What's with the whole grains?

Photo via Jill - Glossy Veneer via flickr

Looking back a couple of years ago, I would have never believed that I'd be baking my own bread every couple of weeks. We only buy sandwich bread from the store if I'm super short on time. We started the switch to whole grains gradually. First bread, then brown rice, barley, even quinoa. It's still hard to give up white rice, since I'm Vietnamese-American, and we at white rice almost everyday. Kind of like how some people ketchup on everything.

Since I do most of the cooking in our home, it wasn't hard to convince hubby to switch. He doesn't really enjoy cooking (he does make a mean meatloaf), so he had to eat it. And you know what? Whole grains are really good! You just have to experiment with different flavorings and cuisines to find out how you like your quinoa and barley. My high school friend has adapted whole grains along with me. She even has a great blog called Not Exactly Bento. She's making lunch fun again!

Baking your own whole wheat bread doesn't have to be difficult, especially when you have a bread maker. I scored mine from Freecycle. Here's the recipe I've adapted and made my own. I love it! It makes a great 100% whole wheat bread--soft, not too dense, and yummy of course! My daughter will just eat the slices plain. So try it out and let me know what you think.

This bread makes a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Kim's Easy Whole Wheat Bread

You don't need a bread maker for this, but I let the bread maker do all the work up until the second rising.

I put the wet ingredients first because that's what my machine likes. So just follow your bread maker's suggestions. This calls for whole wheat, but white whole wheat makes a lighter bread. I check while it's kneading to make sure it's not too wet or dry (depends on your humidity). The dough should be slightly sticky to touch. If it's too dry, just add a bit of water as it kneads; wait, and add more if needed. Same with more flour if it's too wet.

1 1/3c water
2-3 teaspoons of oil (veggie, canola, or olive oil)
1/4c. of honey

3 to 3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 tsp of salt
1/4c of whole flax seeds (or sunflower seeds is good too but this is optional)
2 tsp of yeast (1 pkt I think)

Add to ingredients to bread maker. Set it to small or medium loaf and voila!

BUT if you want a lighter bread, use Dough Cycle It'll beep after the first rise is complete. For second rise, butter loaf pan (butter is the best, i used oil and the bread stuck horribly). Shape into loaf shape, put ugly side down into loaf pan. oil top of dough. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour (until the bread has risen about 3/4" over top of pan).

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. If you want a soft top, butter it (I just run a stick of butter over it). Cool completely before slicing (hardest part). I think that redistributes the steam inside to give you a more moist loaf.

Have fun and let me know if you make some!