Whole Wheat Bread

I have been wanting to try making homemade bread for a while now but with hearing so many horror stories about unsuccessful attempts from friends and family I have always been a bit hesitant to try it out.  A couple of weeks ago my husband and I had some friends over and one of them had just started playing around with bread recipes herself and brought a really nice no knead bread recipe with her.  After talking to her I decided to bite the bullet and finally make an attempt at making bread from scratch.
I had some different recipes that I wanted to try at home but I realized that the jar of yeast I bought was the wrong type for the recipes I wanted to make.  Luckily the last time I was at the grocer I grab some packages of dry active yeast so I decided to go online to search for a recipe to try.  I came across so many recipes that looked good but I finally decided on one called Fabulous Homemade Bread. It was a great first recipe to try.  I am lucky enough to have a stand mixer with a bread hook so the whole process was not too bad.  Once the dough was made I had to wait for it to rise, I was so worried that it wouldn't so I tried to distract myself by working in the garden.  By the time I went back to check on the dough it had really grown, I was so excited! I divided it up into pans to let it rise again before placing it into the oven.  As it was baking it smelled so good, both my husband and I had a hard time making ourselves wait for it to finish.  It looked awesome when it came out of the oven and it tasted amazing.  I definitely recommend this recipe.  I know it makes a lot of bread (6 loaves) but it won't last long and if you have a deep freeze you can save some for later.

Whole Wheat Bread

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup bread flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 10 cups bread flour

1. In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 1/2 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 cup bread flour, and yeast. Let grow for about 5 minutes. It will bubble almost immediately.
2. Measure oats, 4 1/2 cups warm water, whole wheat flour, salt, 2/3 cup sugar, and 2/3 cup oil into the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a dough hook for 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed slightly, and begin adding bread flour 1/2 to 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Humidity determines how much flour you need before the bread pulls away from the edge of the bowl. It is normal for the dough to be sticky.
3. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
4. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Shape loaves, and place in greased 8 x 4 inch pans. Let rise until dough is 1 inch above rim of pans, usually 1 hour.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C) for 35 minutes, or until tops are browned. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

*** If you don't go through a lot of bread and you are worried about it going bad I recommend these silicone mini loaf pans.  They are great because one loaf turns out to be about four slices.  I really like using them for different loaves because as much as I love things like banana bread if it is just you or you and your spouse eating a whole loaf can be a big task.  These also work great for freezing portions of soup, chilli or homemade broth for later use.