Grant Loaves

Here is the recipe for the bread that I have been making of late.  In my opinion it is about as easy to make as home-made yeast-risen bread can be.  There is no kneading and no double rise.  If you already had the whole wheat ground it would probably take less than 10 minutes to get them in the pans and into a warm oven for a quick 30-45 minute rise, followed by a baking time of about the same period. It doesn't produce the lightest bread in the world, and it won't last forever (I find after day three it's better to use it for french toast).  Nonetheless, the bread is very good with a nice nutty wheat flavor.  I also like the texture which is slightly chewy without being too dense.  In my opinion it is significantly better than the 5-minute-a-day bread that has been popular of late, and it takes much less time overall to put together.  Possibly the only drawback of the bread is that the recipe makes 3 loaves, which for most families would be hard to eat before it goes stale.  We usually freeze two of the loaves and take them out as we need them, which seems to work out fine.  A few days ago I used the last third of a loaf to make french toast and it was very possibly the best french toast I'v ever had.  You should really give this a try, especially if it's late at night and you don't have anything for sandwiches the next day.

Grant Loaves 

(Adapted from BREAD the breads of the world and how to bake them at home by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter)

12 cups whole-wheat flour (I currently use the hard white winter wheat available from the church)

1tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon dry active yeast

5 cups warm water (95-100 degrees F)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1) Place 1C of the warm water in a medium size bowl.  Sprinkle yeast over water and allow to sit for ~1 min.  Add brown sugar and stir, allowing yeast to proof for ~5 min.

2) In the mean time, prepare three loaf pans.  I usually just use cooking spray.  It's fast and works just as well as anything else.

3) Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yeast mixture and remaining 4 Cups of water.  Stir until evenly moist, about 1 min.  A large metal fork is my preferred instrument of choice for this step.  If I had a Bosch I'd use that instead.  

4)  Divide the dough evenly among the three pans and let rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.  I usually err on the long side of the rise.  Ideally you want the bread to be about double, but as with all bread if you let it go too long it will fall.  When it's cold outside (and consequently in our house) I usually heat the oven at 'warm' and then turn off the oven before placing the bread inside.  I don't cover it while it's rising, as I don't really think there is a need when it's in the oven as air circulation is minimal.  (I would likely cover it if it was on the counter top.)

5) Bake the bread for 40 minutes at 400 degrees F.  I usually skip the pre-heating step and just turn the oven on near the end of the rise and set the timer for a little over (say 5 minutes) the prescribed bake time.  I do this because sometimes I find that the bread will fall during transfer to/from the oven and skipping preheating alleviates the need for that step.  The bread is done when it produces a hollow sound when tapped and should be a nicely browned color. Immediately turn out onto wire racks to cool.

Mixed dough in the bowl

Dough in the bowl

Risen dough in the oven, just before baking.

The finished product