Whole Wheat Bread Recipe!!!

Hi everybody!

I'm so sorry about last weekend's lack of pies but I check the weather on Thursday and if it says showers it's too risky for me to bake a bunch of pies and then get rained out...But it's like, I think the weather channel thinks that blue skies with two clouds floating by should be described as partly cloudy and evening showers. But it was good timing for me because my beloved and beautiful old dog Dee Dee got a bit sick so I got to have extra time to baby her and take her to the vet. (Which, by the way, all of her blood tests were flawless. No raised liver enzymes no kidney damage!) I'll post something later that is full of advice for owners of old dogs in case anyone is curious...but for now, to make up for not having pies last weekend I am giving you all something I rarely give out--a recipe!!

I make home made wheat bread every week or so because it is so freakin delicious. Once you get used to having it around, store bought is a total drag. I bake these three loaves and then slice it and freeze it and toast it in the morning or use it for sandwiches.

Don't be scared that this is a wheat bread recipe. First of all, let's be honest, we're all thinking it, it'll totally let you eat bread and poo regularly. But secondly the key to this recipe is that I soak the wheat flour in water for a half an hour before I make it. This prevents the bread from being gross and dry and heavy. On top of that I love seeds! I put sesame and poppy and if I have them, sunflower seeds in this bread. I love seeds so much that I am concocting a seed and caramel pie that I want to call Bird's Delight. But I digress, let's get started on bread instruction.

Don't worry if you have never made bread before...You can do it!! It seems weird and scary with freaky bacteria living or dying at your finger tips but it's not that complicated. Just follow these instructions.

Recipe:

3 Cups whole wheat flour

2 1/4 cups water

1 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed to the same temperature as your finger. You will know it is the right temperature if you put your finger in it and you almost don't feel like it's even in anything because it's the exact same temp.

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 packs yeast (don't use Trader Joe's, it's not that good.)

4 tsp salt

2 large tbsp poppy seeds (plus extra for crust)

2 large tbsp sesame seeds(plus extra for crust)

2 large tbsp sun flower seeds

6 cups white flour

-Grease a large bowl with butter.
-Soak the whole wheat flour in the water for 1/2 an hour.

-Heat up milk to finger temp, put in large bowl and add 1/4 cup of the brown sugar.

-Sprinkle with the yeast, mix lightly and let sit about five minutes till it's all bubbly and fuzzy and bacteria like.

-Add the rest of the sugar to the yeast mixture and the salt, seeds and 5 cups of white flour.

-As the dough comes together in the bowl put the final cup of flour on your kneading surface, plop the dough onto it and start kneading in the last cup of flour. You may use a bit more of flour for the kneading and that's fine. You just don't want to put in too much flour or you will have a dry, heavy bread so stop adding the flour the second it stops sticking to your hands when you knead it.

How to knead bread:

As I tried to show you with my terrible one handed kneading photos how you knead dough is as follows:

On a well floured surface, sprinkle some more flour on your hands and over the top of the dough and continue to do this as you knead whenever the dough sticks to your hands. With both hands, push the dough in, fold it in half from left to right then push it in again with both hands. Do a quarter turn with the dough and repeat the process over and over again for about 4 to 5 minutes until the dough is all together, firm and a little tough feeling.
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Place the dough in the greased bowl, rub soft butter over the top, put a towel over the bowl and place in a cozy warm spot...like a sunbeam! Don't let the dough get too hot or the yeast will die.

Let it rise for 2 1/2 hours...try not to let it rise much longer than that because the yeast starts to turns a little bit alcohal tasting.

Take the risen dough and knead it like, twice on a floured surface and leave it to rise back up for about 10 minutes. Cut the dough into three pieces. Butter your three bread pans. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

I like to put seeds on the outside of my bread. To make them really stick, I push the seeds into the dough to the point where the whole thing of dough is flattened out. Then I shape it back into a loaf shape, making sure the botom is all pinched together so it won't fall apart in the baking. But you can apply your seeds however you see fit.

Let the three loaves rise again for about an hour until they are totally filling in and out of the pans.

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees and then enjoy the best thing in the world which is hot bread with melting butter and raspberry jam. YUM!