For years I used to buy my bread from a fancy bakery. Their wheat bread was soft and chewy and delicious and so it was devastating when they went out of business. One day I happened to be at my friends house and she told me about this wheat bread recipe. It is the best wheat bread I've ever tasted and the bonus - for those of you who store pounds of and pound of wheat - you are rotating through your food storage.
First of all you need to have some equipment. I'm not going to lie - the price tag for these two awesome machines is not cheap. My husband was not happy when I announced one day that I needed a Bosch and then added "oh and I need a wheat grinder too!" But even he will admit that they were a sound investment. I'm sure that you can make this recipe without these two machines but I promise this equipment does make it much easier.
For Karen's Famous Wheat Bread you will need:
Throw all the ingredients except the flour in and stir it up a bit. Add about 4 cups of flour and mix. Then add another 3. The next part is tricky because depending on what kind of wheat you are using, the climate and time of year will depend on how much flour you need. Once the dough is pulling away from the sides start adding flour 1/4 cup at a time. If you have never made wheat bread before it might take some trial and error to get the right consistency.
Once the dough is not to sticky (but not to heavy) you turn Bosch onto speed 1 and let it knead it for 12 minutes.
While that is going. I pull out my nonstick mat and spray 4 bread pans with cooking spray.
After 12 minutes I pull out the dough and shape it roughly into a square. Then with a pastry scrapper I cut it into 4 equal parts.
Now to shape it: I take one of the balls and pound it on the counter to smooth it out and then roll it into a loaf.
Place it in the pan and let it rise. The rise time can vary depending on the temperature of your house, etc. I usually let mine rise until it is above the rim and rounded nicely.
Bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Pull out of pans and let cool. This is a double batch I made to share with my neighbors :) It freezes beautifully.
For Karen's Famous Wheat Bread you will need:4 cups of warm water
1 TBSP. salt
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Cup honey
1 1/2 TBSP dough enhancer
2 TBSP. yeast
3/4 cup gluten flour
10 - 14 cups wheat flour
(Dough enhancer can be hard to find. Some grocery stores carry it and often times emergency preparedness places. But if all else fails you can purchase it online. Just google it. Gluten is easier to find but you can buy it online as well.)
Throw all the ingredients except the flour in and stir it up a bit. Add about 4 cups of flour and mix. Then add another 3. The next part is tricky because depending on what kind of wheat you are using, the climate and time of year will depend on how much flour you need. Once the dough is pulling away from the sides start adding flour 1/4 cup at a time. If you have never made wheat bread before it might take some trial and error to get the right consistency.
Once the dough is not to sticky (but not to heavy) you turn Bosch onto speed 1 and let it knead it for 12 minutes.
While that is going. I pull out my nonstick mat and spray 4 bread pans with cooking spray.
After 12 minutes I pull out the dough and shape it roughly into a square. Then with a pastry scrapper I cut it into 4 equal parts.
Now to shape it: I take one of the balls and pound it on the counter to smooth it out and then roll it into a loaf.
Place it in the pan and let it rise. The rise time can vary depending on the temperature of your house, etc. I usually let mine rise until it is above the rim and rounded nicely.
Bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Pull out of pans and let cool. This is a double batch I made to share with my neighbors :) It freezes beautifully.
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