Simple Wheat Bread
This bread a staple in my family’s week (ok, sometimes I'll buy bread from the store, but most weeks, we eat this).
Eat it with butter or jam or peanut butter or honey, or in a sandwhich.
It’s adapted from the Tassajara Cookbook, which I recommend to everyone. “When you are working on the bread, you ware working on your life.” I like to think of it as a form of meditation, the many steps and time involved with bread is a form of love I give to myself and my family.
Rising times are in bold for quick reference.
To start:
2 1/4 cups of WARM water, about body temperature, therefore it shouldn’t be too warm if you stick your finger it in
1 ½ tbsp dry yeast (2 packages) tho I often but 2 ¼ tbsp or 3 packages.
¼ cup wildflower honey, or other sweetener like molasses or brown sugar
3/4 cup soy milk
Mix together gently, and then add:
4 cups of whole wheat flower
Mix together gently until it forms a liquidly, mud like mixture ( Use 100 small strokes to mix it together). Cover with a damp towel and let sit for 40-50 minutes in a warm draft free place, like in an oven that’s off.
Then add in:
1-3 tsp salt (depending on how salty you like things)
1/3c oil
3 cups more flour (whole wheat or unbleached all-purpose flour)
1 cup whole wheat flour for kneading.
Fold in ingredients a little bit at a time without cutting the dough in half, working the ingredients in from the Side of the bowl.
Knead dough for 6-10 minutes.
Let rise in a covered bowl for about 60 minutes until doubled in size.
Punch down about 16 times. Let rise again 50 minutes until doubled again.
Fold a few more times, but in pans, and let sit another 15-20 minutes.
Cook for 25 – 45 minutes depending on loaf size. (Max 60 minutes.) Until knife comes out of center clean. Keep in mind that if you let it sit for 20 minutes cooling without cutting it, the inside will continue to cook.