Whole Wheat Bread

Oh now, don't roll your eyes when you read the title!  I know, I know - most whole wheat bread is heavy and dense and only good as a doorstop.  I am telling you, this recipe is different.  My whole family loves this and eats it all the time - my husband even thought it was half-white, half-wheat.  It's light and fluffy, but still holds its shape.

About ten years ago, I started reading about whole wheat versus white bread, and what I read was enlightening.  I had no idea that when wheat was milled and sifted, most of the nutrition was taken out and certain vitamins put back in to prevent diseases such as beri beri (a deficiency of B1).

I decided that I wanted to grind my own wheat and get all the nutrition that God put in it!  Again, don't roll your eyes!  I researched, saved for, and bought a WhisperMill (now called the WonderMill).  Of course, the real trick is finding a source for wheat berries.  I usually find some sort of Amish store, buy 50 lb bags, and store them in 5-gallon buckets with Gamma lids.

Now, to figure out what kind of wheat berries?  Red?  White?  Hard?  Soft?  Red is more strongly flavored, white less so.  Hard wheat has enough gluten to make bread, while soft is better for pastries.

Anyway, all this to say that this bread recipe works with all types of wheat (except soft!) - red or white, store-bought or home-milled.

This is not my original recipe, this comes from the Bread Beckers.  I use my Zojirushi, but I bet it would work in all sorts of bread machines.  It is a large loaf, so I think you'd need to make it in a 2-lb machine.

1 1/2 cups very warm water
2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup honey (meh - I just dump it in...you might measure it the first time then eyeball it)
1/3 cup oil (or butter or coconut oil...I've found coconut oil increases the shelf life TREMENDOUSLY)
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp yeast

Add everything to your machine, then I guess you can use your whole-wheat setting.  The "official" recipe says to set one of your "homemade" settings as follows:
Preheat - 18 min
Knead - 20 min
Rise 1 - 45 min
Rise 2 - 20 min
Rise 3 - off
Bake - 45 min
Keep warm - off

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.  If you start making your own bread, keep your eyes open at yard sales and thrift stores for a bread slicer.  They're really expensive when they're brand-new, but I have found three at thrift stores for $3 each.