Vicki's Electric Bread Mixer Whole Wheat Bread

Minutes to bake: 25

Makes 3 to 4 loaves, depending on your size-of-loaf preference

½ cup water

¼ cup (85 gm) honey

¼ cup molasses

30 gm yeast

3 eggs

30 gm gluten

210 gm unbleached white flour

160 gm oatmeal

12 gm salt

2 cups warm water

730 gm whole wheat flour

Heat ½ cup water, honey, and molasses until warm (100-110 degrees F or 38-43 degrees C). Mix in yeast and let sit several minutes to let sponge form.

In bread mixer beat eggs with wire beater. Add yeast, gluten, and white flour. Mix at speed 1 until a bit combined, then mix at speed 3 for three minutes. Scrape bowl as needed. Mix in oats and salt and mix well at speed 3. Add warm water and mix well on speed 1.

Switch to dough hook. Add about 2 cups whole wheat flour. Mix at speed 1 until flour is pretty much mixed in, then at speed 2 or 3 for three minutes.

Add remaining flour, about ½-1 cup at a time, mixing three minutes on speed 2 or 3 after each addition, until dough is smooth and forms a ball (add a little whole wheat flour, if needed, but try mixing longer first—if you add too much flour, the bread gets dry). Mix at least two more minutes for adequate kneading time. Dough should be smooth and elastic.

Let raise in the bowl until doubled, about one hour (sometimes as quickly as a half hour). Punch down and repeat. Punch down and form four loaves (about 500 gm each). Place in greased loaf pans, cover with damp towel and let raise until doubled. Bake in hot oven (375 degrees F or 190 degrees C) for 25 - 30 minutes.

NOTES: My bread mixer has only 3 speeds, so 1 is low and 3 is high. Your bread mixer may be different, so adjust accordingly. It's important to switch to dough hooks when indicated. I forgot once and almost burned out my motor. Seriously. I could smell the burnt smell.

If no bread mixer, use any mixer until you get to the dough hook part. At that point you either need a mixer with

a dough hook or your need to mix by hand like my grandma did. And my mother. And me, actually.

There is no oil or fat in this recipe, so it might not raise as high as a recipe with fat. You could add a little (eg, butter, oil, lard, or shortening). I forgot it once and never missed it, so I just quit including it.

This bread is NOT light and fluffy. It has substance. It's wonderful, fresh from the oven, only cooled off enough to handle. It freezes well in an airtight wrapping--like plastic wrap made for freezing stuff, so make four loaves and freeze three. Take them out as you need them.