How to Make Whole Wheat Bread Tutorial
ByBesides making Sourdough Bread, this is my favorite, simple 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe. This recipe makes two loaves. (I always double it for my family, so if the pictures in this tutorial look like twice the amount, that’s because it is.)
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
6 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1 ¾ cups warm water, divided
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 t. sea salt
3 T. melted butter
Mix 3 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 ½ cups of warm water in a large glass bowl. Allow this to sit for about 30 minutes. This will break down the gluten and help the bread to rise better.
In a small bowl mix together ¼ cup water, 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast and 1/3 cup honey. Allow this to sit for about 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and mixture becomes bubbly.
In the meantime, melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and allow to cool. You don’t want the hot butter to kill the yeast.
Add 1 teaspoon salt, melted butter and yeast mixture to the flour and water mixture. Gradually add the remaining three cups of flour and stir well. As the dough becomes harder to stir, pour it out onto a clean counter and begin to knead the dough.
Here’s a video to show you how to knead the dough. Two things: 1) I was having a freaked out hair day. So glad I could share it with you. 2) I’m pretty sure “wetter” is not a real word, yet I use that word toward the end of the video. I are sorry.
Don’t you love how I “spank” the dough at the end of the clip? There’s something very gratifying about giving the dough a nice “spank”. You should try it sometime.
Once you’ve kneaded your dough, place it into a bowl to rise.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise for at least one hour or until it has risen to twice it’s starting size.
While you’re waiting for your dough to rise, get your bread pans buttered. You can also do some laundry, wash some dishes, or clean the bread dough out from under your fingernails.
There it is…doubled up.
Give the raised dough a nice punch.
(Punching? Spanking? Who knew making bread was so violent in nature?)
Using a floured hand, pull the dough out of the bowl onto the counter.
Knead for three or four minutes until the air bubbles are all gone.
Now you can watch how I shape my dough into loaves before baking. Again…more spanking…
Cover and allow 30 minutes to one hour to rise again. They should double in size, but the rising should happen more quickly this time because the yeast knows what to do by now.
See here how the loaves have doubled in size?
Bake the bread uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when you thump the top of it. (Great. Spanking, punching and thumping. I am really a bad influence.)
Allow the bread to cool in the pans for 10 minutes,
then remove it to finish cooling on a wire rack.
The bread slices more easily after it’s cooled. However…it’s awfully hard to wait…and bread fresh out of the oven slathered in butter is really, really good. I say go for it.
A few notes:
- Making bread from start to finish takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Most of that time is waiting and baking time…but if you plan to make bread, you should block out an entire morning or afternoon.
- If your water or butter is too cold or too hot, it will kill the yeast. If you can put your (clean) finger in the water or butter and it doesn’t burn you, but just feels warm… you’ve got the right temperature.
- If the dough in your bowl has risen to double and suddenly you need to nurse the baby or wash cottage cheese out from between your toddler’s toes…just go punch down your dough and let it rise again before you shape it. It won’t hurt anything.
- If you want to shape your dough into loaves, but bake them later: Shape your loaves then put them directly into the freezer before they have a chance to rise. Allow them to sit in buttered loaf pans for several hours (or overnight) so that they can thaw and rise before baking.
- Many of you have asked if I have a bread machine. I don’t, so I’m sorry I am not able to answer your questions about them. I’m assuming this recipe would work in a machine, but I don’t know. Maybe some of you with bread machines can chime in on this?
Click here to read through posts describing and explaining grains, grain mills and grinding flour!
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This post is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap!
I have just finished making this bread! I really enjoyed the first slice warm with peanut butter. Funny that you posted this today I used another post that I had bookmarked (twice!). I cheated & used my mixer to do the kneeding for me while we got ready got school & it turned out well.
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Crystal Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Laura – , You have inspired me to start making more stuff homemade :-) i am really enjoying this , not that i did not make most of my stuff homemade before but i am starting to make even more your website is fantastic and i just wanted to say THANK YOU especially for this bread turtorial GOODBYE BREAD MACHINE
:-) !!! i am canning peaches today got a great deal 30lbs for $15 from one of our local farms.
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Thanks for the tutorial! Do you leave the dough to soak overnight usually? (The whole phytates thing….)
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Laura Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
This particular bread recipe does not call for soaking overnight…therefore the phytates will not be broken down. Breaking down phytates requires soaking the grain in a cultured dairy product or lemon juice.
This recipe is sort of a compromise recipe. While it isn’t the healthiest ever…it’s at least way better than store bought! :)
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Jen Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:31 pm
If I wanted to have it soak overnight, could i just add a bit of lemon juice? would that help it break down? and then could i continue on with the recipe in the morning?? thanks
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Laura Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
You could try that, although you could only add it to the initial flour and water mixture. The remaining flour you’d add the next day wouldn’t be soaked…but at least it would be better!
I am so glad you posted this. I just bought some yeast today and was gonna look up recipes NOT using a bread machine. I am so happy now.
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Was this a multi-step process to get the videos made? I just asked since it looks like you’re wearing three different outfits, but you didn’t get yourself dirty! I wish I was that talented. :)
Thanks for the tutorials!
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Laura Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
YES!! I wondered who would notice my change of clothes! I did the picture taking a LONG time ago wearing the tan sweater. Then I had my son video me kneading bread several days ago…maroon shirt. Yesterday, I made bread again and had him video me shaping the loaves…corduroy jacket. I didn’t think about him videoing me shaping loaves the day we videoed the kneading. Silly me. :)
Thus…three different changes of clothes.
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I l-o-v-e making homemade bread. It’s like therapy to me. I like your video demos. Very well done. I especially like your loaf shaping technique. I’m from the old school of rolling and then shaping. I think on baking day I will give your method a try. Thanks for enlightening me.
~Mrs. M
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Thanks for the tutorial. this is the only way I learn by watching!! I now figured out why my bread (your recipe wasn’t coming out right) I need to KNEAD it longer.
Can’t wait to hear more about the grinder. I am still on the fence about buying one. I have been doing so much baking lately and putting away baked goods for after the baby, that I am thinking I just might get one.
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As silly as this may seem……the thing that impressed me the most was how you didn’t get any flour on your shirt!
signed,
the messy cook;)
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When I used to bake bread with my breadmaker, I was never happy with the really tall loaves. So I made my bread using the dough feature. Then when it was finished, I would pull it out, shape it to fit in my loaf pan, let it rise, then bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
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This was a great tutorial. Thanks.
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Can you freeze the loaves? Do you do it after you have baked them or before?
Thanks so much for your blog. I have learned so much from you and love the humor you add to life. :)
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Laura Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Yes, you can freeze the loaves after you bake them…or before following the directions in the bullet list above.
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This is excellent! Is it OK if I link to it from my blog? Folks are always asking me about “how to,” but have no way to video it.
I didn’t know about soaking the wheat before adding other ingredients. That’s helpful advice! I use SAF yeast and don’t really have any trouble with the rise, but have heard others who do. Thank you for sharing this excellent bread making tutorial!
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Laura Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Sure…link away!
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Thanks for the recipe…and instructions! I made it this afternoon. It was delicious — I had some directly out of the oven. Your loaves are DEFINITELY “prettier” than mine, but stilll…I was very pleased with the texture and taste! I’ll work on the prettiness! ;)
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HI Laura,
Is there a reason you don’t use a bosch to make your bread? It does all the kneading for you & you can make 6 loaves of bread at a time.
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Laura Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Oh yeah….I just don’t have one. :) If you DO have a Bosch…GO for it! Saves a lot of muscle from what I hear!
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Thank you soooo much for this tutorial!! Now, time to attempt another batch of bread tomorrow….
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I have tried a few times with yeast breads and was starting to feel like I wasn’t meant to bake my own breads but after watching your tutorial (Thank you!), I decided to give it another try. WOW! My husband and I just had a slice, fresh out of the oven with butter and OH. MY. GOODNESS. Store bought bread? Never again. My dough was a bit more dry; I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat and am not sure if it’s different than grinding your own and thought it might not come out but it ended up being great. Thanks again for the videos! :)
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THANK YOU for this recipe I am going to have to go make some now… I just bought some raw honey from a local gal who is in the same poultry group and I was wondering what I could do first to help me bust open that big ol jar I bought… HA HA and just think I stopped by here and you have a RECIPE!
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This was very cool! I had mastered making white bread years ago and have since learned more about healthiness. I don’t even want to do the 1/2 all purpose/wheat recipes that most wheat bread recipes call for.
However, and maybe because I just need to practice more, but my dough does not seem as smooth and elastic, even as yours looks on the video. I’m amazed that you can knead it on what appears to be a non-floured surface the last time around, without the dough tearing or sticking. Yours appears still lighter, while mines seems so heavy.
Could you post some trouble shooting? I mainly need to know if I’m kneading and the dough is tearing and seems to rough but it’s still somewhat sticky, does that mean I just need to keep kneading without adding more flour?
Also, I have used whole wheat pastry flour for other things, what do you think of it? I may try it for bread soon.
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I love the videos. Very helpful.
:)
Great post! Thanks for sharing.
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I thought it was interesting that you soak your flour before you make the dough. I have always used gluten to help my bread rise more effectively. Then I don’t have to wait the extra half hour. Have you ever tried that? How does it compare with soaking flour? Thanks for the video.
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Hi! I found your bread tutorial today and I am giving it a shot… I cleaned the dough from under my nails and am using the “rising” time to read your blog; love it :) Anyhoo…about the bread. My dough was so stiff and dry that I was unable to even work the whole 6 cups of flour in. Any ideas why? I did use King Arthur whole wheat flour and I noticed someone else had mentioned that. I double checked everything else and all other quantities were ok. My dough was nowhere near as soft and pliable as yours on the video. I am hoping it will bake up ok. we’ll see. thanks for any suggestions that you might have.
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AmandaM Reply:
November 19th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I tried this recipe for the first time, using King Arthur whole wheat as well, and had the SAME problem: the dough was quite dry/heavy, and I only used about 5 cups of flour because by that time there was already flour in the bowl that wouldn’t stick. Growing up, we made bread with freshly-milled flour in the Bosch. I don’t have one (yet!), so I do the old-school big with bowls. The taste, texture, and crust of this bread were great, but the loaves were pretty squatty and a little too heavy. I’d love your thoughts.
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Betsy Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
I was so excited when I read your recipe. I was looking for a whole wheat recipe that only used whole wheat. (I can’t read half of what I’ve typed so hopefully it’s not full of typo’s) i chave fallen in love with your website. I has inspired me to get back to my home making roots. I’m back to cooking more. So today I looking for a whole wheat recipe, but most of them call for white flour as well. hen I thought of your site. Sure enough you had one :) Just like Melanie, I used Bob’s Rd Mill flour and didn’t use half of what was called for in the flour, because my dough was dry. It also doesn’t seem to be rising as well as it should. My Grandma always said to not make bread on a rainy day b/c it wouldn’t rise right, and today is damp and overcast from rain storms.My gGrandma always told me to test the liquid temp the same way you test a baby bottle- the inside of your wrist. If it ’s okay then your yeast will rise. I know my water was warm and my butter cooled, but I’d never heard about too cool. That may have been my problem too, b/c I was making a number of meals today as well. Thanks again! I hope it does rise some more. Your site is one of my favorites now. :)
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Betsy Reply:
January 26th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I just had to come back and say… it was slow rising but it rose and was delisious!It was dense but not heavy if that makes any sense. Thanks again!
Danielle Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Hey Melanie!
I used KA’s wheat too. I had a hard time as well, and I had just mixed the 3 cups. I just added more water, and continued to add the flour. I figured it had to do w/the climate. I now know what everyone was talking about “dense” bread. It was a little dense. But I toasted it, and it
was aok!
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Thanks for the recipe and tutorial!!!
I noticed that you used loaf pans made from different materials. I only have glass pans, do you have a preference?
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Laura Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I like my glass pans just fine, but I REALLY love my stone pans!!
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Laura,
When are kneading the dough and adding flour, is that flour in addition to the 6 cups in the recipe?
Thanks Jenny
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Laura Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Generally it is flour in addition to the six cups, but it depends on the type of flour you use and the climate where you are. So, just add it until it is the right consistency. :)
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HI Laura,
My friend forwarded me your blog and I love it. I’m only been reading it for about a month but I got a grain mill! Which leads me to my bread question. I’ve tried my original recipe and your whole wheat recipe and neither has worked out.
Do you have any ideas why it wouldn’t rise? My yeast is good…I used both hard and soft red wheat berries…I went on to the http://www.thefreshloaf.com site and read some conflicting info. Some people let their ground flour sit for a few weeks/months and some say use it right away. What do you do?
i don’t want to add gluten, if i dont’ have to.
Help!
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Laura Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I use my ground flour fresh. Everything I’ve read says that it’s much healthier that way.
I’m not sure why your bread isn’t rising. Is your yeast getting all bubbly when you mix it with honey and water? If so, that means your yeast is working. My only other thought is that maybe you need to let your flour/water mixture sit longer than 30 minutes to really let the gluten release.
Wish I could be more help!
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Sally Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I use all 3 types of wheat (hard red, hard white, and soft white).
I have learned through trial and error that you can’t use soft
white berries for yeast breads. It’s only good for quick breads,
desserts, and the like. I use a great christian homeschool family’s
co op for my supplies and they have a great recipe for whole wheat
bread that I’ve used forever. It does have a few other ingredients
though. http://www.breadbeckers.com is the website and they have a great
forum you can join for free and be able to free a ton of great
recipes and get tips on your baking as well as questions answered.
Hope that helps. Keep trying you’ll get it! Don’t give up!
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I loved your video tutorials – you are hilarious! It’s 10:30 p.m. and my family is asleep, I thought I was going to wake them up laughing (at your spanking the dough :) I can’t wait to try your recipe. I recently purchased the More-with-less cookbook and was going to try a whole wheat bread recipe in there. But yours looks so easy, I’m going to give it a try. Thanks for the info, you did great!
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Tried this, but my yeast must have been bad. I was so disappointed, it didn’t raise at all :(
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I really like this site…i was searching for healthy good cinnamon rolls on google and saw your site. I’ve been looking through some of your recipes and I really like the pictures and they look so good! I’ve bookmarked you so, when I come back to bake and try new recipes I know where to come. Thank you so much!
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I made this bread a couple of weeks ago. On the second day it tasted yeasty though. Again, I will try letting it rise a lesser time. I made it by hand since it was my first time. Next time, I will use the bosch mixer with only one rising. I will post how that goes.
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Thank you SO much for the tutorial. My 2nd experience was much easier than the first. I just kept it well-floured and didn’t have the frustration of dough all over my hands. Thanks!
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I lately came across your blog and have been learning along. I thought I would leave my first remark. I don?t know what to say except that I have loved reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very frequently.
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Laura,
I am a brand new blogger, so I’m not sure what the protocol is for copying other bloggers, linking to other blogs, etc. I just put your bread recipe on my blog, is this okay??? I did talk about your blog and put a link to it. Please let me know if I did this wrong, or if I should have asked FIRST, before publishing! I really want to learn how to do this right! (BTW, your bread is fabulous.)
Lori
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Laura – I just made this today but i subbed 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill Organic high fiber cereal for 2 cups of the ww flour – i think it’s pretty good. I made one loaf regular and the other a cinnamon swirl (which my mom used to do with yummy bad for you white flour, lol) and they both turned out pretty good. my only comment is that i needed to put the loaves on top of the turned on oven to rise properly and then i really only needed to bake them for 30 min – i left them in for 40 because i thought 30 seemed to short, but they are a little browner than i would like now so next time i know. my oven does tend to bake faster on most things but only by a few minutes so i was surprised they were done so fast.
I am having fun trying all your baking recipes – did the graham crackers and next up are the soft pretzels and the bagels. Thanks!
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Thanks so much for this recipe. I have been making it for a while and it is great to know my kids are eating good stuff! And, wow, does the bread taste great. My son just saw your picture and said, “Boys rule in their house too!” (We have three boys and one girl.) Your blog is such and encouragement to me!
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Thank you SO much!! I actually made bread earlier today, and as always, my loaves are so flat and heavy. Of course, my wonderful husband said they were great, but I want to make more to use for sandwiches, and those just aren’t as good on 2-3″ tall bread. :P So, THANKS!! Got the info I was looking for. Looking forward to trying this one tomorrow… along with the whole wheat doughnuts.
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Becky Clark Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Thank you. I even blogged about this, I was so happy with the way my loaves turned out!!! The address is:
http://thejuniorclarks.blogspot.com/2010/01/baking-bread.html
if you care to read it.
Thanks again!!!!
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Ok, so my brain doesn’t get fried trying to figure it out… is this recipe for four loaves or one loaf?
And if it’s four… what would the recipe be for just one loaf?
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Danielle Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
oy… never mind. I just re-read the first sentence!!
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I totally love that you ’spank’ the dough after you get done kneading it. I have always done that and, until now, I thought I was the only spanker. Gratifying indeed!
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Laura, I just noticed, you have two different measurements for yeast. Is it 2 1/4 tsp or 2 1/2 tsp?
I have all the ingredients, and I’m set to bake bread this weekend. I think I’m going to try 1/2 all purp flour and 1/2 ww.
And lo-and-behold, the honey WAS w/the pb&j!!
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Laura Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Ah, sorry…2 1/4. I’ll go edit that. Thanks for pointing it out! SO glad you found your honey!!! :)
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Thanks so much for this recipe! My loaves turned our perfect and sooooo delicious. I used half regular whole wheat flour and half whole wheat pastry flour (ground a little finer). Wonderful! Bless you for your efforts in keeping us close to what God intended us to eat in a yummy way!
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Hmmmm. I got done w/the kneading and it’s currently rising. Is it suppose to be kinda crackly or should it be ALL smoothe?
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Danielle Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 11:37 am
I should also say I had to add more water it was really dry after three cups. I probably ended up adding over a cup of water.
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Laura Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Yeah, most will have to tweak the recipe a bit like you did based on different kinds of flours, different climates, etc. The crackly or smooth thing? Same thing…yours is going to look different than mine. I’m sure yours is just fine. Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
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Danielle Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Yeah I wasn’t sure, but figured it would be ok to add water.
The crackly thing freaked me out lol. I ended up rolling both loaves out, one I made the honey wheat (half all-purpose, half whole wheat), the other is the cinnamon swirl. I wasn’t about to try and
shape a loaf on top of making bread for the first time lol.
I have to say, the kneading part wasn’t as scary as I thought it was
going to be! Both loaves are in the oven as I type, so I’ll let you know when they are done!
Danielle Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Well bread is out of the oven, and cooling. the one loaf cracked (the honey WW one) the cinnamon looks pretty lol. Hopefully I’ll get better at shaping them. They look a little weird lol.
Well, i couldn’t wait any longer lol. The crust is a little dry, but the inside is pretty moist! So I guess I did aok for the first time making bread!
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Laura Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Yay! Good job. I knew you’d do great!
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Danielle Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Thanks Laura!!! I wasn’t so sure earlier.
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Laura!!! I wish you could come to my house and show me how to make this bread. I did another 2 loaves over the weekend. My dough never gets smooth like yours. It’s kinda like in pieces? Then I mix it into a ball, and just looks like a mess. I dunno, but maybe the next time you make bread you can make a video of the beginning of the bread making? maybe I stop mixing too soon or something.
I kind of gave up on it on Saturday. I barely kneaded it, it was so wet (I added too much water) and kept on adding flour (when I was kneading it, can we say I used OVER half a 5 lb bag!!!!) and it just wasn’t working. BUT I did end up baking it, (still rose and everything lol) and it still tastes good. I guess bread is VERY forgiving!! lol
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Yumm! I just had a bite of this bread after pulling it out of the oven 5 min. ago. So good! I made the cinnamon variety and through some raisins into mine as well. This is my first time baking bread and it was a major success! The video and pictures really helped me, just written instructions can be really overwhelming when you have no clue what your results should look like. At first I thought I was doomed, my dough looked nowhere as pretty as yours and was falling and flaking apart all over the place but at the end it came together and my loaves looked pretty official when I pulled them out of the oven. I’m excited to have my boyfriend try this, hes convinced he doesn’t like whole wheat and I think this will change his mind. Thank you!
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Danielle Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
yah, my loaves weren’t pretty either!! I thought I did something wrong. but i watched her video again, and in the beginning her loaf looked like mine. I just need to mail my loaves to laura to make them pretty lol.
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I am a new bread maker here. I have tried a few other recipes and this one is the first one that I have tried that has turned out. I know practice makes perfect so I will keep trying.
I use my bread machine to mix all of the dough for me, then when that was done I let it rise like normal!
thank you!
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Serenity Reply:
April 14th, 2010 at 10:05 am
I want to try this using my bread machine’s dough settings. Do you have any suggestions? Changes to the order or recipe? Thanks!
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Hey Laura!
I made this bread today and had a bit of trouble. The dough was really stiff and hard to work with, and didn’t seem to rise very much. I could barely knead it, and it baked not looking very pretty. However, it tastes delicious! I’d love to know what I messed up. Any suggestions?
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Laura Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Well, I’m so glad it tastes good! Maybe try using less flour next time. Bread does differently in different climates and with different kinds of flours. I use freshly ground flour from hard white wheat and it usually does well for me.
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Laura, Hi there fellow Nebraskan! Do you have a version of this that you soak? My husband recently got me a Grain Mill (a Family Grain Mill) and last night he ground me up about 21 cups of flour which got put to soaking last night in various concoctions ::smile:: and today got put to good use in Muffins, Crackers, Tortillas and Bread. We had to grind the flour twice for a finer consistency (I would have personally liked it even finer but oh well, maybe next time) My bread that usually does great barely rose. I proofed the yeast, but I didn’t add vital wheat gluten…should I have? It tastes fine and is moist but didn’t get tall like when I use Spelt. Any Suggestions for baking with fresh ground whole wheat??? Your breads always look so perfectly scrumptious!
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Laura Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Sounds like you’re having a blast with your grain mill!!! I don’t have a good soaked version of bread…just the sourdough (which you can read all about here: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/category/sourdough-starter)
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What size loaf pans do you use for this recipe?
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Laura Reply:
August 9th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
I use 9″ loaf pans.
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Just made this for the first time today and it’s very tasty! I think I need to reduce the flour a bit next time as it was hard to knead and a little dense, but overall it came out just fine. Thanks so much for the recipe!
My question is, how do your store all your yummy fresh baked breads that you plan to consume in the next few days to a week?
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Laura Reply:
August 9th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I put the loaves into a freezer bag and put them into the freezer after they’ve cooled completely.
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I made one batch of this bread and it turned out great! I want to make more, but just discovered I am almost out of butter (EEK!). Can I substitute oil for the melted butter?
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Laura Reply:
August 19th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Yes, you can use oil instead, no problem!
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Hi Laura :) Is there any substitute for the honey? Could I use rapadura sugar instead or make the loaves without the honey? Thanks!
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Laura Reply:
August 19th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Yes, you can use rapadura instead. It just may give your bread a more molassessssssssy (I don’t know how to spell that word, obviously) flavor. :)
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Hi! I tried your recipe last night, this was my first time making bread EVER! I had to tweak the recipe a bit, my boyfriend can’t eat whole wheat so I changed it to bread flour. I know it seems strange, but I’ve tested him by secretly slipping whole wheat in and he really does get sick from it.
Anyways, the bread is still very good…. but it didn’t rise very much and is quite dense and heavy. Do you think this happened because I used a different flour, because I used sugar instead of honey (didn’t have any honey), because I switched from butter to oil, because my yeast was older or I didn’t let it rise enough? HELP!
Anyways, it still tasted yummy and I had a piece fresh out of the oven with butter all over it. I’m going to try again so any suggestions are much appreciated! Thanks :)
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Laura Reply:
August 27th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Hmmm, well first – great job making bread for the first time!!! :) Part of the “problem” with the bread being dense could just be that it was your first time and it seriously does just take some time to get used to making bread. Every time I make bread, it turns out better than before. You may not have kneaded it long enough. If it didn’t rise very much then yes, your yeast may have been old or just not activated enough.
So glad it tasted good anyway…I say keep working on it and it will get better each time!
And maybe try differen’t yeast!
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