Whole Grain Bread

So, For my birthday my parents got me a kitchen-aid stand mixer!! It also came with the ice cream maker bowl attachment as a special promotion. A whole new world has opened up to me!!

Now some people would get a stand mixer and let it sit forever and not use it, but I wanted to put mine to good use right away! In one day, I made bread, pizza and prepped the mixture for ice cream! [ think of how many dishes that makes!! I really really really want/need a dishwasher!!]  I got some of the recipes from the little manual that came with the machine and some from a kitchen-aid cookbook that I picked up for $8.99 at the local bookstore next to my work. I just love it when the sales are in my favour!! I also found some bread recipes in cookbooks i have at home and can't wait to try them out!!

Oh- and I borrowed my dad's Nikon!! Please bear with me as I try and improve my photography skills! All i can say is that it is so much fun!!
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So full disclosure- I made this bread from scratch, but using a bread hook on the stand mixer to kneed the bread. I view this somewhere in between using a bread maker, and kneeding it all by hand (which, by the way, I have heard is very therapeutic). It was my first time even using yeast-which by the way- does not smell good!!

This recipe is pretty healthy! it makes 2 loaves and I brought one over to my parents. They ate it all,  along with friends visiting from the States, and everyone said it was really good. Yaay- success :)
I am eating the other loaf for sandwiches for my lunch!!

It is an easy recipe to follow as long as you have a lot of time.

I did the first part, went for a run, second part, went for brunch, third part, went for soccer..etc etc- haha see a pattern- exercise-food-exercise-food. Anyway here is the recipe- from Kitchen aid- 3 in 1 cookbook.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups warm water (105- 115F)
you need a thermometer for this- I bought a candy thermometer that clips onto the edge of your pot. At first I kept heating the water to above boiling and couldn't understand why the temperature wasn't going any higher- then I realized I was looking at Celsius not Fahrenheit- woops!!)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 2 - 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup bread flower
- 1 1/4 cup large flake oats
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup assorted grain- I used wheat germ cause I had it on hand
- 1 egg white
- 1 Tablespoon water

Directions:
- heat 1 1/2 cups water, honey, oil and salt in a saucepan until it reached 105-115F.

wayy too hot! as you can see it is nearly at 200 F

- Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water in mixer bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in honey mixture. Add 1 cup whole wheat flower and bread flower. Stir with dough hook at speed 2 for 2 minutes. Gradually add in seeds, grains and 1 cup of the oats. Add in remaining whole wheat flower 1/2 cup at a time until it begins to form a ball. Continue kneeding (aka leave the machine on) for 7-10 minutes, until the dough is elasticky and stretchy.

-place dough in lightly greased bowl, turning to coat lightly, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place 1 1/2- 2 hours

- grease 2 9x5 inch loaf pans. Punch down dough. I watched  a you-tube video to figure out what this means. It really means just punch the dough. Do it once in each spot- it lets the air out and does other chemical things to the yeast. Separate dough into 2 and place in pans. lightly cover and let rise again for another hour

- Preheat oven to 375- bake for 30-35 minutes

let it cool 10 minutes in the pans

remove and let cool completely.

Enjoy!!