Bowers Family Favorite Homemade Wheat Bread

My Mother-in-law is the ultimate bread-baker. In her lifetime, she has baked an estimated 15,000 loaves of bread. Of these, at least 5,000 loaves have been given away - to friends, neighbors, and family members. In the past ten years alone, she has used up more than 1,200 pounds of wheat to make her delicious bread.

About 5 years ago, my dear, smiling husband gave me a Bosch mixer and a Blendtec grain mill for Mother's Day.

What was he thinking?!? (That was my first thought. I didn't say it out loud. Not to him, at least).

Then my heart softened and I decided it was time for me to learn this fancy skill of bread-baking. Because I like to see my husband smile.

I went to my Mother-in-law and asked for her help. She is an amazing teacher. And she is very, very patient.

Afterward, I took my new-found skills to my own kitchen and tried out my Mother-in-law's recipe. Over time, I tweaked it just a little to make it my own.

I will be honest: This bread is DELICIOUS!

I had no idea how much happier my already-smiling husband would become on the days I bake bread.

He becomes like a giddy school boy. He LOVES it when I bake bread.

And I'm proud to say that even though it took lots of practice, and sometimes I still mess up a batch of bread, MOST weeks I successfully turn out four or five beautiful loaves of homemade bread, which my family devours way too quickly.

It truly is a labor of love.

And I can honestly say it brings me JOY to labor in this way for the ones I love.

So here is my recipe, modified just slightly from the recipe of my lovely Mother-in-Law, Janice Lewis Bowers.

Recipe: Bowers Family Favorite Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

Dry instant yeast (a scant 3 Tablespoons)

1/2 cup very warm water
3 teaspoons white sugar
5 cups hot tap water
2 Tablespoons salt
2/3 cup Canola cooking oil
2/3 cup honey
9 cups freshly-ground whole wheat flour (from approximately 6 cups of wheat berries -- I use hard white winter wheat purchased from my local health foods store in 25-pound bags)
3 to 4 cups white, unbleached flour

1. Use a wheat grinder to grind up enough wheat berries (about 6 cups) to equal 9 cups of whole wheat flour. If you don't have a wheat grinder, that's okay. You can substitute purchased, whole wheat flour. It works fine in this recipe, it's just not as nutritious as freshly-ground flour.  As mentioned in the ingredients list above, I use hard white wheat. That is my personal preference. My Mother-in-Law uses hard red wheat, which has a richer, grainier flavor; not as mild.

2. While the wheat grinder is grinding your wheat, add a little less than 3 Tablespoons of yeast to 1/2 cup of very warm tap water in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle with 3 teaspoons of white sugar.

3. Next, pour 5 cups of hot tap water into your mixing bowl. (Sorry, but a KitchenAid mixer just can't handle this big job, unless you want to cut the recipe in half -- then it would be okay).  To make five loaves of bread -- which is what this recipe does, you just gotta have a Bosch mixer -- the BEST, in my opinion :)

 4.  Add 7 cups whole wheat flour to the hot tap water already in the bowl of your mixer. Turn the mixer on and mix until blended, which should take about 30 seconds or so.

5.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add 2 Tablespoons salt, 2/3 cup Canola oil, 2/3 cup honey, and another 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Mix until well combined, about a minute.

6.  By this time, the yeast/water/sugar mixture will be frothy and may be approaching the top of your measuring cup or bowl. Add this to the other ingredients already in the mixing bowl. Add 1 cup whole wheat flour and mix until combined.

7. Stop the mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Attach the plastic mixing guard to the top of the bowl (otherwise, you will have a mess when you start adding flour). Turn your mixer back on and continue to mix on low speed while slowly adding white flour (3 to 4 cups).

8.  When the dough begins to "clean"/pull away from the sides of the bowl, like the above photo, you know you have added enough flour.  Continue to let the mixer knead the dough for 5 minutes on low speed.

9.  Then turn that baby up to high speed and mix for another 5 minutes. Don't forget to set your timer!

10. Here's how to check to make sure the gluten has done its magic. If you pull up a handful of dough and it separates and becomes "hole-y," it hasn't been kneaded long enough.  If it holds together nicely, it's good to go.  Cover the dough and let it "rest" for about 10 minutes. It's easier to handle if you do this, but it's not a necessary step. Sometimes if I'm in a rush, I skip the "resting."

11. Pull the dough from the mixing bowl and separate it into five equal pieces. I just sort of eyeball it. If one piece looks bigger than another, I pull off some from that piece and plop it onto another one that looks smaller. Not a big deal. Place the dough into loaf pans that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (Don't judge my ugly pans. They say the uglier the pans, the better the bread).

12. This is how I shape the dough into a loaf: I sort of roll it into a log shape and then squeeze the air bubbles out, smooth the top, and tuck the sides under. Then pat it/"spank" it (see below), and smooth it some more then place it seam side down in the pan when it looks pretty.

Note: This is a good time to get any anger or frustration out. haha. Bread dough doesn't care if you pinch it, spank it, or plop it right down with gusto into the pan. I like to tease my kids by telling them, "This one is Trent's bottom!" (spank! spank!) or "Todd, you need a good spanking. This one's for you" (spank!) Bread dough is great for that, I tell ya. I don't ever need to spank my actual kids' bottoms because my bread takes the beating for them. We all get a good laugh out of this very silly, very old joke at our house.

13. Once the bread has been shaped and placed in the pans, it's time to cover it with a clean, lightweight dish cloth and let it rise.

14. When the bread dough has risen to double its original size, like the above photo, carefully transfer it to your pre-heated 350-degree oven.

15. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes. (You will probably have to experiment a little with your oven to see what time works best).

16. Pull the bread out and spread the top with a little butter, if you like.  After about 5 minutes, remove the bread from the pans and place them on a rack to cool.

Of course, homemade bread is yummiest served warm. We love it sliced and spread with butter and honey.

This bread freezes well. Just make sure it is wrapped well to prevent yucky freezer burn.

My kiddos love homemade bread for their sandwiches every day in their lunches. They prefer this over any other bread. It makes delicious toast in the morning for breakfast too. And it's soooo good for you!

Enjoy!!