There is nothing like fresh, homemade bread – right out of the oven. Spread a hot slice with butter and honey – Mmmmm! I can not stop with just one!
We have been making our own bread for years. I use a Bosch Universal Kitchen Machine (where to buy) because it does such a wonderful job of kneading bread dough so as to develop the gluten, which makes for a lighter bread. In fact, it is probably my favorite kitchen appliance! I use fresh ground whole wheat flour and I will give instructions for using sprouted flour (where to buy). If you do not have sprouted flour, never fear, you can also soak your flour overnight and I will tell you how!
You might be wondering why I use sprouted or soaked flour. Well, I did not know for years how important it is to properly prepare the grains we eat. All grain has phytic acid in the bran which is an anti-nutrient and prevents the absorption of many nutrients. It is important to neutralize the phytic acid to get the most out of the foods we eat. For more information, please read “Grain Preparation“.
Hopefully your mouth is watering for some hot fresh bread, lathered with butter, so on to the recipe!
The instructions for using the Soaked Flour Method follow the tutorial.
Whole Wheat Bread
Makes 4 loaves
Ingredients:
- 13 c. sprouted whole wheat flour (where to buy sprouted flour)
- 2 tsp salt (where to buy REAL salt)
- 1 Tbsp dough enhancer (Dough Enhancer Recipe)
- 5 c. warm water
- 3/4 c. olive oil
- 3/4 c. honey
- 3 Tbsp yeast
Procedure:
1. Place in Bosch (where to buy a Bosch), or mixer of choice with dough hooks and mix:
- 4 c. flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp dough enhancer
- 5 c. warm water
2. After mixed add:
- 3/4 c. olive oil
- 3/4 c. honey
3. Mix well and add:
- 3 Tbsp yeast
4. Add more flour
- In the beginning the dough will be soupy.
- Add the flour slowly allowing it mix thoroughly after each addition. The dough will become semi-soft but will still cling to the sides of the mixer.
- I add flour until the dough just begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl – this may a bit more or less than 13 cups of flour.
5. Knead for 3 minutes.
- Once the dough cleans the sides of the mixer, knead for 3 minutes. This gives the gluten a chance to develop.
6. Allow dough to sit for 20 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, turn mixer off and leaving the dough in the mixer, allow it to rest for 20 minutes.
7. Knead for 5 minutes longer.
- Turn the mixer of low speed and allow to knead for 5 minutes.
8. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
- Pour a little oil on the counter and place the dough on the oiled area to rest for 10 minutes. I spread the oil around a bit with my hand. This not only keeps the dough from sticking to your counter, but also your hands as you remove the dough from the mixing bowl.
9. Form Loaves.
- Shape the dough into loaves. I divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
10. Place dough in bread pans.
- Form each lump of dough into a loaf and place in prepared pans, greased with olive oil.
11. Allow the bread to rise.
- Cover the pans with a towel and let rise for 40 minutes.
- Your bread is now ready to bake!
12. Bake
- Bake at 350F for 30 – 40 minutes, until golden brown.
13. Enjoy!
- Remove from the pans and allow to cool, unless of course, you want to indulge in fresh, hot, honey-butter and bread!
Soaked Flour Method:
Soaking the flour yields a slightly heavier bread but is also delicious. It is also an effective method of neutralizing the phytic acid.
The night before baking bread:
- place all flour (13 c.) into the Bosch.
- Add 4 3/4 c. water and 3/4 c. kefir, whey, or yogurt and mix until moist.
- Leave covered overnight.
In the morning:
- Proof the yeast by mixing: 3 Tbsp yeast, 1/2 c. water and 2 tsp honey, allow to sit for 5 min.
- When the yeast is bubbly, add all other ingredient along with yeast to the flour mixture.
- Knead 5 min.
- Continue with the above recipe (skipping the knead 3 min. and let sit for 20 min) and allow the dough to rest on the counter for 10 minutes, shape into loaves and place in pans. Rise for 40 min. and bake @ 350F for 30 – 40 min.
Enjoy!
This post is part of: Inspire Me Monday, Make Your Own Monday, Marvelous Monday, Fat Tuesday, Family Table, Healthy Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Creative Juice, Full Plate Thursday, Keep It Real Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Tasty Thurdays, Thursday Treasures, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, What I am Eating, Simple Meals Friday, Weekend Creations, Scrumptious Sunday, Sunday School, Nifty Thrifty, Junglefrog Cooking
I’ve never sprouted wheat before so this was very interesting. I use a Vita-Mix to grind the flour and I have a compact Bosch Mixer, so I’m not sure it would hold 13 cups of flour. However, I suppose I could try it in two batches. I have a question, is the total kneading time for the soaked wheat recipe only 5 minutes? Thanks for this post…I will be pinning this!
Yes, Nancy, the total time is 5 min for the soaked variation. This does make a bit denser bread but it is still very good!
I haven’t ever sprouted or soaked flour, I do all of my other beans and grains, but for some reason haven’t made the jump to flour. I do make my own bread though, and have a pretty simple honey wheat recipe. I think I might have to try this though, it sounds really good! Now if I could just get another couple of bread pans…Thanks for linking up to what i am eating last week! I would love to have you link up again this week! http://www.townsend-house.com/2013/01/what-i-am-eating-13.html
Will the soaking process also work with regular unbleached white flour? I know it’s not the best flour, but I have alot of it. Will soaking turn the flour into sourdough? Thanks for the infor. It’s very interesting.
Dina,
That bread looks sooooo good, I can almost taste it. Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for sharing your tasty recipe with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
You inspired me to go out and buy some wheat berries today. Now I am wondering what in the world to make with them. Can I use sprouted, dehydrated, milled wheat in any recipe that calls for flour? I also bought two kinds of berries, one is hard and one is red, maybe one said winter on it. Yikes! Anyways, I didnt buy 13 cups worth just around 3 lbs. Do you have a go to baking book or website for recipes, or should I just attempt to use them and see what happens? My plan seemed so simple when I bought the berries, now my mind is swirling! Thanks for any advice!!!
Michelle, I would just experiment in the recipes you want to try – it should work great! There is a hard red winter wheat which gives a nuttier flavor and is what I use. Also, there is a hard white wheat which does not give such a full flavor and makes a lighter color bread. I substitute my fresh ground whole wheat flour for almost everything.
[...] Whole Wheat Bread – Sprouted or Soaked [...]
I love how popular bread making has become. Love that you gave two options for making the bread too. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.
This looks really good. Would love for you to link it up to the blog hop I just started.
http://countrifiedhicks.blogspot.com/2013/02/mondays-with-countrified-hicks-blog-hop.html
This looks really yummy! Care to share at my Healthy Tuesday hop?
http://ahumblebumble.blogspot.com/2013/02/healthy-tuesday-hop-28.html
Btw, I think that is awesome that you have 10 kids. I come from a family of 9 kids.
This is so interesting. I have never heard of using sprouted flour but now I am going to have to check it out. My hubby and oldest absolutely love homemade bread and I make it often in the winter. This would be a great addition to my current recipes.
Thank you so much for joining us at our Healthy Tuesdays Blog Hop, I hope you link up again soon with some more great recipes and tips!
Kerry from Country Living On A Hill
There is indeed nothing better then making your own bread! Love this entry for the homemade challenge too! Thanks so much for joining!
This is where I am headed next….soaking grains. I found that my dtr and I can eat sprouted bread with no problems which is such a blessing for us both.
I love my Bosch. Love, love, love it!! Perfect for making dough.
I always find something new when I peek in here and love browsing back through your posts.
~Cinnamon
p.s so glad you stopped by for a visit the other day
Hmmm….. I’ve just mixed my flour, water & yogurt to soak overnight, and in reading thru the rest of the recipe I’m adding up the liquids. Do you realize the soaked version has a whole extra cup of liquids – making the water & whey (incl. the extra water in the morning to proof the yeast) a total of 6c (vs. the 5c water in the traditional recipe)?
I’ve been making bread using a different recipe & soaking the flour overnight and have never increased the liquids for other recipes. Wondering if it’s a typo?
Julie, I do add an extra cup of liquid because without it the bread is too dry. Even with the addition of the extra liquid it will be denser than if you do not soak it but it tastes great!
[...] Whole Wheat Bread – Sprouted or Soaked [...]