Have you ever thought about trying your hand at baking for sale? Well, here’s a homemade wheat bread recipe to get you started. You can alter it to suit your own taste, or use it as is to make eight satisfyingly hearty loaves at a cost of about 65¢ each (depending on your sources of supply).
Farmers’ Market Wheat Bread Recipe
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup of light molasses
- 2 1/2 cups of dry milk
In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Then stir in 1 quart of boiling water, followed by 1 quart of cold water. When the mixture has cooled to wrist warmth, blend in the yeast and allow it to bubble. Now, break in the eggs and beat the batter vigorously.
With that done, add the whole wheat flour two cups at a time and stir the dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl in elastic strands. Next, work in the unbleached flour, kneading in the last of it before you turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it smooth. Then oil a clean bowl, put the dough in, set it in a warm spot, and let it rise to twice its original bulk (that’ll take approximately 50 minutes).
After it has risen, turn the dough out and cut it into eight equal lumps. Shape each one into a loaf and bake them in greased pans at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes, or until they’re well browned and sound hollow when tapped.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: In the course of our taste test — which, incidentally, resulted in contented comments and some busy breakfasting around the office — MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ baker found that the dough produced higher loaves, with a somewhat lighter texture, when it was allowed to rise a second time in the pan before being baked.]
