Hearty Whole Wheat Bread

I have this great book I picked up last summer and it has become invaluable. It has so much information, it is ridiculous  It covers caring for livestock, animal husbandry, homebrewing, recipes and crafts. This book is what inspired me to start this blog in the first place. When looking through the section on homemade breads and cheese, there was so much more I wanted to know. 

I had always thought that making breads and cheeses were so finicky or far too hard for me to do. I was mistaken. Whether you have a bread maker or not barely makes any difference. Sometimes I use the bread maker to mix the dough but I never cook the bread inside it. I don't like the texture of bread from the machine. I really enjoy a crunchy crust which is best achieved from the oven.

This is a great whole wheat bread recipe that also has no fat and no sugar. You can also do what I did and changed out some of the flour for ground or whole flax seeds. This adds fat to the recipe but it also adds a bunch of omega-3 fatty acids, and dietary fiber. Flax is also believed to reduce cholesterol.

1       pkg   Dry Yeast
1 1/2 cups  lukewarm Water
1       tsp    Salt
3       cups Whole Wheat Flour (or 2 3/4 cups Whole Wheat and 1/4 cup Flax Seeds)
1       cup   White Flour

Proof the yeast in warm water in a large bowl on the counter.

Add the remaining ingredients and knead on a floured surface.

Grease a bowl with non-fat cooking spray and let the dough rise in it until double in size.

Form into a loaf and place in a 8x4 inch pan. Cover with a damp towel or paper towel and allow to rise again.

Preheat your oven to 350F and bake for 1 hour.