~~wAy aWEsomE WheAt brEaD (UPDATE)~~

Over the past several years I have tweaked my whole wheat bread recipe to see if I could improve the process and fluffiness factor. And I was a little crazy about not "losing" a loaf of bread so we ate whatever I wound up with in this process. It wasn't so bad. Whatever was "brick" status just got popped into the toaster and well buttered! Ha ha.

Fluffiness is of utmost  interest because whole wheat anything seems to immediately call to mind an absence of this character. Being an individual who grew up on the Wonder Bread of the 70s/80s/90s it is a habit and expectation that is difficult to set aside! I know... I am weak. Honestly, I didn't want to complicate my recipe with a bunch of additives and make the process a pain in the hiney - whether it was an additional, potentially costly, ingredient or whether or not it was an item that was easily found. Well, after you see the comparison photo I think you will understand why this addition was so readily accepted!

Lecithin: derived most commonly from soybeans, is used in baking for its ability to moisturize, preserve and emulsify.

For no other reason than I just wanted to see what happened I went ahead and made two batches of bread: one the regular way, one adding lecithin. I noticed right away that when I added the lecithin that the liquids looked more mixed (emulsified) than without. Hmm. At the time I wasn't sure that was so great. After all, water and EVOO technically do not mix, right? Then during the rise time it appeared to be a little taller than the original recipe. And lastly, after baking there was a significant difference.

Here is the result:

See? Do I really have to indicate that the one on the right is the lecithin batch? And it was a lovely elastic texture that was closer to my preference. So - there you have it. Documentation/justification of the addition of LECITHIN to my recipe.

Here is my updated recipe:

2.5c warm water

1/4c EVOO

1/3c honey

1T red palm oil

(if you don't use red palm oil simply increase the EVOO to 1/3c)

2t salt

2T powdered lecithin 

(I tried liquid as well and it was identical results)

- mix for 4 minutes.

Mill:

2c hard white wheat

2.5c hard red wheat

- add to wet ingredients.

1 heaping tablespoon of dry yeast

- add to wet ingredients.

-knead in mixer for 6-8 minutes. 

(the bowl will be quite tidy and dough elasic-y)

Let the dough rise for an hour in an EVOO coated bowl covered. Then punch the dough down and divide into two pieces shaping it into two loaves and place in large bread pans that have been rubbed with EVOO. Allow to rise for an hour. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven at 350.

After the bread is baked let it sweat slightly for about 5 minutes and it should slide right out of the pans without any issue. If you notice that it's not coming out easily give it another five minutes. Otherwise you probably didn't oil the pan well enough. Oh well, just slide a knife down the sides and remember next time to be a little more liberal with the EVOO.

Don't leave the bread in the pans much longer than 10-15 minutes because it may get soggy. Let it completely cool on a rack to room temperature. You'll find that the top of the bread is crusty but as it cools it will begin to get more tender. I don't butter the top because that is my preference - no other reason. I keep my loaves in plastic bags and four loaves usually lasts my family of eight about a week.

Good luck and I'd love to hear from you!

~~wAy aWEsomE WheAt brEaD~~

I HAVE TWEAKED THIS RECIPE AND HAVE DOCUMENTED THESE CHANGES/ADDITIONS IN A NEW POST - MAKE SURE YOU CHECK IT OUT.

2 1/2 cups warm/hot tap water
1/4 cup EVOO

1 T red palm oil (if you don't have this increase the EVOO to 1/3 cup)

1/3 cup honey 

(baking with raw honey cancels out any nutritional benefit so pasteurized honey is practical in cost since raw honey is significantly higher - my friend who is a nurse and her husband was a master bee-keeper counseled me on this)

2 t kosher or sea salt

500 mg vitamin C (crushed)

I put all these ingredients in my Kitchen Aid (with the wire whisker attachment) and let it incorporate for about 4-5 minutes. Change to the dough hook attachment and add:

Mill:

2 1/2 cups hard red wheat berries

1 3/4 cups hard white wheat berries

(or about 5 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour - I used Bob's Red Mill before getting my mill)

1 (heaping) T of yeast

After allowing to mix for a minute or so on low, I set the mixer on high and let it knead for six minutes. This might seem arbitrary but I discovered that the glutens in the flour needed to be process long enough and yet not too long so that the bread isn't crumbly or a brick. The mixing bowl should be fairly clean as the dough has come together in a nice ball.

Then I take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a pretty ball, spray the mixing bowl (don't bother cleaning it), and return the ball into the bowl to rise for an hour.

After that hour punch down the dough and form into two loaves and allow them to rise another hour in sprayed loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I used to allow only one rise but the flavor and consistency of the double rise loafs were significant enough that I felt that it was worth the extra hour.

Don't allow the bread to stay in the pans too long after taking them out of the oven because condensation will form and make the crust soggy. And I tried putting butter on the tops and it kinda messed up the top of the loaf and didn't keep well for the week.