Wheat Bread

Wheat Bread

3 ¼ cup Whole Wheat flour (for 100% Whole Wheat do 6 1/4 cups Whole Wheat. No White flour.)

3 cups White flour

2 tsps salt

5 tbs brown sugar or 3 ½ tbs honey

1 egg

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 ¼ cups lukewarm water

1 ¼ cups lukewarm milk

1 ½ tbs yeast

Dissolve yeast in the water and milk. Set aside. Mix flours, salt, and sugar (if using the honey mix it with the water, milk and yeast). In a separate bowl mix egg and oil. Combine the egg and yeast mixtures with the dry ingredients for about 1 minute on lowest mixing speed. The dough will wet and course. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour.

Continue mixing the dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and clings to the mixing hook. Dough will be slightly sticky. (If you touch your finger to the dough and it doesn’t pull away easily, add more flour. If the dough doesn’t stick at all add more water)

Knead the dough for 1 mintue by hand. Place dough in an oiled bowl that’s big enough to hold the dough when it is double in size. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

Remove dough from refrigerator 3 hours before you plan to bake. Divide dough into two equal parts. Roll the dough into loaves and place into greased bread pans. Or roll into balls for rolls and place on a greased cookie sheet or baking pan. Brush loaves with oil and let rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours or until loaves dome about 1 inch above the rim. Let rolls rise till double in size. Brush rolls with egg wash before baking. (1 egg white with 2 tbs water)

Bake loaves at 350º for 20 minutes, then rotate; rotate rolls after 10 minutes. Continue to cook loaves for another 20-30 minutes, rolls for 10-20 or until the crust is a rich brown.

Remove bread from pans and place on a cooling rack. Brush bread with shortening or butter to make a soft flaky crust.