Friday, March 7, 2014

Light Wheat Bread

I have spoiled myself with this bread recipe. I now refuse to eat store bought bread. I make it once a week for my family and we almost always eat both loaves.

Ingredients:
- 4 Cups White Bread Flour*
- 2 1/2 Cups Wheat Flour
- 2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
- 1 1/2 TB Active Dry Yeast (2 Pkgs)
- 3 TB White Sugar
- 3 TB Vegetable Flavored Shortening
- 1 TB Salt

1. Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Stir in the sugar, shortening, salt, and 2 cups of the white flour. (Mixture will be very lumpy. Don't worry about it.) Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 15 minutes.
2. Stir in the remaining white flour and the wheat flour. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes. Once the dough has been kneaded, place it in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into two parts. Pat each part into a large rectangle and roll up to form your loaves. Place loaves in lightly oiled loaf pans. Recover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until they are about an inch above the pan, about 30 more minutes.
4. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.
5.Turn loaves onto a cooling rack and brush the tops with melted butter.

*If you don't have bread flour, just use All-Purpose flour and add in 1 TB of Vital Wheat Gluten. You can find the Vital Wheat Gluten in the baking aisle or the bulk section at Winco. I usually go this route because it is quite a bit cheaper than using bread flour.