Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread
Prep 5 minutes Rise 40 – 1:10 Bake 25-30 mins Eat 1:10 – 1:45
Making fresh bread is easier than you think. Most of the ingredients are in your kitchen already and it will take less than 5 minutes to mix the dough. Follow my step-by-step guide and pictures. Then let nature do it’s thing and pretty soon, the yeasty smell in your kitchen will be intoxicating.
Whole wheat bread contains both whole wheat and white flours.
Measure the flours and put in a stand mixer bowl or a food processor. (A hand mixer is probably not powerful enough and the dough starts to rise up the beaters. You can always mix the dough by hand too.) Add salt to one side and yeast to another. (Yeast and salt are not friends, but eventually they are both needed at this party.
Activate the yeast with the milk. Notice the bubbles forming, telling you the yeast is going to work.
Pour the milk over the yeast to activate the yeast along with the honey, oil and egg. Try to have your milk room temp or slightly warm, rather than just out of the fridge.
Mix the ingredients until combined. Then drizzle in hot tap water.
Mix the dough on a low setting until combined. Then drizzle in enough hot tap water (not boiling, which will kill the yeast) until the dough comes together into a ball and is fairly sticky.
Dough has come together and is fairly soft and sticky.
Continue to ‘knead” the dough for another minute, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or place directly into a well-oiled bread pan. When you follow the recipe, the dough will have “risen” twice.
To save time, rise the dough only once in a well-oiled loaf pan.
However, to save time in our January cooking class when the room was cold, we placed the dough directly into the bread pan, covered with plastic wrap and let it rise to double the size only once with excellent results. More flavor develops the longer the dough rises. If you decide to let the dough rise more than two hours, leave the egg out for food safety reasons.
Dough has risen and is brushed with egg wash.
The final step is to brush the top of the dough very lightly with egg wash just before baking to achieve a beautiful golden loaf.
Beautiful loaves of Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread
Bake for about 25 minutes and let cool in the pan until you can touch it. Loosen the sides with a butter knife and tip out of the pan. If it is not coming out, insert the knife along the side and push the tip underneath the loaf to loosen it. The scent of the Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread is intoxicating and you will want to tear into it right away. Control yourself and slice slowly with a good serrated bread knife to achieve the best results.
Make open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches with Kerrygold cheeses.
We served our Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread with Kerrygold Cheeses – Dubliner (my fave), Aged Cheddar and Skellig.
Love Kerrygold – Aged Cheddar, Skellig and Dubliner.
You can buy a two-pound block of Kerrygold Dubliner at Costco for about ten bucks.
Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread slices up beautifully.
Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread is great for sandwiches or eating with just about anything. Enjoy your new bread baking skills and make more loaves. After all, it’s all good for you, no long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce like the stuff from the supermarket.
Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread
This is an easy recipe to start your bread baking skills with. You can mix this bread together in less than 5 minutes. It will be sticky to the touch, which creates the air pockets you want when it is rising. Longer rising times equals more flavor in bread baking, but the quick rising time in this recipe means you will make it more often. Warmer weather or a warm sunny spot in a warm house will help the dough rise faster also. If you are going to let the dough rise more than 2 hours, leave the egg out for food safety reasons and brush the egg wash on the bread just before putting it into the oven.
2 cups all purpose-flour
1 1/3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast (Rapid Rise preferred)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
1 Tablespoon + vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons honey
1 large egg slightly beaten
1/2 cup + or – hot water (120° to 130°F) from tap
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook or a food processor, combine flours, yeast and salt. Add milk, oil, honey and 3/4 of the egg. (Save remaining egg to brush on loaf later.) Turn mixer on low and mix until combined, adding in enough hot water (about 1/2 cup) to make the dough come together, but fairly moist and sticky. Knead dough with the mixer for another minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, let stand in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 40 minutes.
2. While the bread is rising, use plenty of vegetable oil to grease a 9″ x 5″ bread pan, Add a tablespoon or so of flour and shake to cover the oil.
3. Preheat oven to 400°. Punch down risen dough and shape it into the prepared pan. Brush remaining egg over the loaf. Slice several slits in the top of the loaf. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap. Let stand in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
4. Bake in 400° oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Invert and unmold onto the rack and cool. Slice with a bread knife very slowly to achieve the best texture.
Servings: 12 – 157 calories per serving
Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose-flour
- 1 1/3 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast Rapid Rise preferred
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon + vegetable oil
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg slightly beaten
- 1/2 cup + or - hot water 120° to 130°F from tap
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook or a food processor, combine flours, yeast and salt. Add milk, oil, honey and 3/4 of the egg. (Save remaining egg to brush on loaf later.) Turn mixer on low and mix until combined, adding in enough hot water (about 1/2 cup) to make the dough come together, but fairly moist and sticky. Knead dough with the mixer for another minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, let stand in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 40 minutes.
- While the bread is rising, use plenty of vegetable oil to grease a 9" x 5" bread pan, Add a tablespoon or so of flour and shake to cover the oil.
- Preheat oven to 400°. Punch down risen dough and shape it into the prepared pan. Brush remaining egg over the loaf. Slice several slits in the top of the loaf. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap. Let stand in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Bake in 400° oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Invert and unmold onto the rack and cool. Slice with a bread knife very slowly to achieve the best texture.
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FreshFoodinaFlash.com
I love how easy you make homemade bread. Perfect for soup season.
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