100% Whole Wheat Bread

PB090736, originally uploaded by Kim De.

I finally got a chance to use my new cookbook, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I mixed up dough before we left for our trip on Thursday, then shaped and baked on Sunday.

Now I want to make it clear. This bread is good. It is convenient to make. It is easy. It does not have the same flavor as a bread with lots of hands on, a long rise time etc. However, I find myself using it on busy weeks and it makes a fine sandwich bread.

If you have ever wanted to try bread baking but thought you needed magic hands, try this one!


100% Whole Wheat Bread, Plain and Simple (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day)

This recipe makes enough for four 1-lb loaves. You can easily halve or double.

7 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 T yeast (or two packets)
1 T salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
3 3/4 cups lukewarm water.

Mixing and Storing: Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt and gluten in a 5-qt bowl, or lidded (not airtight) food container.

Add the water and mix without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last nit of flour to incorporate if your not using a machine.

Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 10 days.

On Baking Day: Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cup off a 1-lb piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Allow the loaf to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a pizza peel prepared with cornmeal or lined with parchment paper for 90 minutes. (40 if you are using fresh dough) Alternatively you can rest the loaf on a silicone mat and greased cookie sheet without using a pizza peel.

Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 with a baking stone placed on the middle rack.

Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top with water. Slash the loaf with 1/4 inch deep parallel cuts. Fill a clean spray bottle with warm water.

Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone, or put the cookie sheet in. Spray the loaf with water and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 30 minutes until browned and firm, or until 180 on a thermometer.

Allow the bread to cool on a rack.