Hot Out Of The Oven

Makes (2)  9 x 5 inch loaves coated with olive oil

2  Cups Warm Water

1   Tablespoon active dry yeast

3   Cups Stone-Ground 100% Whole Wheat Flour

Place first 3 ingredients in the bucket of your bread machine. I place 100 degree warm water  in the bucket, sprinkle yeast into warm water, let sit 5 minutes to soften yeast and activate. Add the Whole Wheat Flour.  Set bread machine on Dough cycle and start. I check after it starts kneading  and scrape down sides if needed. Sometimes I have to add additional flour. You should have a mixture that looks like very thick batter but not yet gathering into a ball. This is your sponge. If it doesn’t look thick enough add 1/4 cup more flour at a time. Allow machine to complete the kneading cycle, let rest for 30 minutes and keep an eye on it as it will triple in size.

When the sponge has had a good 30 minutes to rise, start the dough cycle again and add next ingredients, scraping sides as needed.

2      Tablespoons olive oil

1/2   cup honey or maple syrup

1 1/2 Teaspoons salt

1 1/2 Cup stone-ground whole wheat flour

1/4    Cup Hemp Seeds

1/4    Cup ground  Flax Seeds

Continue to let the Bread Machine go through its kneading cycle, scraping sides when necessary and adding additional flour (if needed)  1 Tablespoon at a time.  When mixed, the dough should pull away from the sides and form a soft ball. Allow the dough to continue to knead through the dough cycle and rise another 30 minutes. I leave the dough in the bread bucket to rise, when bread has doubled in size its ready to divide..Lightly flour a breadboard or marble slab,  scrape dough onto floured service, dividing into two equal pieces, shape dough. At this point you can, make 2 loaves of bread , hamburger buns, rolls, etc. After shaping and placing in prepared bread pans, dust top  with a small amount of Whole Wheat Flour and cover with a clean towel. Let rise in a warm area for approximately 30 minutes. While Bread is rising, Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I use convection bake at 385 degrees, works beautifully. When bread is doubled, place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. After the first 20 minutes cover the bread with foil and bake an additional 20 minutes. Breads internal temperature if you have a bread thermometer should be 185 to 190 degrees. Remove from oven and  tip bread out of pans onto a cooling rack. Let completely cool before slicing. Now this is the hard part, staying away from the bread while it cools, good luck with that one. We slice our bread into 16 slices for each loaf. This bread freezes really well and if you wrap it up well, lasts a couple of months.

NUTRITIONAL  NOTE :  16 SLICES PER LOAF EQUALS,  86  CALORIES,  13.8 CARBS, 2.4 FAT, 2.2 PROTEIN, 136.0 mg Sodium and Fiber  3 grams.

I love knowing what is in my food, besides the health benefits of knowing exactly what is in every slice, making homemade bread is very therapeutic. So don’t be afraid just do it.

 Adapted from one of my favorite cook books. GOOD FOOD GREAT MEDICINE