Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The staff of life...

I DID IT!
I made my first loaf of sprouted bread!
I tell ya, just short of growing the wheat myself, I feel like a real pioneer woman!

hello lover...

LeaAnn, you were right! Each cup of sprouted wheat gave me 1 1/2 cups of flour. I had enough to make two gorgeous loaves and a dozen plus tortillas for tonight's dinner. You definitely know this bread is whole wheat! The crumb is dense, but not too dense (thanks to the vital gluten) and it has a totally different flavor of whole wheat. It's very rustic in my opinion. Even though I had the grain mill set on "fine" I still got a little hunk of wheat every now and then in the bread that was very nice.


We had our bread toasted with some raw honey this morning for breakfast, and it did not disappoint! Although JP DID point out it took me almost four days to make him that piece of toast!
Here's a tip, to store your homemade bread just re-use an old bread bag:

HOMEMADE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD:

2 cups warm water
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil (I use coconut oil when I have it!)
6 cups flour
(You can use any combo of flours you have on hand for this recipe. For my wheat breads I have found that 4C. of whole wheat and 2C. of white or oat flour makes the nicest texture)
4-6 tsp. of vital gluten (not necessary if you are making white bread and makes whole grain breads lighter in texture)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. If using instant yeast you can skip this step.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Add flour during kneading just enough to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for an hour, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

**NOTE: This is my basic EVERYTHING bread! It is very versatile and very forgiving. You can add ground flax, seeds, and wheat germ for added nutrition. You can roll it out after the first rise and brush on butter, cinnamon and sugar for a sweet bread. You can even knead in herbs , cheese, and fruit if you like!

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