Skip to Content

Whole Wheat Bread Tutorial, Part 4: The Recipe

This post contains links that, if you click on them and make a purchase, will earn me money. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. . Regardless, I only recommend products or services that I believe will be good for my readers. Thanks for helping me continue to produce great content!

This is the fourth and final in a series of posts on making whole wheat bread from freshly ground whole wheat flour, and this post contains…. the recipe! And it’s the recipe, I’d guess, that is what the admirably long-suffering readers of my other three posts have been beyond patiently waiting for! Because in my estimation, it’s time to stick a fork in this tutorial, and call it done! 

Part 4 of my 4 Part Tutorial on Whole Wheat Bread: the Grain Mill. #Wholewheatbread #recipe

The Goal

What Did The Other Three Parts of Your Tutorial Cover?

In case you’re joining the rest of us for the first time, here’s a recap. The first post dealt with the grain mill itself. The second post offered information in regard to the types of wheat berries that are available, and I specified my own personal preference: the ones I find best suited, in fact, for this very recipe. The third post involved lots of other incidental facts that had to do with ingredients such as sweeteners, yeast, and how I handle wheat berry and flour storage.

But THIS post, this fourth in the series,  I am happy to say, is perfectly usable as a stand-alone post. It’s also suitable for anyone who is UNINTERESTED in the whole freshly milled flour thing, because the recipe I’m going to give you today can easily be used with store bought flour.

So “Hooray!!!”, I say,  for the rest of you bakers and wanna-be bakers out there who don’t grind your own flour. This is NOT a hard recipe. This CAN be done. By YOU! Take it off your bucket list, get a new bag of King Arthur Whole Wheat flour from the grocery store (and not the opened bag that’s been sitting on your shelf unused for months and months…or maybe even longer than that) and give this recipe a try!!! 😀

Before we get going, though, there is one more ingredient I’d like to discuss with you: freshly ground flax seed.

The Importance of Freshly Ground Flax Seed

First off, let me start out by saying that this recipe does not NEED the flax seed I’ve included in it. So if you want to omit that from the recipe, because you don’t have any, that’s just fine. You should go ahead and bake your bread.

HOWEVER….I’ve started adding freshly ground flax seed to my whole wheat bread. There are several things I think you might like to know about the importance of flax seed. The dietician at the hospital where my husband had his coronary bypass surgery told us to be sure to use flax seed to help my dear husband  raise his HDL: his healthy cholesterol.  (The HDL carries the bad cholesterol out of your blood and to your liver, where your liver can dispose of it, instead of allowing it to build up in your veins and arteries.

 And for those with no history of heart disease, who think this doesn’t apply to you: women, as we approach menopause, our HDL levels tend to plummet. Bummer, huh?) Flax seed has also been recommended lately as being helpful in treating perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms. Flax seed contains both lignans and alpha linolenicic acids, about which the internet tells me: 

” Lignans are capable of binding to estrogen receptors and interfering with the cancer-promoting effects of estrogen on breast tissue. Lignans are therefore being studied for their possible effects on breast, prostate and colon cancer. Lignans are also good antioxidants scavenging free radicals that are thought to play a role in many diseases.”  

So, as you can imagine, my husband and I are both interested in eating more flax seed, in smoothies as well as in our whole wheat bread.

But here’s the kicker: If you don’t grind flax seeds, for the most part, the flax seeds will pass through your body without you gaining any nutritional benefit, except for the occasional seed that happens to get crunched by your teeth. The benefit that comes from the flax seed is found in the oil that comes from within the broken or ground seed, and the flax seeds need to be freshly milled/ground, so that the oil doesn’t have time to oxidize.

Lest you think that this is another promotion for a grain mill, I assure you, it’s not! Pay attention now, because this is important. If you have a grain mill,  you can’t mill flax seed in it, according to my Nutrimill manufacturer. So, what’s a freshly milled flax seed oil wanting person supposed to do??? If you want freshly milled flax seed, do it in your blender or VitaMix or in a coffee grinder that you’ve cleaned out or designated for grinding spices (thanks for that tip, Melissa!).

One other reminder about sweeteners, that I’ve already covered in earlier posts: for this recipe you may use whatever sweetener you prefer. If you’re opposed to sugar, substitute what you like (honey, agave nectar or whatever).

What Kind of Mixer Do You Use?

I used to use my KitchenAid Mixer to knead my bread, and it worked OK, but two loaves of whole wheat bread were its absolute limit. It would start smelling and feeling hot by the end of the kneading. With this recipe, you can certainly knead by hand if that is your preference.

However, these days, now that I am LOVING my brand new Bosch mixer, that’s what I use. It has a larger capacity than my KitchenAid did, is so much more stable, and I absolutely love it! And my readers can get a special price on it. Click the link for further information. I am absolutely 100% convinced that for those who want to bake bread, the Bosch mixer is the way to go!!!

Now, on to the long promised recipe. The basic framework of this recipe came from a recipe I found on Epicurious, but I have altered it to suit my family. If you try it, I believe you’ll say it was worth the wait. I’ve tried many recipes, but this one is the best I have ever tried, and you don’t even need to add vital wheat gluten (an extra ingredient that many recipes call for to help the bread rise).

[yumprint-recipe id=’185′] 

Just a few pictures, to illustrate the process.
 

 

Yeast, fully proofed and foamy. On this day, I used a dark honey to help the yeast grow.

 

The dough is cleaning the side of the bowl: kneading is almost done.

 

Dough taken from mixer and placed in bowl to rise.

 

Dough fully risen

 

 

 

 

Punching dough down.
Dough rising in pan.
Bread cooling on rack.
With cherry preserves. Get in my belly!!!
What about YOU???
 
Do you think you can do this?
 
Do you WANT to do this?
 
Do you have any remaining questions?
 

Would you like to link me to your recipe? (I warn you: I’ve tried quite a few, courtesy of my friends at the Sonlight forums.)

 

 

Jamie

Saturday 26th of January 2013

I've decided to attempt homemade bread. I told my husband, Michael, that I knew just the place to find a good recipe. I'm looking forward to trying this soon. Of course, I'll have to use store bought flour to start off, and I don't have any way that I can think of to grind the flaxseed just yet... I need to go shopping!

Susan in the Boonies

Wednesday 20th of July 2011

I bet you're talking about the cooktop, right? That cooktop was propane for five of the six years we've lived here. We converted to gas last year when it became available in our neighborhood, finally. Gas has saved us some money, but cooking on propane was OK.

My oven is electric and built in the wall. The cooktop is on top of my island. In terms of ovens, electric is just as good or better in my opinion.

But when it comes to a cooktop? Must have flame! Be it propane or gas.

BeckyJ

Wednesday 20th of July 2011

Yes!! Thank you!

The bread is gorgeous, the recipe looks simple enough...but I found myself distracted by your beautiful gas oven!! I so desperately want a gas oven. We don't have gas here, and it would be cost prohibitive right now to install it...but your oven is lovely and I'm happy you get to enjoy cooking on it!

I promise to let you know when I make this recipe and how we all liked it. I'll probably blog about it and link to your tutorial, if that's ok.

Cricket

Tuesday 19th of July 2011

Whew! The recipe... finally! I've been waiting for days! Well at least 2 days as I've finally caught up on my Google Reader. :) I will definitely try this recipe. I love molasses and love the fact that perhaps I'll not need to add gluten as I've been doing to my home ground bread. I also like the fact that you add flax seed. My dh thought I was blooming nuts when I walked out of a Raley's in CA with several ponds of golden flax seed in tow. I was not to be dissuaded. :)I think it is I who live in the boonies- nothing along the lines of a health food store here. Not even an attempt at one. Thanks!

Robin

Tuesday 19th of July 2011

popping in from SITS to say Hi....That looks so yummy!Any homemade bread is so good, but that which is made with molasses is all the better. :-)Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Have a beautiful day