Ever since the stand mixer made its presence in the kitchen, I have been baking a ton of bread. Most of it has been white bread, stuffed bread and different dinner rolls. For a change I decided to try out the recipe printed on the flour bag that I buy in bulk. It also gave me an opportunity to use the vital wheat gluten that was sitting unused.
I bought the vital wheat gluten to bake this bread and have been using it for all whole wheat breads. The bread was light and had a lovely color. It was not dense as I feared it would be and the kids enjoyed it with cheese, jelly, etc. I baked one big loaf and some mini loaves. Off to the recipe. Recipe from here.
Shelly's Whole Wheat Bread

Whole wheat bread.
Ingredients:
- For Sponge
- whole wheat flour - 4 cups
- water - 31/2 cups (lukewarm)
- yeast - 1 tbsp
- honey - 3 tbsp
- For Dough
- salt - 2 tsp
- olive oil - 1/4 cup (3 tbsp butter can be used instead)
- whole wheat flour - 2 - 3 cups
- vital wheat gluten - 2 tbsp (optional)
Instructions:
Sponge: Mix the ingredients for a minute using the mixer or beat about 100 strokes using a wooden spatula. Set aside for an hour.
Dough: Mix the sponge with the rest of the ingredients and form a dough that is soft and pliable. Allow to rise.
When the dough is ready punch it down and form loaves following this recipe. Allow to rise again for about an hour. Then bake in a 375F preheated oven for about 40 minutes until the tops are browned. If the bread is browning too much, cover with foil during the last 20 minutes to allow the bread to cook through.
Allow to cool and slice.
1. Use any sweetener of choice instead of honey.
2. Mini loaves took about 20 - 22 minutes to bake.
1 year ago: Tofu Potato Breakfast Burrito
2 years ago: Tomato Lentil Gravy
3 years ago: Spinach and Rice Dumplings
Pictorial
1. Sponge: Mix the ingredients and beat for a minute with a mixer or about 100 strokes with a spatula. Cover and set aside for an hour.
Dough: Mix the sponge with the rest of the ingredients and form a dough that is soft and pliable. Allow the dough to double.





Soft bread ready.

wow…healthy and soft looking bread…loved its texture!
such a hearty and healthy one!!! beautiful bread.