February 04, 2009

An Added Ingredient


Okay so this will tell all you bread makers out there just how much I know about making bread! When Brandon and I were first married, he got me a really thick bread recipe book. Half, if not all, the recipes called for gluten. Well, I'd never made gluten before so...away went the book. It became burried in the pile of cookbooks.

For Christmas this past year, I got dough enhancer and Saf-instant yeast. I had a recipe that called for both and I was eager to try it. Who knew that by adding these two special ingredients one could make the perfect bread loaf. I cannot tell you how...bouncy this bread's crust was! I think the technical term is Elasticity. AND it was tasty, too! It tasted homemade...but the durability was like store bought bread. Great for sandwiches! It didn't crumble and was really good toasted.

The recipe called for 10-12 cups of flour and even in my 6 qt. Kitchen Aid it was too much. So next time I will be halving the recipe. I used 3 large bread pans and 1 tiny one. This recipe halved will easily make at least 4 medium loaves. So enough story telling...here's the recipe!



Ann's Best Whole Wheat Bread

5 C. hot tap water
1/4 C. vegetable oil*
2 tbsp. Saf-instant yeast
2 tbsp. gluten or dough enhancer**
1 tbsp. salt
3/4 C. honey
10-12 C. whole wheat flour or 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat

Using a bread mixer: add the water, salt, gluten or dough enhancer, oil, honey, and half the flour. Mix until blended, then add the yeast and the rest of the flour just until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. The dough will be sticky. Be careful not to add too much flour, it will dry out the bread. Cover and let the machine knead for 5 min. Remove dough hook, cover and let rise for 10-15 min. Oil your cutting board and lightly oil your hands. Turn the doiugh out onto the board and divide into loaves. Do not over-work the dough. Let raise once more for 10-15 min. For standard size loaves bake at 350 for 30 min., and small loaves for 22 minutes. Makes five 1lb. loaves.

*Add more if using hard red wheat.
**The gluten or dough enhancer contributes in the bread making process by aiding the development of gluten in the dough which is vital to the elasticity and smooth texture; especially when using older wheat or varieties with less moisture.

4 comments:

Emilie said...

First, I will need to buy myself a breadmaker, but I've copied your recipe and added it to my recipe file and i'm anxious to try it Stace! Love ya!

Stephanie said...

Staci,
I discovered your blog. Very cute! I am so excited to make this recipe. Once a week I try to make bread. Seems like there's always something wrong with my recipes or most likely the baker. Like when I didn't let it rise long enough and it turned out flat, or rose to high and then sunk or here's a good one: For Christmas I thought I found a great recipe and of course practiced it before hand and knew it was Stephanie proof, or so I thought. I made several loaves for my family and my parents. I had them wrapped and ready to send and decided to cut into a loaf for dinner. The loaf was hollow. =( My family have been good sports in my learning process. LOL Anyway, where did you find the magic ingredients for this recipe?

Kat & Joe said...

your making my mouth water!!!
I will email you some games soon, our computer is being.... difficult!
Kathryn

Kari said...

It's the best homemade bread recipe isn't it!!! It always turns out!!!