Tutorial: Making Homemade Bread

Making homemade bread is really easy once you get used to it. If you have a mixer or bosch, there is very little work involved; much of the time is for rising and baking. Here's a step by step tutorial on how to make homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread. The entire recipe is at the bottom.

1) In a small bowl, dissolve 1 tsp sugar and 2 Tbsp of yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water (the water should be fairly warm but not so hot that you couldn't keep your hand in it. If it's too hot it will kill the yeast.)




2) To your mixer (my bosch can handle this large batch) or very large bowl, add 3 1/2 cups of warm water, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup molasses, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, and 2 Tbsp lemon juice.



3) Mix well
4) Stir in the yeast mixture and mix.

5) Slowly add 5 cups of whole wheat flour, mixing well after each addition.





6) Add 1/4 cup of flax, and 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds. Mix well.


7) After combined, let this mixture stand for 20 minutes, until very light.


8) Add in 4 tsp of salt. (The reason the salt is added now instead of sooner is because salt can kill the yeast.)


9) With the mixer running, add in another 4 cups of whole wheat flour (one at a time, allowing the flour to incorporate) and enough white flour (about 2 cups) until the sides of the bowl start to get clean. Make sure to add the flour a little at a time, and beat well after each addition. Once the sides of the bowl are clean and the dough is only slightly sticky, then you've added enough flour. The total amount of flour for this recipe (including the 5 cups of whole wheat added earlier) is approximately 11 cups (9 C. whole wheat and 2 C. white).


10) See how the sides of the bowl are clean? That means I've added enough flour. Let the machine knead this (or knead by hand) for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.



11) Place dough in a large oiled bowl. Use a HUGE bowl that will allow for the dough to at least double in size, or you might need to use 2 bowls if you don't have a giant bowl. Lightly oil the top of the dough, cover loosely with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Place in the oven with the light on and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour, until the dough is doubled in size. If you gently poke the dough and it leaves an indentation, it is usually ready.



Here is the dough after the first rise.


12) Punch the dough down to remove all air bubbles. Ellie likes to "poke it." It's her favourite part of making bread. :-). Here haven't finished punching it down. You want to really punch it down. It should totally deflate (not like it looks in the picture.)


13) After punching the dough down, divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Let rest for 10 minutes on the counter before shaping into loaves.

14) Shape into 6 loaves, pinching in the bottom and side seams, and place in a well greased (sides and bottom) bread pans. Make sure you grease the pans well. Ensure the short ends of the loaves are touching the short sides as this will help them rise.


15) Oil the top of the loaves, and cover the loaves with plastic wrap and a tea towel and place in oven with the light on for another 40-60 minutes or until doubled in size. You can do the indentation test again to check if they are ready.



16) Once the loaves have doubled in size, they are ready to put into the oven. Place in a preheated 375 F oven for 25 - 35 minutes until golden brown. You can check "doneness" by removing the loaf and tapping the bottom. It should sound hollow if it is done. Remove loaves immediately from pans and allow to cool. I have to bake my bread in 2 batches. I just bake the loaves that are the most "ready" first and leave the other ones on the counter to finish rising and bake after the first batch is done.


17) Allow the bread to cool completely before storing in plastic bags. I usually freeze the extra loaves. When I need one, I microwave for 45 seconds or just let thaw on the counter. Homemade bread goes moldy much faster than store bought. It will last 3-4 days on the counter, longer in the fridge (maybe a week or two), and much longer (probably 2 months or longer) in the freezer.






Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 cup warm water
3 1/2 additional cups warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 Tbsp lemon juice
11 cups (approx)whole wheat flour (often I do 9-10 cups whole wheat and 1-2 cups white)
1/4 cup flax seed (optional)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
4 tsp salt

Directions. In a small bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in the 1/2 cup of warm water. In Bosch, mix 3 1/2 cups warm water, honey, molasses, oil, eggs, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add yeast mixture and stir. Gradually add 5 cups whole wheat flour, beating well after each addition. Add the optional flax and sunflower seeds. Stir well. Let this mixture stand 20 minutes until mixture is very light. Stir in salt and the rest of the flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 10-15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Put into a large greased bowl and cover. Let rise in the oven with light on until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and shape into 6 balls. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Form into loaves, placed in greased loaf pans, and let rise covered in oven with light until until doubled. Bake at 375 F for 25-35 minutes - until bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.


http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/homemaking-link-up-29/