If you have any questions while making this please feel free to ask. As I said I go mostly by feel with this since I do it all by hand. I do have a bread mixer but I only use if for meringues, creams, and quick breads. I like to feel my yeast bread to know when it is right. Good Luck with this. Don't give up if you don't succeed on the first try. I have been making bread for about 25 years since I was about 6-7 years old. Here it goes.
First for all of my baked goods I use a mixed flour. I mix 2 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 cup whole oat flour. This makes the bread much lighter and fluffier. I also use instant yeast because I don't have to let it soak to soften. This is still the same thing as other yeast just ground a little finer. Another benefit of this is mixed in the flour the water you add can be a little warmer than if you need to soften it. If you don't have instant yeast just reduce the water temp to 110-120 and mix 1/2 c water with the yeast and 1 T of the honey. I replace the oil with either cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, yams, or mashed bananas, or applesauce, really just what is convenient. I know many people are salt intolerant up to 50% of the people in the US, but I like the taste of it in the bread. If you are salt intolerant feel free to replace the salt with something else. I also sometimes will add 1-2 t of cinnamon, you can barely taste is but it does change the flavor a bit, I usually add this when I am using yams or sweet potatoes. Sponging the initial mixture gives the dough a fantastic texture.
9-12 c Whole Grain Flour
2 T Instant Yeast
2 T Honey
1 c of Veggie or Fruit
3 c of Warm water (120-135 deg)
1-2 T Salt
1/2 c Powdered Milk
2 c Ice Cubes
Mix 5 cups of flour with the yeast and powdered milk. Add the honey, fruit or veggie, and water, mix well. The mixture should be loose at this point, just a little thicker than pancake batter. Cover and let this mixture sponge for 15-30 minutes in a warm room. When the sponging is complete it should have risen about double. Add the salt and 2 cups of flour. Begin mixing. When the mixture begins holding together well enough turn the dough out on a floured counter and begin kneading. I usually knead my bread for 20 - 30 minutes. When you are done kneading the dough place your large mixing bowl over the dough and let it rise for 15 minutes. While the dough is rising preheat your oven to 425. On the lower shelf of the oven place your oldest worst cookie sheet or a couple pie pans. After the dough has risen shape it into 4 loaves. Place in your bread pans and let rise till a little more than double. When the dough has risen place the bread in the oven on the top shelf in about the middle of the oven. On the baking sheet on the bottom shelf pour the ice cubes. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and continue baking 30 - 45 more minutes until done. Test doneness with a spoon. Tap the top of the loaf with the back of the spoon. If it sounds hollow and the loaves are golden brown remove and butter the tops. Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on their side on a rack. Wrap them in plastic when they are cool. These loaves are best the next day as the crust will soften over night. Good Luck.
Nutrition Facts I split each loaf into 12 slice for a total of 48 servings. These facts are calculated using unsweetened applesauce.
Amount Per Serving | ||||
 | ||||
| Calories | 104.6 | |||
| ||||
| Total Fat | 1.0 g | |||
| ||||
| Saturated Fat | 0.4 g | |||
| ||||
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 0.2 g | |||
| ||||
| Monounsaturated Fat | 0.2 g | |||
| ||||
| Cholesterol | 1.3 mg | |||
| ||||
| Sodium | 296.9 mg | |||
| ||||
| Potassium | 119.9 mg | |||
| ||||
| Total Carbohydrate | 21.6 g | |||
| ||||
| Dietary Fiber | 3.5 g | |||
| ||||
| Sugars | 1.5 g | |||
| ||||
| Protein | 4.1 g | Nutrition facts calculated on sparkrecipes.com | ||
