This delicious whole wheat bread recipe was created by the talented Heather, That Bread Lady. She has shared it for all of us to try!
Heather started a home bakery in 2010, baking whole wheat bread to share with her neighbors. Word spread quickly and she became known as the neighborhood bread lady. Hence the name of her business, That Bread Lady.
After baking for a decade, she’s since switched gears and now enjoys sharing her passion and knowledge of baking by teaching online baking classes. You can now learn to bake like a pro in your own kitchen with Heather’s guidance.
Ingredients
- 6 cups (1362g) lukewarm water (110°F)
- 1/2 cup (56g) nonfat powdered milk
- 1/2 cup (144g) vital wheat gluten
- 1/3 cup (39g) dry lecithin granules
- 4 Tablespoons instant yeast
- 3/4 cup (125g) olive oil
- 1 cup (340g) honey
- 3 (54g) Tablespoons salt
- 14–16 cups wheat flour* (one cup weighs 113g)
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (for brushing on tops of baked loaves)
Instructions
View Heather’s Full Whole Wheat Bread Recipe Here For Further Instruction.
*If you are milling your own wheat flour, grind it for at least 2 hours before using it. It needs time to cool down and settle a bit. I prefer to use Hard White Wheat – it has a sweeter and softer texture than red wheats.
- In a large measuring cup, measure the lukewarm water. To this bowl, add the powdered milk, vital wheat gluten, lecithin granules, and yeast. Whisk them together with the water to help them get dissolved. Pour into the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Add the honey, oil, and 8 cups (904g) of wheat flour. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds until incorporated. It should resemble pancake batter. Allow it to sit and sponge up until doubled in size. This will take about 15-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it – it can easily spill over the sides of the bowl.
- After the mixture has doubled in size, add the salt and mix on low as you start adding an additional 6 cups (678g) of the remaining flour, one cup at a time. As you near the end of the remaining flour, look for the dough to clean the sides of the bowl. Once it is cleaning the sides of the bowl, stop the mixer and touch the dough with your finger. It should feel soft and tacky, but not overly wet or sticky. If it is excessively wet and sticky, add more flour, one half a cup at a time. Each batch is different…sometimes you’ll use all the flour and other times you’ll have some leftover. Just go by how the dough looks and feels.
- Once you have enough flour in your dough, knead on low speed for 5 minutes.
- Turn dough onto a floured surface and let rest for 10 minutes, allowing the gluten to relax. Divide the dough and shape it into loaves. Places loaves in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. A bread pan that is 4×8″ will hold a loaf that is about 21-23 ounces. This recipe will make about 6, 23-ounce loaves.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake loaves for 30-35 minutes. Tops should be golden brown.
- After removing from the oven, brush the tops of the loaves with vegetable shortening. This will give the crust a pretty sheen and make it softer.
- Allow the loaves to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack. Allow the loaves to cool completely before slicing – they are still baking internally right after they come out of the oven.
- Store in heavy bread bags – they will stay fresh for 5-7 days. This bread freezes well!
Did you make this recipe?
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