat Bread

Proof:
1 2/3 cups warm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
Whisk together and let activate for about 5 minutes, or until it blooms or swells.

Whisk into yeast mixture:
1/4 cup germade or farina (you can get this at Winco in the Bulk Foods).
1/4 cup cracked wheat (also at Winco in the Bulk Foods)
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp salt
You can also add a handful of whatever else you want, whether it be sunflower seeds, oatmeal, flax seeds, etc.

Add:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup gluten flour (also at Winco in the Bulk Foods)

Mix well and then knead till dough is smooth and elastic. Kneading the dough until it is the right consistency is very important. I use my mixer to mix and knead for me. When all the flour is mixed in, I set my timer for 8 minutes and let the mixer knead away. I don't add any more flour than the recipe calls for, so the dough I get is still somewhat sticky but by the time 8 minutes is up you can tell that it has been worked enough because it pretty much stays together and has a certain consistency to it. Try it out a couple of times and you'll see what I mean. If you have to knead by hand, of course adding more flour is necessary, but use as little as possible and knead for as long as you can.

This pic is what my dough looks like after 8 minutes is up. I put a little flour on my hands and scrape the sides and make it into a ball. Then I grease the bowl and put the dough back in, cover it and let it rise for about an hour, or until it is doubled in size.

Form dough into a loaf and place the dough in a greased bread pan. Let it rise in a warm place until the dough is above the top of your pan. I don't cover the dough when it is in the pan. That way it can rise above the rim without anything hindering it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Take the bread out of the pan as soon as the bread comes out of the oven and let it cool on a rack.

A few other tips I have learned...

• If you are baking more than one loaf at a time, you may need bake it a little longer.
• You want the bread to sound hollow when you tap on the top.
• If you aren't sure if it is done, then remember that it's better to undercook it than overcook it because toasting slightly doughy bread is yummy, but trying to find a way to eat dry bread is more of a challenge.
• Cut the bread with a serrated knife.
• As you are cutting a slice, and your goal is for the slice to be an even thickness all the way down, focus on the bottom of the loaf where you want the slice to end.

If any of you have any other tips, feel free to share! Enjoy!