the life of mal

well, we did it. we successfully made bread! granted it took forever and finally around midnight the project is complete. but it was definitely a fun process. and the end product is super delicious. i'm hoping to make some cute bread bags to keep our bread fresh in. both of us want to continue making homemade bread, especially since the process was fairly easy (with my awesome kitchenaid to help with the kneading!). the recipe for this bread is pretty easy and straightforward and i definitely recommend it. the bread is very dense and hearty, which i love. and there is a nice, light nutty flavor that isn't overwhelming. try it out!

whole wheat bread- from williams sonoma's baking book

makes two 9x5 loaves

ingredients:

1.5 tbs active dry yeast

pinch of brown sugar

1 cup warm water

1.5 cups tepid buttermilk (we used 1.5 cups of regular milk with 1.5 tbs of 

white vinegar since we didn't have any buttermilk on hand... works the same!)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup canola oil, plus extra for greasing

1 tbs salt

3 cups whole wheat flour

3.5-4 cups bread flour, plus extra as needed

directions:

in a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and brown sugar over the warm water and stir to dissolve. let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. 

in a stand mixer, combine the buttermilk, maple syrup, oil, salt, and 2 cups of the whole wheat flour. beat on medium-low speed with paddle attachment until creamy. 

beat in the yeast mixture and the remaining cup of whole wheat flour and beat for one minute. beat in the bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl sides. then switch to the dough hook. 

knead on low speed with the dough hook, adding bread flour 1 tbs at a time until the dough is smooth and only slightly sticky.

* we had a little issue with this part and because the dough already started pulling away before we had even added the 3.5 cups of flour we had to switch to the dough hook and add the remaining flour one tbs at a time. very tedious! for us, we used 3.5 cups of bread flour and it was definitely enough

{kitchenaid in action!}

transfer to the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough once to coat it in oil. cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in size, about 1.5 hours.

next, lightly grease two 9 x 5 loaf pans and form the loaves. *hang in with me here it can get a little confusing. 

first, you place the dough on a floured surface and pat in to a long, even rectangle.

then, imagine your dough is a piece of paper. fold one short end over to cover 2/3 of the rectangle, and fold the other side up the remaining distance. exactly like folding a letter.

flatten this bundle with your hands.

then, at the shorter end of the bundle, tightly roll up the dough. 

then, using your palms, roll the dough into a log that is the same length as the pan. 

then pinch together the open parts, the center seam and the side seams.

place the loaves, seam side down, in to the pans. cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until approximately 1 inch past the top of the pans, about one hour. 

preheat the oven to 350 F. bake until the loaves are golden brown and pull away from the pan sides, about 35-40 minutes. turn out onto racks and let cool completely. 

{these look like two different types of bread huh? i floured one a little more than the other oops!}

{aren't they so beautiful?!}

{mmmm delicious irish butter and my hubby's homemade raspberry jam}

mmm!!! after typing all of this out i do realize that this recipe seems a little daunting. but it's really not that bad! and look how beautiful the bread looks. how can you not want it? :)