A couple years into my marriage, my wonderful mother-in-law taught me the art of making homemade bread. Teaching me a this skill has been the gift that keeps on giving all of these years since. The recipe I use is so great because it makes 5-6 1.5 lb. loaves. I usually keep one out at a time to eat, freeze a couple, and give one or two away to a neighbor or someone in need. I mean, who doesn’t want a fresh loaf of homemade bread?! We have actually given a loaf of bread and homemade jam as teacher gifts over the years— and let me tell you, they LOVE it! I have calculated out the cost before and it works out to be about .47 cents per loaf! Not bad, and not to mention, the bread tastes amazing!
So in honor of #LIGHTtheWORLD Day 12: Jesus Taught Others and So Can You— I thought I would share with you my favorite bread recipe that I have tweaked over the years to make perfect for you.
Laura’s Whole Wheat Bread
6 C. Warm Water
¾ C. Canola Oil
¾ C. Honey
2 T. Yeast* (use SAF-instant yeast for best results)
2 T. Vital Wheat Gluten
2 T. Tofu Drink Mix
2 T. Dough Enhancer
2 T. Salt
13 C. Wheat Flour
2 C. White Flour
Put first 8 ingredients in Bosch with 6 cups of freshly ground wheat flour* (see note below) and mix for 1 min. Watch to see if yeast makes bubbles. This ensures that your yeast is active. Add remaining 8-9 cups (that includes white flour too- dough should pull away from sides of bowl and be lightly sticky to the touch). Knead on speed 1 for 10 min. Butter counter, place dough on it and turn it over so the butter side is up. Make dough into a round shape then let rest for 10 min. Divide dough into loaves and mold into buttered bread pans.
Convection Oven Method: Turn oven on 170 degrees for 1 min. and put loaf pans in oven and set timer for 30 min. Turn oven on 350 leaving bread pans in oven while the oven warms to 350 degrees. Bake for 34 min (or until done) on convection oven.
Non-convection Method: Place bread loaves in a warm place (sometimes I turn the oven on and set them on top, OR you can do the quick rise method— heat oven to 170 degrees, then turn oven off and place dough loaves in the oven to rise in the warm oven. Just make sure the oven is off!). Let dough loaves rise (should be higher than loaf pan when risen enough. Place in a 350 degree oven for 34 min. Watch bread, done when top is golden. If bread browns quickly on top, place foil over the top to protect it from browning too much.
*Notes: This recipe works best when made in a BOSCH MIXER. I grind my wheat into fresh flour, but this is not a necessary step. If you are interested in grinding your own wheat, you can find the grinder I use HERE. It is also possible to grind wheat in a blender like the one I used to use HERE.
Store bought wheat flour works just as well.
You can also cut out the white flour and use all wheat flour if you would like. I do it both ways.
Optional: When bread comes out of the oven put a layer of butter on top to make crust nice and moist.
You can also use this same dough to make pizza, pizza rolls, cinnamon rolls, wheat rolls, etc. Use your imagination.
If you make cinnamon rolls, I love to put applesauce mixed with cinnamon as the base on the dough instead of butter and brown sugar. This is a healthier alternative. And cinnamon rolls with homemade bread dough are to die for!
ENJOY!!!
Steps In Pictures with my cutest little helpers!
It’s easy to see that my kids love to make our homemade bread, and love to eat it even more! This little guy was so excited to take some to his great grandma!!! And it definitely tastes as good as it looks!
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