A Heavenly Smell (unless you have the stomach bug)

Well folks, we have had a success! As you may remember, I have had a healthy obsession with learning how to make bread. Lucky for me, and my bread making endeavors, I have a bread machine. (Quite frankly, I still have no clue how to knead bread by hand...that is my next task). So to all those who actually do make bread, by hand, please do not take offense at my claim to have made a successful loaf of bread. I am, for all intensive purposes, keenly aware that I still do not know how to "make bread". So, that aside, I have been successful at putting the correct amounts of varying ingredients into the Bread machine, and selecting the correct cycle, and pushing start. Hooray for modern conveniences!! (BTW...This is more than I could claim a week or two ago!)

Now that I have you on the edges of your seats, I will let you in on my secrets! First, a digression. You may know that the smell of walking into a bakery where delicious loaves of bread are being baked, is one of the most pleasing on earth...at least to me. A joy of baking bread at home is that very luxury...smelling it while it cooks. That warm yeasty fragrance wafting up the stairs as you go to sleep...leads you to thoughts of delicious slices of bread slathered with butter. Unless, of course, you are cursed with a stomach virus that your 8 year old son, so lovingly passed on several hours before...then, it may just be the last straw before you toss your cookies! I don't recommend making even the most heavenly smelling loaf, if your usually ravenous son, is suddenly not hungry for one of his favorite dinners. I recommend just skipping this day for bread making, altogether. I will end by saying, that normally lovely warm yeasty smell, is just. not. pleasant. AT. ALL!  This however does NOT change the fact that when I was able to peel myself out of bed, I found the most delicious fluffy loaf of bread waiting for me downstairs. And how lucky for me, that one of the suggested "post-stomach virus" foods is dry toast!

Now, onto the recipe!
The version I based my bread on was called AMISH FLUFFY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD. I made a few adjustments, so I will just put them into the recipe instead of original amounts.

First, something I have learned about bread machine "recipes" you find online: Not all bread machines bake bread the same way...and each bread machine yields different results. This may seem obvious, but if you are like me...you may rely on reviews of different things to choose recipes, but this is hit or miss. Anyway, I learned a lot from this post at the Hillbilly Housewife.  It tells you some basics about bread making in a bread machine vs. hand-making bread...this is important for amounts of ingredients, etc. Take a look if you feel so inclined!

Okay onto the recipe....really this time.

Ingredients:
Wet:
18 TBS. Warm water (This is 1 cup plus 2 TBS.)(think baby's bath water, you know test it on your wrist--too hot will kill the yeast, too low, wont activate it properly)
1 tsp. Salt (necessary for proper rising)
1/3 cup honey (you can use other sugars...necessary to activate yeast)
3 TBS. Olive Oil (any oil should work, canola, coconut, butter)
1 large, fresh egg, ROOM TEMPERATURE
Dry:

3 cups Whole Wheat Bread flour (I used Great River Organic Milling, Organic Whole Wheat Bread Flour)

1 pkg. active yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

In my bread machine(Breadman Ultimate Plus), this is how to assemble your ingredients(CHECK YOUR MANUALS---there are different ways to do this: it varies by machine)

1. Place all wet ingredients in bread machine "basket" This includes: water, Salt, Honey(or other sugar), Olive Oil, Egg slightly beaten.
2. Add flour on top of the wet, forming a "seal." You should not "see" the wet ingredients. You don't want the wet ingredients to hit the yeast in other words, before it's time.
3. Make a small "divot" on top of your flour(not too deep...don't break the seal!) Pour your yeast in your little hole. 

4. Now, select the "whole wheat" cycle on your machine. I chose "light crust." PRESS START

5....HERE IS THE TRICK... when the dough has RAISED ONECE and the 2nd kneading cycle has begun, turn the machine OFF. Then RESET at the "whole wheat cycle" Light Crust again. AND PRESS START. This is a very weird step...but trust me on this...this allows the dough two full rising cycles before the final raising prior to baking, which, in turn, makes the bread super duper fluffy and yummy. 

Now, if you have made Whole Wheat bread before, you know that it can tend to be dense, this yields a beautifully fluffy loaf of bread, toasts nice, and has a nice yeasty quality to it. It can actually be used to make sandwiches. It is lovely. Give it a go!

Next time, maybe I will post pics of the making of the bread. If I can remember...let's be honest, that may be unlikely. :)