Friday, March 4, 2011

Whole Wheat Honey Bread - Small Batch

Here is the same recipe as yesterday, written for the convenience of those who have a smaller mixer or are making bread by hand. This recipe will make three loaves.

Whole Wheat Honey Bread

2 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 T soy lecithin (optional)
1/8 tsp vitamin C (optional)
2 T vital gluten (optional)
1 egg (optional)

1 1/2 T instant  yeast
7 cups whole wheat flour, approximate measure

Combine water, oil, honey, salt, soy lecithin, vitamin C, gluten flour, and eggs. Mix well.
Add three cups of flour and mix. Add yeast and mix. Add flour until dough doesn't stick to sides of bowl.
Stop mixer and allow to rest for ten minutes.
Knead for five minutes with kneading hook on medium speed or by hand.
Form into loaves. Place in greased bread pans. Allow dough to rise until double.
Bake bread at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool.

I love hearing from those of you who are trying these recipes. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments or by email. I'm not promising to have all the answers but we can work through it together!

Next, I'll talk about those mysterious "optional" ingredients in the recipe!

12 comments :

  1. Thanks for making it easy! We're on one of those busy, working vacations and I'm out of bread for the weekend. Hope you have a good one! ~Liz

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  2. I am new to your blog and am really encouraged by it. Thanks so much for the smaller recipe. Do you add your yeast dry or do you activate it in water first? I am new to baking bread too! Thank you. Laura

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  3. My vital gluten has vitamin C in it - would you still suggest using the vitamin C called for in your recipe?

    Thank you!

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  4. Laura-
    If you use instant yeast, it is not necessary to activate your yeast in water.

    Anonymous -
    I probably wouldn't add any additional Vit C. But you could try it and see if their was a difference.
    Gina

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  5. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I already use lecithin but am curious about the Vit. C. I am sure you are not breaking up Vit. C tablets but how are you using it?

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  6. Hey there Gina.
    I can't figure out how you get a nice soft crust. I've been doing alot of sourdough recipes (or just using the starter in regular recipes) and the crust is hard or softer but really chewy. any tips?
    I've been doing the steaming/misting thing..

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  7. Suzi -
    If you want a soft crust, you do NOT want to use steam or mist the dough. That enhances the chewiness of the crust. For soft crust, some oil in the dough also helps, or brushing with a little milk before placing in the oven or brushing on a little butter after baking.

    Hope that helps!
    Gina

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  8. Hey Gina! This is basically the bread I've been making weekly for the last 6 years- minus the dough enhancers. I used to put a Tb. of vital gluten in, but recently stopped thinking we don't need more gluten and I only notice a slight difference.

    Interesting note on the recipe, though- mine calls for a 15 minute "sponge" at the beginning with the water, yeast, and 2 cups of the flour before proceeding with the recipe, shaping the loaves and the final rise. Otherwise- same. :-)

    see recipe here: http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2009/02/sandwich-bread-101.html

    -Jami
    An Oregon Cottage

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  9. Hi Gina,

    Thank you for sharing your bread recipe,I tried it over the weekend and my bread came out perfect. I followed the recipe exactly as written. Finnish cardamom bread is pretty much the only yeast bread I consistantly make so I had no idea what to expect when working with whole wheat but all went well. I also found your post on shaping loaves really helpful.

    Thank you again for a great recipe and helpful bread making tutorials!

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  10. I googled, "honey whole wheat bread" and clicked on this blog not know it was YOU! I just put the bread in the oven and it looks yummy! I did add a cup of oats for texture. Thanks for the recipe!

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  11. This recipe is amazing! Thank you for sharing! I have tried MANY different whole wheat bread recipes and never have I had one that is so light! Delicious!

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  12. I really like this recipe! I had wonderful results. I didn't have any leitchen, so I left that out. I also substituted a squirt of lemon juice for the vitamin C.... not sure if that's the right thing to do, but it seemed to work. I have 3 beautiful loaves of bread now. Thank you so much for helping me achieve such fabulous results with 100% whole wheat. Oh, and I use a Nutrimill. Fresh milled flour is so wonderful.
    Karen

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I love to hear from you.

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