Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
Bread making is in fact very easy. What you need is flour, water, salt and a rising agent. These you knead well – we don’t need any machine for that, as God provided us with the best kneading tools that don’t cost money and don’t need to be stored or transported! Hand kneaded bread … well, I find that you taste it!
Since I bake our daily bread myself (1-2 loafs per week for the two of us), I kind of know what works best for us. The amount of water in relation to flour, the amount of yeast (I only use active dried yeast!) and how long it has to rise. These are all aspects of bread making that no-body can teach you except your own inner teacher, and this by making it again and again.
However, some directions and instructions I am able to give.
- The water. This IS important! Before honestly showing interest in bread baking, I used to try here and there with cold water and impatience. Both kill your bread! Handwarm water is essential to activate the yeast and make the dough rise! I usually warm up half of the water on the stove, as our tap water is not drinkable. This I mix with water that has room temperature. A quick check with my hand – good! I didn’t burn myself, neither does it feel chilly. Perfect.
- The sequence. When I was working as a freelance proofreader, I once got assigned to proofread an Italian cooking show. The recipe presented: Pizza! And I was so surprised to see that the cook put FIRST the water into the bowl and the flour came later. Besides other “tricks” of good pizza dough making. Today, I always pour the water first into the bowl, dissolve the yeast and salt, only THEN I work in the flour. And since I do it this way, I never have troubles making the dough rise well again!
- The yeast. I am not a fan of fresh yeast. Active dried yeast I have always at home and it doesn’t go bad. This as a first note. Secondly, I am using much less than every average bread recipe indicates! Using the technique learned from the pizza chef as explained above, who only used a few grams to make his perfect pizza, the amount of yeast in my breads is very minimal. Normally 2-3 grams. This is totally enough! The secret is the warmth of the water, to dissolve the yeast first before the flour comes in, and to give it time to rise. The best pizza crust I get from a dough that rises overnight!
- No sugar. It is a real hype to put sugar in everything! Plant milk, bread rolls, soy sauce – you can hardly find sugar-free products, at least in portuguese supermarkets! This is one reason why I make almost everything now myself. To make a beautiful savoury yeast dough, you don’t need sugar!
That’s mainly it. Now let’s get started!
Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
This is our best, as simplest whole flour bread. A true delight on our daily dinner table!
Ingredients
- 400 ml water handwarm – see notes above!
- 3 g active dried yeast
- 1 tbsp salt
- 500-600 g whole wheat flour
- 2-3 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp lineseeds optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the dried yeast and salt in the water with your hand. Use water that is around 110°F (43°C) to activate the yeast. If your tap doesn’t give warm water or your tap water is not drinkable, warm up half of the water on the stove and mix it with the rest of the water to get the right temperature.
- Add the flour and the coriander seeds and knead well. Try to see how much flour your dough needs. It can vary distinctly from type of flour to type of flour. It should lie compact and not sticky in your hand when you knead it. Knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes. I use the wooden kitchen table, which doesn’t need extra dusting. Note: I realized that this bread turns out a bit crumbly, while the flavor is beautiful! This is why I had changed it and replaced a little bit of the whole wheat flour by white flour to prevent it from getting crumbly. However, it turned out that this makes the whole bread flavor change – in my opinion not to the better. Please try and see how it works best for you!
- Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with clingfilm or a plate and let rise until double of size (1-2 hours).
- Gently loosen the dough from the sides of the bowl with your finger and knead a few more minutes.
- Grease and dust a bread form (if you use a silicon form, skip this step). Note: If you have no form at hand, do it the way I do it and create your own with baking paper. note: This self-made form on the picture here has one alu side, but this proofed suboptimal as the alu works itself into the bread and getting it out again was difficult… Now I make it with baking paper only and it works very well like this too! Just make sure that you place it in a oven dish or on a oven tray and put an oven proof pot or similar next to it to prevent the dough from stretching to the sides. We want it to rise to the top!
- Place the dough into the form. Brush the surface slightly with water, sprinkle with the lineseeds. Let the dough rest for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Once preheated to the right temperature, place the bread into the oven (electric oven middle, gas oven with only lower heat to the top). After a minute, open the oven and pour half a cup of water onto the bottom and close rapidly. This will create a nice steamy environment for a good crust. Bake the bread until done (in case of doubt, use a toothpick to check if the dough inside is still sticky or not). The surface should be nicely golden brown. Note: The baking time varies from oven to oven and bread to bread. I can only give an approximate baking time of 35-45 minutes.
- Take the bread out of the oven and let cool down. Enjoy!
