Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments about hard work yesterday. I’m even more determined to stick these kids’ noses to the grindstone. A few people asked what we do for allowance and all that money stuff and I have much to say about that…soon. (I still have to figure out how I want to tweak what we do…)

But right now I must give you one of my favorite recipes because ever since Kara gave it to me I crave making it (and eating it).

So I do…almost every week.

It is called “bread recipe for dummies.” (At least that’s what I call it because I can actually make it and turns out perfect every time…even when you forget to put the yeast in ’til the very end which I did once.)

The only problem with making healthy, home-made, whole-wheat bread is that it’s really not all that healthy when you eat a whole loaf yourself…nice and hot out of the oven with a little honey. Nope, not so good at all. But hey, it’s whole wheat and that counts for something, right?

Ok, so this is what you do:

Put these in a small bowl and let sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients:

2 tbs. yeast
1/2 c. warm water (tap hot)
1 tbs. sugar

In mixer, combine:

5 c. warm water (tap hot again)
7 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour

Mix.

Add:

2 tbs. salt
2/3 c. oil
2.3 c. honey (if you put the oil in a two cup measuring cup first, then add the honey right in there with it, it will come out all slick into the mixing bowl…that’s Max’s favorite part)
2 tbs. vital wheat gluten
2 tbs. dough enhancer

Mix all together.

Add one more cup of wheat flour.

Add yeast mixture, and mix again.

Gradually add 3-5 more cups of wheat flour until dough starts coming off the sides of the bowl. You don’t want it to be too dry but not too wet either. Tough call, but the more you make it the more you will realize how it should look.

Knead for 10 minutes (either by hand or in the Bosch).

Separate and shape into four loaves of bread (I spray Pam on my hands while I do this so it’s not so sticky).

Put in well oiled bread pans. Let rise for 35-40 minutes or until almost doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes.

Enjoy.

(But try not to eat it all in one sitting.)

***post edit note: Sorry I should have explained dough enhancer and vital wheat gluten because I didn’t know what in the world they were before either. They can be found at bread stores where they sell Bosch machines and other bread helps. I bet if you google bread stores in your area you can find one. They’d probably also carry those things at Sprouts or Whole Foods.

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14 Comments

  1. YUM! Thanks for posting this recipe! I'm a little obsessed with homemade bread. Can't wait to try it. And I know, how can you NOT eat a bunch of it fresh & piping hot?

    p.s. I'm pretty sure you can just throw the yeast/water/sugar mixture right in with the flour & other water. People used to mix it separately to "proof" yeast, but yeast really never fails these days. Skip a step. 😉

  2. Thanks for sharing this!

    I'm with Allyson–what are those two things? Do you grind your own flour?

    I'm getting a larger Kitchenaid very soon–or would you recommend a Bosch?

  3. I just read one of your "you might also like" posts and saw that you do grind your own flour. Cool. With brothers that grow wheat for a living, that would be fun for me to try!

  4. My husband and I went to Dave Ramsey's Financia Peace University last year and learned SO MUCH about our financial future and how to teach our kids fiscal responsibility. My husband has his degree in Business Finance and owns his own Employment Agency, but even he learned a lot about working together as a team with finances. We use Dave Ramsey's plan on teaching kids to save. It is amazing. Go to his website at daveramsey.com

  5. I have been making "Miracle Bread" but it calls for a lot of yeast. I'm going to try this one. I don't know what you are going to say about chores and money but my kids aren't' paid for doing chores. that's part of living in our house. We are a team and work together. They can however earn money by doing push-ups. My husband pays $.10 cents a push up and my 6 year old can bust out 100 perfect push-ups a day. We are going broke! But it makes them strong and it's fun. So we are going with it.

  6. OK, so I have heard mixed things about gluten and dough enhancer. Some say it is totally bogus others swear by it. THE bread baker in my ward has tried adding it to her recipes and says there is no difference but her sister insists on using it. So now…to use or not to use!

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