kid approved whole wheat bread

i’ve been meaning to post an update for quite awhile on our families favorite 100% whole wheat bread. its one of those recipes that i’ve made so often i have it memorized.

when you read over the recipe, it may seem rather complicated, but feel free to change / eliminate what you’d like as the recipe is rather versatile and forgiving. the sourdough, lecithin and vitamin C are added to get a texture that is soft and not too crumbly, but these ingredients are not necessary. texture wise, the most important thing is to not add too much flour and make sure you knead the dough until it stretches thin.
don’t be intimidated by sourdough; once you have some going, you can keep it in your fridge and feed it once a week or so, or whenever you make bread. (hopefully soon i’ll post the soughdough whole wheat bread that i’ve been making)

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kid approved whole wheat bread

Author: Amy Gerber

Recipe type: bread

Serves: 4 loaves

a soft whole wheat bread that doesn't crumble all over the place

Ingredients

800 grams hard white wheat berries
375 grams spelt berries
375 grams hard red wheat berries
1 cup hot water
2 Tablespoons SAF instant yeast
3½ cups milk
6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup sourdough (fed or unfed)
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons salt
2 Tablespoons liquid lecithin
1/16 teaspoon vitamin C powder (i open a capsule and use this)

Instructions

Grind wheat and spelt berries. (optional but improves texture is to sift flour to separate the wheat and the bran - save and use both)
Dissolve yeast in hot water for 5 minutes. While this is sponging, warm milk and butter until the butter begins to melt, but milk is not too hot to touch (you don't want it over 120 degrees or you will kill your yeast.)
Add all of the wheat bran, 75% of the flour and remaining ingredients (including warm milk mixture) to the yeast sponge. Mix for a minute on low speed, and then allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes. (this allows the flour time to absorb the moisture)
Add in just enough of the remaining flour that the dough cleans the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead 6 minutes on low speed then test the dough by stretching a pinch between your fingers. You want the dough to be able to stretch until semi-transparent without ripping; this means the gluten has fully developed. If the dough rips, knead for an additional minute, test again and so on.
Once the dough has passed the stretch test, place it in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double.
Punch dough down and divide and shape into 4 loaves. Place dough in greased loaf pans, cover, and allow to rise again.
Bake in a preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. I bake for 20 minutes and then insert an instant read thermometer. The bread is done when the interior temperature of the loaf is 185 degrees.
Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from loaf pans and allow to fully cool on a cooling rack

grinding the flour

sifting the flour

preforming the stretch test on the dough – the dough is stretchy and semi-transparent which means the gluten has fully developed. This is key to a good texture in your bread

notes and sources:

these are my favorite loaf pans