I’ve always enjoyed cooking, it was more art, less science. ”Add to taste; if you mess up, just put more garlic/salt/pepper/sugar in the sauce.” Baking is a different beast. It’s exact. Once you start down a path, there’s no going back. Stuff has to be creamed, let rise, set. Last week I attempted to bake a cake from scratch for the first time. Since I’ve never successfully made a box cake, it didn’t go so well.
This girl must be a glutton for punishment then because this week I am foolishly attempting to bake homemade whole wheat bread, soft pretzels, and cookies. The dough is rising now and I’m typing this from my kitchen. The dough seems particularly stringy – very concerning.
Also, I could not find a single recipe for bread made from entirely whole wheat flour. Even the recipe on the whole wheat flour calls for white flour! Nonetheless, here’s the r
RECIPE:
3 – 3 1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 pkgs. dry yeast
1 3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. whole wheat flour
In large bowl put 2 cups flour and the yeast. In a small saucepan heat the milk, brown sugar, butter and salt until warm, 120 to 130 degrees. Add the warm liquid to the flour and yeast mixture. Beat by hand 3 minutes. Stir in all the whole wheat flour. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make moderately stiff dough. Shape into a ball, let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch down. Divide dough in half. Place dough in 2 greased 8″x4″x2″ loaf pans. Let rise again 30 to 60 minutes. Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes.
Thanks to this place for the recipe for the bread. Notes on the pretzels to follow.
