Easiest Homemade Whole Wheat Bread — A guest post from Kendra at Our Homemade Happiness
I’ve been making 1-2 loaves of homemade whole wheat bread every week for over a year now. I was tired of the preservatives and chemicals in store-bought bread and the taste was definitely lacking.
But my handy dandy bread machine should get all the credit. I would never go to all the trouble of making my own bread without one. It’s so awesome because it takes less than 5 minutes to throw the ingredients into the pan and the machine does the rest. After it’s all said and done, I’m left with amazing bread and only one dirty pan. And it’s super easy to clean because it’s non-stick. I’ve included my favorite whole wheat bread recipe below.
HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD FOR THE BREAD MACHINE RECIPE
1 cup water
1/8 cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine/fast rising yeast (or 2 teaspoons active dry yeast)
Add ingredients according to the directions that came with your bread machine. Use the wheat bread cycle and light color setting. This recipe makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf.
Follow the directions that came with your bread machine carefully. I first got a bread maker eleven years ago. I didn’t follow the instructions and my bread never turned out. Now I make sure my water is at the right temp (my directions recommend 80°F). I spoon the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping so I don’t use too much flour. My previous bread maker recommended using bread machine/fast rising yeast so I still use that, although my new bread maker says active dry yeast can be used. I keep my yeast in the fridge so it doesn’t go bad.
If your bread doesn’t rise, try adding 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and 2 1/2 tablespoons water. Not all recipes work the same in different areas. I live at sea level. For high altitude areas, reduce the amount of yeast by 1/4 teaspoon and reduce liquid by 1-2 teaspoons until you find the right amount.
This is my rockin’ bread machine that I bought last year to replace my previous Black & Decker model. I was debating between this West Bend Breadmaker for $60 and theZojirushi Virtuoso Breadmaker for $270. Big diff in price! I read all the user reviews for each bread maker and I finally chose the less inexpensive West Bend bread maker. I’ve been very happy with it and I’m glad I didn’t fork over the extra $210 for the Zojiushi model.
$0.03 – Milk ($3.50/1 gallon)
$0.37 – Extra-Virgin Olive Oil ($9.44/25.4 oz.)
$0.35 – Honey ($7.48/32 oz.)
$0.01 – Sea Salt ($1.50/26.5 oz.)
$0.58 – White Whole Wheat Flour ($3.64/5 pounds)
$0.27 – Bread Machine Yeast ($4.24/16 envelopes)
$1.61 – Grand Total for 1 1/2 pound loaf
$4.75 – Whole Wheat Bread of Comparable Taste/Freshness from Bread Store
After making homemade bread in my bread maker 20 times, I saved the $60 I spent on it. I also make homemade pizza dough and french bread dough in it. I love that I get fresh, delicious, nutritious homemade bread without hardly lifting a finger!
Do you have a bread maker? What kind do you have and how do you like it? Do you have a favorite bread machine recipe to share?
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Marisa
October 19, 2012 at 10:26 pmI have a bread machine and also make my whole wheat bread own bread. I like to add flax meal in there too.
I recently started making bagels using the bread machine for the dough. Love it! I halved the recipe because the whole recipe doesn’t work in my bread machine. I also add in some flax meal in this one too.
Egg Bagels
1/2 and 1 tablespoon of water
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Tsp of Salt
2 and 1/2 cup of Flour
1/2 Tablespoon of Active Dry Yeast
Anonymous
October 19, 2012 at 12:29 pmOh shoot! I’d been hoping you’d include how to slice it so that you can use it on sandwiches. I love the smell, it turns out, but I can NEVER cut it well. We either have way too thick of slices, or it squishes down to wadded up bread as I’m cutting it. Is there a special tool? I just try using a serated knife, but maybe you have a specialized baking tool?
Kendra | Our Homemade Happiness
December 4, 2012 at 5:18 amI use a very sharp serrated knife. I’m not that good at slicing bread either but I’m getting better. Sometimes I put the loaf in the fridge after it cools. Cold bread is much easier to cut. When you cut, don’t press down with the knife. Just saw back and forth. The bread should slice without getting squished.
Anonymous
February 18, 2013 at 4:17 pmWe use an electric knife & you can cut it warm right out of the bread machine. It doesn’t hardly squish the bread at all. Try it!
Peppermint Ph.D.
October 19, 2012 at 11:32 amI need to just bite the bullet and buy another bread machine. I used to have one but am not even really sure what happened to it 🙁
Anonymous
October 18, 2012 at 9:39 pmWe got a bread maker almost 3 years ago and it was fine for the first 2 years. Then my husband forgot to put the water in it one day … He started playing with the Kenwood mixer and found that by using slower yeast and letting a ferment stand overnight he could make even better bread than the machine. He makes it every other day now (he’s retired so it’s given him a good interest!) But machine or hand-made, I would NEVER go back to shop bread.
Rebecca
October 18, 2012 at 7:17 pmI have a question. Can I use (brown) whole wheat flour? The recipe says white whole wheat flour. Would that alter the gluten content?
Rebecca
October 18, 2012 at 7:16 pmI have a question. The flour listed is “white” whole wheat flour. Will it alter the recipe to use (brown) whole wheat flour? Just wondering!
Marisa
October 19, 2012 at 10:30 pmI would say it might. I use brown whole wheat flour, and add the extra gluten, that makes it less dense and a little more fluffy and chewy.
Jane Craske
October 18, 2012 at 3:32 pmIs there anything better than the smell and taste of fresh bread?
My2Gs
October 18, 2012 at 1:15 pmAfter my husbands urging I bought a used bread machine for $20 and have been a bread making fool for the past 3 months. We love it! I too make about two 2lb loaves every week. My recipe is very similar to your with a few substitutions. We use Almond milk instead of regular milk and I use apple sauce instead of oil. I also toss in 3/4C of 7 grain cereal 🙂