Easiest Whole Wheat Bread

click on image to enlarge

I have a giant loaf pan that holds both loaves. You'll probably make 2 smaller ones. This is how mine looks. See the tiny holes on top? They are from my instant read thermometer. And the white bubbles are BUTTER. Click on image to enlarge

Lemon juice in this recipe acts as a dough enhancer which gives bread a fine, light texture. Gluten, a natural protein derived from wheat, provides elasticity and strength, added texture, helps retain moisture, prevents crumbling, and extends the shelf life of the bread.

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground hard white wheat preferred)
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1 1/4 Tbsp. yeast
2.5 cups hot tap water
1 T salt
1/3 C melted butter
1/3 cup honey (can use part molasses for depth of flavor)
1 1/4 T bottled lemon juice (or a crushed vitamin C tablet)
2 1/2 more cups whole wheat flour

Mix together first 3 ingredients with dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for one minute. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, butter, honey, and juice (or vitamin C) and beat for one minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Preheat oven for one minute to lowest temp setting and then turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter and divide. Shape into loaves into 2 standard-sized sprayed bread pans. Let rise in the warmed oven until dough rises above the top of the pans. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes, unitl the internal temperature is 200 degrees. Unwrap the end of a stick of butter and rub this all over the loaf to make the crust softer.

Servings Per Recipe: 32
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 99.7
Total Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1.3 mg
Total Carbs: 20.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
Protein: 5.5 g

To make a 2 loaf recipe of this bread every other day for 1 year, you will need 275 lbs of wheat ground into flour, 32 sticks of butter, 46 lbs of honey, 8 lbs of yeast, 61 cups gluten, 2 2/3 quarts of lemon juice or 52 vitamin C tablets, and 7 lbs of salt.

I have been known to substitute up to 2 cups of the flour in this recipe with "Ezekiel flour" which I'll elaborate on in another post.