Whole Wheat Bread
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 packets active dry yeast
- 1 whole egg
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- 4 cups all purpose flour
2017 update: I no longer use white flour in this recipe. Using only whole wheat was a learning process for me in feeling the dough as I add flour so it’s not too dry and not too wet.
Combine 1/2 cup warm water and yeast. Set aside.
Mix together the remaining ingredients except the flour. Add the yeast mixture to the other wet ingredients. Then slowly add the flour a little at a time. Make sure you don’t add too much flour or the bread will be dry.
2017 update: I found that the weather seems to have an affect on the amount of flour I put into the recipe. After about 6 1/2 cups, started feeling the dough to see how wet it is. Once it feels a little tacky but doesn’t excessively stick to your fingers think about not adding more flour. Never add more than the 8 cups though.
Once the mixture becomes a big ball, it’s ready to knead. Knead for 8 – 10 minutes. Once you are done kneading, place the ball of dough in an oiled bowl turning to coat and let rise for an hour or till doubled in size. Once it has risen. Punch it down and divide into 2 oiled bread pans.
2017 Update: I have been more recently using my kitchen-aide mixer for the kneading as a time saver for an increasingly busy schedule. Knead the dough with the mixer until your dough passes the “window pane” test. Take a small chunk of dough in your had and stretch it. if it stretches so the center thins out and doesn’t break right away, looking a bit like a window in a frame, it’s ready to let rise.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Allow the dough to rise again before putting it into the oven. Bake for about 50 minutes depending on how your oven bakes.
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© 2014 – 2017, Pamela [1]. All rights reserved.