Welp, I thought I had the home-made bread dealio down with this recipe I love back HERE.
It is easy and foolproof and we love it.
But then I tasted Barbi’s bread.
Yow.
You guys, it is dreamy good.
Barbi is a lady in our church congregation for those who are wondering who this wondrous woman is.
She makes enough bread on Fast Sundays for us to have big chunks of it for the sacrament (isn’t that so nice?), and when you get a piece you feel like you just got a little bit of Heaven. Which is good because Heaven is what you’re supposed to be thinking about anyway, right?
So I tried making it. I mean, I had my easy, foolproof recipe down, how hard could it be?
Now, don’t let me scare you off from making it…you can do it! I just think it helps to have pictures to explain, and a “trainer” who baby-stepped me through it so I can do the same for you.
Let’s take a look at that “training expert” for a minute and give her a moment of silence.
There we go.
I explained back in my “May Little Things” post (back HERE) how we tried FaceTiming to get the consistency right, and then she just came right on over to help. And when it took longer than we thought and I had to leave for some Relief Society visits that had been scheduled, that good woman stayed and baked that deliciousness for me (and the ladies I was visiting).
Yes there are some awesome people in this world.
Since then I have made it all by myself a few times and it’s been pretty dreamy if I do say so myself. So I think I’m ready to share. I want to have this puppy ready to go with a click of my fingers when I want to make it next.
So let’s get down to business.
(I will come back to add more pictures of the process next time I make it, but here are a few for now.)
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Put in mixer:
6 c. warm water (tap hot)
1 c. oil
2 c. honey (yeah, it’s a lot, her original recipe called for one cup but believe me, she’s got something here with the two!)
3 T. sugar
3 heaping T. yeast
Blend for 5-10 seconds and let it sit for 15 minutes (watch for it to get foamy).
While you’re waiting, grind the wheat. (I use a Vitamix wheat grinder that I like for this.) I mix white hard wheat and red hard wheat for this next step:
Add to the foamy mixture:
6 c. whole grain flour (whatever mixture you have just ground…Barbi uses spelt but says any grain will work, and it does)
2 c. normal bread flour
2 T. salt
4 (heaping) T. dough enhancer (improves the texture and taste and makes it fluffier…I get it on Amazon HERE, and you can get cheaper packs but I know this one works)
Mix and let this concoction rest for 15-30 minutes.
THEN add:
4-6 c. (more) whole grain flour, one cup at a time (this makes a huge batch)
You’ll know when to stop when the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl while mixing.
Mix/knead for ten minutes while gluten is formed.
What in the world does that mean? You might ask (because I sure did!)
It just means you can pull at the dough and it’s kind of stretchy…enough that it can form a “window pane” rather than breaking apart.
This is what it looks like when it is NOT ready:
So if your dough looks like that you have to add water back in.
Yep, add water.
And you have to just kind of eyeball it, and be patient!
When Barbi came to make the bread with me she added a half cup of water to what I had going and mixed it for a while.
Then she added more because it still wasn’t quite stretchy enough. Still not quite gluten-y enough:
I think she ended up adding about a cup and a half all together, just gradually until it felt right, and looks more like this:
Here’s a better picture updated from our Relief Society bread-making lesson to help:
See how it’s more wet than you would think it should be? And stretchy? (Sorry but I can’t think of a better word.)
It will be a little sticky/wet, but that’s ok because you put oil on your hands (and on the counter…see that puddle of it up there in the picture above the stretchy dough kind of camouflaged into the counter?)
Divide it into six loaves (or two big loaves, eight little loaves and a Bundt pan as I did since I wanted to deliver a bunch of them and we also ran out of bread pans). Knead to the right size to put in pans prepared with cooking spray.
Let the bread rise until it doubles (you’ll know when it’s risen enough when you touch it and it bounces back, in about an hour).
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.
Then turn temperature down to 335 degrees and cook for 20-25 more minutes, depending on the loaf sizes you are baking.
A very nifty way Barbi taught me to know if it’s done is using an instant read thermometer (this is what I use for the turkey at Thanksgiving):
Yep, it works for bread too.
Cook until that thing reads between 180 and 200 degrees.
After it’s done, leave in pan for at least 10 minutes then dump to cool.
If you’re wondering about “Bundt bread,” here’s the result:
Worked just dandy.
After completely cooled, wrap that deliciousness up and go deliver it to all the people you’ve been thinking about lately and want to share a little extra love with.
I promise to come add more pictures soon, but hope that helps if you have a hankering to try a brand new mouth-watering recipe.
You can do it!
Happy baking!
xoxo
Other bread recipes:
Whole wheat bread
(the easy kind)
Home-made Crusty Bread
Ashby’s White Bread (and thoughts about gluten)
Brown Butter Banana Bread
I’m SO sorry because I just made this one again and realized I left out the eggs! Yiikes! How horrible is that?? (fixed it now) Don’t worry, I double and triple checked this recipe from Barbi this time around!