Recipe: Whole Wheat Loaf

Whole Wheat Loaf

1 1/2 cup water
3 tbl olive oil
5 tbl honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour or flour from
freshly ground wheat berries, red or white
1 tbl Lora Brody Bread Dough Enhancer
1/4 cup sunflower seeds chopped
1/4 cup walnuts chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp regular instant yeast

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead the dough by hand or by machine, for 10 minutes. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes, then knead for an additional 10 minutes, till it's smooth and supple. The dough will seem very wet and slack at first; just keep mixing, and eventually it'll come together, though it will remain sticky. For the optimal rise, we recommend using either a bread machine (set on the dough setting) or electric mixer to mix and knead this dough, with the bread machine being the first choice; kneading by hand will result in a smaller, denser loaf.

Allow the dough to rise, in a greased, covered bowl, for 1 hour. Shape it into a log, and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pan.

Cover the pan (with a dough rising cover, or lightly greased plastic wrap) and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, till it's crowned about 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 20 minutes of baking.
Yield: 1 loaf.