Hand-Kneaded Whole Wheat Bread
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
1¼ hours, plus 1 hour 20 minutes rising and 2 hours cooling
Yield
Makes 2 loaves or 16 rolls
Ingredients
2 ⅓ cups warm water, preferably bottled spring water1 ½ tablespoons yeast ¼ cup honey 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted2 ½ teaspoons table salt ¼ cup rye flour ½ cup toasted wheat germ 3 cups whole-wheat flour, preferably Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham Flour2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and dusting rolls
Instructions
- Mix water, yeast, honey, butter, salt, rye flour, and wheat germ in large mixing bowl. Mix 2 3/4 cup each of whole wheat and white flours in separate bowl, reserving 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. Add 3 1/2 cups of the flour mixture to wet ingredients; beat with wooden spoon 5 minutes. Beat in another 1 1/2 cups of the flour mixture to make thick dough. Turn dough onto work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved flour. Knead, adding as little of remaining flour as necessary, to form soft, elastic dough, about 5 minutes.
- Place dough in lightly greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap or damp kitchen towel. Let rise in warm draft-free area until dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Gently punch down dough, then follow one of the shaping instructions below. Cover shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, 20 to 30 minutes.
- For loaves, bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into loaf center reads 205 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes. For rolls, bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer bread immediately from baking pans to wire rack; cool to room temperature.
Time
1¼ hours, plus 1 hour 20 minutes rising and 2 hours coolingYield
Makes 2 loaves or 16 rollsIngredients
2 ⅓ cups warm water, preferably bottled spring water
1 ½ tablespoons yeast
¼ cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 ½ teaspoons table salt
¼ cup rye flour
½ cup toasted wheat germ
3 cups whole-wheat flour, preferably Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham Flour
2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and dusting rolls
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
2 ⅓ cups warm water, preferably bottled spring water
1 ½ tablespoons yeast
¼ cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 ½ teaspoons table salt
¼ cup rye flour
½ cup toasted wheat germ
3 cups whole-wheat flour, preferably Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham Flour
2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and dusting rolls
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
2 ⅓ cups warm water, preferably bottled spring water
1 ½ tablespoons yeast
¼ cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 ½ teaspoons table salt
¼ cup rye flour
½ cup toasted wheat germ
3 cups whole-wheat flour, preferably Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham Flour
2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and dusting rolls
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Our whole wheat bread recipe produces a wheaty but not grainy loaf, chewy but not tough, full-flavored but not overpowering, by using the right amounts and kinds of flour as well as the right proportions of salt, yeast, and sweetener. But our real breakthrough when developing our whole wheat bread recipe came when we added wheat germ to our dough, which gave our bread a nutty flavor and a slightly more complex texture. Wheat germ, accompanied by a little rye flour, some honey, and some butter (as well as good proportions of the usual suspects—3 cups whole wheat flour, 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, and 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast), helped us to get our whole wheat bread recipe just right.
Instructions
- Mix water, yeast, honey, butter, salt, rye flour, and wheat germ in large mixing bowl. Mix 2 3/4 cup each of whole wheat and white flours in separate bowl, reserving 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. Add 3 1/2 cups of the flour mixture to wet ingredients; beat with wooden spoon 5 minutes. Beat in another 1 1/2 cups of the flour mixture to make thick dough. Turn dough onto work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved flour. Knead, adding as little of remaining flour as necessary, to form soft, elastic dough, about 5 minutes.
- Place dough in lightly greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap or damp kitchen towel. Let rise in warm draft-free area until dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Gently punch down dough, then follow one of the shaping instructions below. Cover shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, 20 to 30 minutes.
- For loaves, bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into loaf center reads 205 degrees, 35 to 45 minutes. For rolls, bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer bread immediately from baking pans to wire rack; cool to room temperature.
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