Wheat bread

My friend Laura makes the best wheat bread. She showed several of her friends how to do it before she went to live on an island in the Caribbean. For reals. So this week I've been making bread from her recipe and reconnecting with the grinding wheat, kneading bread part of myself. OK, OK, I'll fess up and tell you that I use a Bosch mixer. And an electric wheat grinder. This is really good bread. My picky eater kid loves it. And Laura wants me to tell you all that she swaps out sugar for the honey because food prices are so high on Stacia and sugar is cheaper than honey. She said that it tastes the same. Like I said before, I do this in a Bosch mixer and it's really, really full. It will makes funny noises, dough will swirl over the top of the dough hook and the lid will pop off occassionally but it will be fine. And now, because I made 3 batches in 3 days, which translates into 15 loaves, I now know that I can get 15 loaves of bread out of one #10 can of my food storage wheat.

Laura's White Wheat Bread
from Laura P.

6 C. warm water
1/3 C. honey (or same amount of sugar)
3 Tablespoons yeast

Combine above ingredients in your mixer, put the lid on and let it grow and eat and work it's magic for 15 or more minutes.

Then add:

2-3 Tablespoons dough enhancer (optional)
1/3 C. wheat gluten(optional)
2 Tablespoons salt
1/3 C. oil
14-17 C. Flour (flour ground from white wheat and some white flour)

I add the dough enhancer, wheat gluten, salt and oil and then I start adding the flour. You don't need to add dough enhance and wheat gluten if you don't have it or don't want to buy it. I think that it makes a difference but when I do it without, the bread is still yummy and light. Add half white and half wheat flour if you want a lighter loaf. I start adding the wheat flour. Laura's recipe calls for 14-17 C. but I don't think that I use that much. I add around 8 C. of the white wheat flour, then I mix. Then I start adding the white flour and mixing until the dough cleans the sides of the mixing bowl when turned onto the highest speed. Then I adjust and test by feeling the dough. If the dough is slightly tacky then I knead on highest speed for 5 minutes in the mixer. I test again after the five minutes or during to make sure that the dough is still the tackiness that I want it to be. I then turn it into an oiled bowl and flip it over so that the top is oiled also. I put plastic wrap on it loosely and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. I put oil on the counter and grease my bread pans with oil. Separate the dough into five portions, oil hands and shape the loaf by slapping the portion of dough onto the counter until flat and smooth. Then roll into a loaf shape, pinching off the bottom and the sides, lay it in the loaf pan and rub with oil to prevent drying. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise, aproximately one hour. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Pull out of pan almost immediately onto a rack to prevent steaming in the pans. Rub the tops with butter while hot if desired.