When I was a growing up, our family used to eat a lot of processed foods, including bread products. I had never baked my own bread of any kind before I was married, and when we began homeschooling I got to know many moms who were not only baking the bread their families ate every day, but they were also milling their own grain. I was intrigued.
Over the following years, I began trying many different bread and roll recipes, most of which were so-so for me, and no-go for my kids’ picky taste buds. Through much trial and error I was able to find a great recipe for bread that would help me to achieve a decent loaf of bread that my family has enjoyed for the past couple of years. Though we have enjoyed it for longer than any other recipe that I’ve tried, I knew that it wasn’t as good as it could be.
When my application to demo the Wondermill was approved, I was completely ecstatic, because I knew that every bread recipe that I had been using regularly would be elevated to a level that my family and I had never had the pleasure of experiencing regularly. I knew that having the Wondermill meant that my family would be able to enjoy top-notch nutritious bread products that would be so much better for our health.
This recipe was adapted from a recipe that was shared with me by a good friend who uses it for her family. She got it from a website called Every Day Food Storage, where this recipe is known as EZ White Bread.
I sometimes use our two KitchenAid mixers together if I want to make a big batch of bread at one time.
The changes that I have made to this recipe are minimal and best fit my family. Rather than using 2-3/4 cup of whole wheat flour, I use 1-1/2 cups freshly milled whole wheat (from hard red wheat berries), and 1-1/4 cups of all purpose flour. The difference in flavor in simply switching out the store-bought whole wheat flour with the freshly milled whole wheat flour was astronomical! My son, who liked the bread I was making, now loves it, and my daughter, who wouldn’t touch wheat bread regardless of who made it, ate almost half the loaf! The flavor was absolutely wonderful, sweet, nutty, and so fresh! I can hardly wait to try this recipe with freshly milled hard white wheat berries!
- 1-1/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1-1/2 cups freshly milled whole wheat AND 1-1/4 cups of all purpose flour (or freshly milled white flour)
- ¼ cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. nonfat instant dry milk
- 1 Tbsp. melted butter
- 1 Tbsp. vinegar
- In your mixing bowl, whisk together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Set mixture aside to stand for 5 minutes, allowing the yeast to proof. After 5 minutes, add the remainder of your ingredients and mix on low speed for 5-7 minutes until the dough has cleaned the sides of the mixing bowl. If your dough is too wet, mix in small amounts of flour until it is no longer sticky. If your dough is too dry, mix in small amounts of water until it is no longer dry. Once the dough is thoroughly mixed, remove the bowl from the mixer, over with a clean kitchen towel, and set in a warm location to rise for 1-1/2 hours.
- After 1-1/2 hours, punch down your dough and knead for 2-3 minutes. Roll your dough out into a rectangle, roughly 8x12 inches. Roll the short side until your dough is completely rolled up, then pinch the dough together at the seam. Pull top of each end of the dough and tuck it underneath each end and pinch to close. Set your dough into a greased bread pan (I use a 9 x 5-1/2 x 2-1/2" pan, greased with butter), and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes, or until the dough is a nice round mound and fills up your bread pan.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Makes 1 loaf.
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