My Kitchen Clatter

Real Food - Real Life

Whole Wheat Bread – Single Loaf

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This is my go-to daily sandwich bread recipe. I normally make it in a large batch so I only have to bake bread once a week, but I know that approach isn’t necessary for everyone. Over the years of baking this bread, my technique has slowly morphed into the recipe that follows. If you’ve taken a class with me in the past, you may notice a few small differences between this recipe and the one you learned in class, but the essentials are the same. Likewise, I suspect that many of you have modified that first recipe to make it fit your kitchen and needs. The search for perfect bread is a long one, but this loaf comes pretty darn close, in my book.

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Whole Wheat Bread - Single Loaf
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Recipe type: bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 loaf
 
This recipe is my basic go-to sandwich bread in a single loaf recipe size. Search my site for a 2-loaf recipe and a 6-loaf recipe. The flavor and taste of this bread depend greatly on the quality of the whole wheat flour - use freshly ground if you can find it.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of warm water (baby bath temperature)
  • 2 T oil (I like coconut oil or olive oil)
  • 2 T sugar (I use honey)
  • .5 cups of high protein white flour (such as King Arthur flour - red bag)
  • 2.5 cups of freshly milled whole wheat flour - divided (If you can't find freshly ground, use 1 cup of bagged whole wheat flour)
  • 2 t instant yeast
  • 2 t salt (fine texture - if you only have course salt, dissolve it into a small bit of the water before adding it to the dough)
Instructions
  1. With the dough hook in your mixer, combine the warm water, honey and oil in the base of your mixer. Add 2 cups of the whole wheat flour and stir until combined. Let rest for 10-30 minutes. This will help strengthen the protein and gluten in the whole wheat flour.
  2. Add the instant yeast to the mixer bowl and pulse to combine.
  3. Add the white flour and the salt to the mixer. Turn the mixer to low speed and let combine. Add enough of the remaining whole wheat flour to the dough until it clears the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. You may not need all of the whole wheat flour. Turn the mixer to low-medium speed and allow it to knead for 6-8 minutes until the dough is soft and pliable.
  4. Roll the dough it a little olive oil (or other cooking oil) and allow to rise in a large, covered bowl in a warm spot for about 45 minutes until it is just doubled in size. You should be able to poke the dough and it will feel soft and you're finger will leave a slight indent.
  5. Oil your bread pan. Whole wheat breads do best in smaller pans - this loaf should fit nicely in a 4"x6.5" pan, and weigh about 1 pound 6 ounces uncooked.
  6. Gently deflate the dough and shape it for your loaf pan. Shape by gently patting into a rectangle slightly wider than your pan. Roll the dough along the long length and gently pinch and seal the seam. Tuck the edges under towards the seam and place the loaf, seam side down, into your oiled bread pan.
  7. Oil the top of the loaf. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm spot for about 30-45 minutes until the top of the dough is about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.
  8. While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  9. When the dough has risen, gently move the pan into the oven and reduce the oven temp to 350. Cook for 30 minutes, until it is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the outside.

 

Whole Wheat Bread – Large Batch

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This is the exact recipe and method that I use at home for my family’s whole wheat sandwich bread. My mom and sister were recently visiting and watched me as a baked a big batch of whole wheat bread. Their comments while we were baking made me realize that it may be useful to write this down for anyone else who needs a refresher.

For this bread, I use a Bosch Mixer and freshly milled flour from my Nutrimill Grain Mill. This recipe is written exactly for this mixer and flour. I make no guarantees about whole wheat bread success if you are using different tools or ingredients. If you have a smaller capacity mixer, you may want to check out my recipe for Small Batch Sandwich Bread.

When I teach classes, I use this same exact method in my classes. If you took a whole wheat bread class from me a while back, it is quite possible that this recipe has evolved slightly since we baked together. The main change being that I now consistently add one cup of white, organic flour (store-bought!) to the batch of bread. I’m still using vital wheat gluten and dough enhancer, but the white flour seems to help greatly with a great rise on the bread.

As my sister, mom and I were baking, we also talked through lots of little techniques that can help with a great loaf of bread. We spoke about bread pan size, oiling the tops of the loaf, and the type of oil that I use. Every time I bake bread with someone, some specific questions come to light – maybe the sugar, type of salt, or oven temperature. Bread baking is also different during every season of the year, it’s one of the challenges that allows the baker a certain amount of pride when the loaves turn out perfectly.

If you want to learn this method in person, or just need a refresher course, give me a call or email me for more information.

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Whole Wheat Bread - Large Batch
Author: 
Recipe type: Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6 loaves
 
This recipe uses a Bosch Mixer and freshly milled flour from a Nutrimill Grain Mill. If you want more information on the equipment or ingredients, let me know - I'm always happy to consult!
Ingredients
  • 6 cups of warm water (think, baby bath water)
  • approximately 16 cups of freshly milled flour using a Nutri Mill Grain Mill
  • 1 cup of organic, white flour
  • ⅔ cup (or 5 ounces) of olive or safflower oil
  • ⅔ cup (or 6 ounces) of honey
  • 2 T Vital Wheat Gluten, L'equip brand
  • 2 T Dough Enhancer, L'equip brand
  • 2 T instant yeast, SAF brand, not quick rising
  • 2 T fine sea salt, I use RealSalt brand
Instructions
  1. Add water to bowl of Bosch Mixer fitted with the dough hook.
  2. Add olive oil, honey, white flour, 8 cups of whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, dough enhancer and yeast.
  3. Turn Bosch to speed one and mix until combined, about 30 seconds.
  4. Dough will be very wet, more like a batter consistency. Cover with bowl lid and let rest for 10 minutes. If you are short on time, you can skip this step.
  5. After ten minutes, open lid, add 4 more cups of whole wheat flour, and salt. Pulse a few times until combined.
  6. Turn Bosch to setting one and slowing add remaining flour about 1 cup at a time until the dough just cleans the side of the bowl and pulls away from the center post. For the last cup or so of flour, add it about ¼ cup at a time. The dough can be slightly wet, as it will continue to absorb liquid as in kneads.
  7. Turn the machine to speed 2, replace lid and knead for 8 minutes.
  8. Remove dough onto a large oiled bread board or counter top. Divide into 6 portions. I measure mine into 1 pound 6 ounce portions. This is the perfect size for the 8.5"x4" bread pans. Note that bread pans may have a different rise since the whole grain breads seem to rise better in a narrower pan.If you have larger pans, you may need to make 5 loaves or make more dough to make 6 loaves. To make 6 larger loaves, increase water in step one to 7 cups and add about 3 cups of flour to the recipe - everything else can stay the same.
  9. Shape bread and place into oiled pans.
  10. Oil the tops of the bread with olive oil.
  11. Allow to rise in a warm spot, away from drafts, until the bread is about 1 inch above the top of the pan - about 45 minutes.
  12. While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  13. Once the bread is risen, bake for 30 minutes until it is golden brown.
  14. Remove the baked bread from pans immediately and cool on racks.
  15. Allow to cool 3 hours before you bag it. These loaves can be frozen at this point.

If you are curious, here is short video of my Bosch kneading this recipe.

Video of Bosch kneading 9 lbs bread dough

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with a Chocolate Swirl

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Check out that chocolate swirl!

Check out that chocolate swirl!

Banana bread is almost a staple in our household. When I married my husband, he came with a banana bread recipe. For years, I’d worry that he’d notice if I’d messed with her recipe. But I have slowly managed the transition to my own recipe. Some of the changes have included switching up to whole wheat flour, reducing the sugar, and adding a little yogurt. But none of those changes compare to the most recent upgrade – adding peanut butter. I was messing around making homemade peanut butter (more about that later) and happened to look over at the brown bananas in the bowl. Suddenly banana bread and peanut butter had merged in my brain. The rest is history.

First, a bit on the bananas. You probably already know you want the brown ones. They are sweeter, have more flavor and mash better. But did you know you can peel and freeze the brown ones and then your banana bread making never needs to be controlled by the bananas again! Just pull out the bananas and give them 5 or 10 minutes to thaw before mashing. And I just use a potato masher to squash the bananas.

As a matter of fact, I usually make this recipe in a bowl and combine it with a wooden spoon, dough hook or rubber spatula – honestly, whatever is closer. The trick being not to over mix once you add the dry ingredients to the wet.

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Making the swirls

The chocolate swirl often seems like a lot of extra work to me. While it does put this bread up a notch, you can skip it and just fold the chocolate chips into the finished batter. Not as dramatic, but it does save time and a couple dirty dishes. And it still tastes great. Along that line, you can also leave the chocolate out completely. I’m not recommending it – but it is theoretically possible.

To make the swirls, spoon the two batters into the bowl in layers. Try to distribute the chocolate batter around the pan and once the batter is all in, use a knife to cut a wave pattern into the batter from one end of the pan to the other. Don’t make it too complicated – it will turn out great no matter how you do it.

And while we are talking about pans – use a larger 9×5 pan for this recipe. And remember to oil the pan. Even in my super non-stick awesome pan, the chocolate parts seemed to stick differently than the non-chocolate and it can make for a messy looking bread.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know how it turns out!

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Peanut Butter Banana Bread with a Chocolate Swirl
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Serves: 16 slices
 
A fun take on a classic banana bread!
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of flour - I use freshly ground whole wheat flour for the best taste and nutrition
  • ¾ t baking soda
  • ½ t fine sea salt (if using salted butter, reduce to ¼ t)
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • ¼ cup (2 oz) of coconut oil or butter, softened
  • ½ cup of sugar
  • ½ cup of peanut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup of plain yogurt
  • ½ cup of chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x5 bread pan.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
  3. Peel bananas and mash in a large bowl - I use a potato masher for this!
  4. Add oil, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, and yogurt to the bananas and whisk to combine. You may still have banana lumps in the batter - that's fine.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until flour is moistened. Don't over mix.
  6. Melt the chocolate chips in a small bowl. I heat at high in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Add another 30 seconds in microwave and stir until the chips are melted. Let the chips cool for a couple minutes.
  7. Add one cup of the bread batter to the chocolate chips and stir until combined.
  8. Alternately spoon the batters into the prepared bread pan. Swirl with a knife.
  9. Bake for 75 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Depending on your oven, you may need to add 10 minutes (or even subtract 10 minutes). If your bread starts getting too brown towards the end of baking, cover with tin foil for the last part of the baking time.
  10. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.
  11. We wrap our uneaten bread in tin foil and store in the fridge. I hear it will keep days like this, but ours never lasts that long!

 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

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CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI BREAD

It’s that time of the year again – zucchinis are coming out of my ears. I’m constantly dropping off the extra at friends’ and neighbor’s houses. I’m known as the zucchini fairy in several circles. Late in the season, I start leaving the zucchinis without ringing the doorbells, because I’m pretty sure that everybody else is done with zucchini also.

 

One Day's Worth of Zucchini Picking

One Day’s Worth of Zucchini Picking

This is a great recipe for zucchini bread. I really like it because it is not overloaded with fat or sugar. Of course, using whole wheat flour makes it even healthier. But it tastes so good, that you wouldn’t even know that it’s a little bit healthy. It also freezes really well. I often make a triple batch and freeze the extra loaves – just wrap them in some tin foil, freeze, and use within a couple months.

A couple tips to make your bread even better. You can peel the zucchini to get rid of the green skin. Also – if your zucchini is a big guy, you can quarter it and slice out the seeds. To shred the squash, use the larger shredder disk on your food processor or shredder attachment on your mixer.

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16
 
If you don't like little bits of green in your zucchini bread, just peel the zucchini before you shred it.
Ingredients
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, melted butter or coconut oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour - I use freshly milled flour
  • 2 T unsweetened cocoa
  • 1¼ t baking soda
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • ¼ t salt
  • 1½ cups finely shredded zucchini (about one medium)
  • ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a large 9x5 inch loaf pan.
  2. Combine sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Combine with a whisk.
  3. Whisk applesauce into sugar mixture.
  4. Combine flour, cocoa, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl and add into sugar mixture. Stir until just combined.
  5. Add zucchini and chocolate chips to batter. Don't overmix.
  6. Pour batter into prepared bread pan.
  7. Bake 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Let cool a few minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

 

Whole Wheat Bread (small batch)

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This is essentially the same recipe that I teach in my bread classes, but it is adjusted for a smaller capacity mixer than the Bosch Universal or Ankarsrum.

The real trick to making this 100% whole grain bread work is using freshly milled flour.  If you try making this with store bought flour, it will end up being a very dense bread.  Consider yourself warned!

This recipe will give you a soft, beautiful loaf – just perfect for sandwiches.  And so much more nutritious than anything you can get from the store.  Enjoy!

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Whole Grain Sandwich Bread Small Batch
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Recipe type: Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 loaves
 
For those of you who are milling your own flour but are using a mixer other than a Bosch or Ankersrum, this is a method for making two loaves of whole grain bread. The results will be similar to using one of my mixers, but you'll have a little more time involved. Win some, loose some!
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of warm water (bath tub temp)
  • 2 t instant yeast
  • 2 T vital wheat gluten (optional, but helpful if you have it)
  • 2 T dough enhancer (optional, but helpful if you have it) or substitute with 2 T unpasterized apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup of honey
  • ¼ cup of coconut oil
  • 2 t salt
  • ½ cup of white flour
  • 6 cups of whole wheat flour, approximate - freshly milled is best
Instructions
  1. Combine water through coconut oil in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Add white flour and 2 and ½ cups of whole wheat flour and stir till combined.
  3. Stir in salt and 1 more cup of the flour.
  4. With machine running, add remaining flour until the dough is soft and not too sticky.
  5. Allow wet dough to rest for 10 minutes. This allows the flour to hydrate.
  6. Knead for about 10-12 minutes on the lowest mixer setting, until the dough is smooth and passes the window pane test.
  7. Place the dough in an oiled pan and let rise, covered, until about doubled in size.
  8. Gently deflate dough and shape into two loaves (8.5 x 4 pans work best for whole grain breads), oil tops of loaves with a small amount of olive oil or cover gently with a towel.
  9. Let rise a second time until the dough is about 1 inch above the lip of the pan.
  10. Bake in a 350 degree oven, 30 minutes, until golden brown.
  11. Remove loaves from pans immediately and cool on a cooling rack.

 

Sugared Cardamom Braid

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Sugared Cardamom BreadThis bread reminds me of my childhood and Christmas all rolled up into one pretty little loaf of bread.  My mom used to bake loaves upon loaves of cardamom raisin bread at Christmas time. She would send my sister and I to school with beautiful loaves of fresh baked bread for our teachers as their Christmas gifts.  I imagine the teachers must have loved getting those loaves.

While this isn’t my mom’s exact recipe, it does include the cardamom and I think it is just as wonderful.  I’ve carried on my mother’s tradition, with this bread.  I share it with neighbors, teachers, and anyone who stops by our home for the holidays.  It freezes beautifully, so you can make a big batch ahead of time, freeze the loaves and distribute to all of your neighbors when it is convenient.  And by the way, it is the absolute best toasted.

cardamombreadWhen you are shaping the loaves, you can either make one large loaf, or three smaller loaves. I usually do three smaller loaves for sharing. Just divide the dough into thirds and then thirds again (if you are going to make three loaves). Roll each third into a long snake and braid it up all pretty. Let rise and then brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. The sugar makes it all sparkly and pretty – which is just what we need when we are doing holiday baking, right?breadbraids

 

If you don’t have home milled whole wheat flour, my recommendation is to skip the whole wheat flour entirely and use a good bread flour, such as King Arthur (red or blue bag work well). If you are using bread flour, you can skip the dough enhancer and vital wheat gluten.

Enjoy!

 

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Sugared Cardamom Braid
Author: 
Recipe type: Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3 small loaves
 
Ingredients
  • 1⅓ cups milk (whole or 2% is best)
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 T butter
  • 2 T grated lemon rind
  • ½ to 1 t ground cardamom
  • ½ t salt
  • 2 t dough enhancer or unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
  • 2 t vital wheat gluten
  • 4½ to 5 cups home milled whole wheat flour*
  • 2 t instant yeast
  • 1 large egg
  • GLAZE
  • 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
  • 1 T water
  • 1 T coarse-grain sugar, such as Turbindo
Instructions
  1. Combine the milk through the salt in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Cook 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves and a thermometer registers 115 degrees, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat.
  2. Add the warm milk mixture into your mixer bowl. Add the dough enhancer, vital wheat gluten, yeast, egg and about half of the flour. If you are using your Bosch Universal mixer, and have a dough hook extender, use it. Mix just to combine (pulse a couple of times on your Universal). Turn machine to low (setting 1 on Universal) and continue adding flour ½ cup at a time until the dough just cleans the sides of the bowl. You may not use all of the flour.
  3. Knead the dough for 6 minutes or until the surface is smooth and elastic.
  4. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. (You can skip this step if you are using freshly milled flour and the Universal).
  5. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Working with one portion, divide it again into three equal portions. Shape each portion into a 10-inch rope. Pinch ends together at one end of seal. Braid ropes on a lightly oiled surface, pinch loose ends to seal or turn them under. Place braid on a baking sheet coated with oil. Repeat with remaining portions of dough so that you have three loaves formed. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
  6. Preheat over to 375 degrees
  7. Combine egg white and water; brush over top of loaf. Sprinkle with course-grain sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from oven; cool on a wire rack.
  8. * Note: If you don't home mill your flour, replace the whole wheat flour with a good bread flour, such as King Arthur's All Purpose or Bread Flour (red or blue bags).

 

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