I am not the best bread maker. I have many flops. Every time I make bread I experiment. My mom is the expert bread maker….she told me once you become good by practicing. I guess I am trying to do that.

Why make homemade bread? It is so much healthier for you than store bought bread. Cheaper too. If you do buy the bread that IS healthy for you, then you are paying around $3-$4 per loaf. That is not thrifty at all. I estimate that when I make homemade bread, it is around $.35 cents a loaf. Possibly less. Plus, you don’t have any hidden ingredients you have to worry about. You know what is in there!

This bread recipe that has turns out EVERY SINGLE TIME! Just look at how the bread looks. YUM! It’s nice and spongy and soft too. My kids love it. I think the secret I learned was to sponge the dough (you let it sit for a specified time…see recipe). I hadn’t done that before and it makes a huge difference in how the bread turns out!

We are a whole wheat family. I only use white bread on special occasions. Most of the flour is whole wheat that I ground up in my VitaMix. I usually put a few cups of white flour in the bread though. Enjoy!

(These are proportions for a Bosch mixer. If you have a Kitchenaid, just cut it in half and I think that would work. It makes about 4 really big loaves or 5 med-small loaves.)

14-16 c. whole wheat flour (10-12 c. unground. You can substitute a few cups of white flour if you wish)
2 rounded T. yeast
1/2 c. high-gluten flour
1/4 c. dough enhancer (or 2 T. lemon juice)
6 c. very warm water
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. honey or brown sugar (it turns out better with honey)
1 1/2 T. salt

Directions: Mill wheat so it is fresh and warm. Place 9 cups fresh flour into mixer with kneading arm. Add dry yeast, and gluten and pulse to mix. Add water and mix for 1 minute. Turn off mixer, cover, and let dough sponge for 10 minutes. (this makes the bread have a lighter texture.) Add oil, honey, lemon juice, and salt. Turn on mixer, and quickly add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough forms a mass and cleans the sides of the bowl. (I generally add a few more cups of whole wheat and then finish it off with a few cups of white flour.) Turn mixer to high and knead for 8 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead at least 12 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.

Preheat oven to 150 during this time. Lightly oil hands and counter surface. Divide dough into equal portions. Shape into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Turn off oven. Place bread in oven, arranging pans with space between to allow heat to circulate freely. Set kitchen timer, and watch closely. Let rise until almost double in bulk, approximately 30-35 minutes. Leave bread in oven and turn heat to 350. Bake for 30-35 minutes until light golden brown. Immediately remove from pans and let cool on wire rack. Store in plastic bags in freezer to preserve nutrients in wheat.