Jessa's Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to make this as well as my awesome neighbor Jessa does, but I'm going to keep trying. It's seriously some of the best bread I've ever had!

2 tbsp. dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
3 heaping tbsp. gluten
5 cups hot water
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
2 tbsp. salt
10-12 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (Jessa uses hard white wheat)

Combine 1/2 c. warm water with 2 tbsp. yeast in a small bowl. Allow about 10 minutes to become bubbly. Place 5 cups of hot water into mixer bowl with 6 cups of flour. Blend. Add yeast mixture and gluten. Blend 2 min. Blend in order: oil, honey, and salt. Add remaining flour until dough begins to clean bowl. Leave in mixer to knead for 8-10 minutes. Remove dough and divide equally into four loaves. Shape and place in well oiled loaf pans. Let rise til double (approx. 45-60 min.). Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minute. Remove from pans promptly and place on rack to cool. I like to rub some butter on the top of the loaf while it's still warm.

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

I've been on a quest to be able to make a decent loaf of bread. This recipe has gotten me the closest! I found it on the internet and gave it a try because the ingredient list is so similar the absolutely wonderful bread that my neighbor makes. I haven't had success with her bread recipe though, so for now I'm sticking with this recipe!

Makes 2 loaves

2 cups warm water

1 tbsp. yeast

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup oil

2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup gluten

5 to 7 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground if possible

In a stand up type mixer such as a Kitchen Aid combine water, yeast and honey. Let this sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast is nice and bubbly. Add oil, salt, gluten flour and 3 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Knead this with your mixer and continue to add more flour until the dough does not stick to the side of the bowl and does not feel sticky to the touch. Knead for another 7 to 8 minutes.

When dough has finished kneading let it sit in the mixer bowl and rise until doubled in volume. This usually takes about 45 minutes. When it has finished rising, turn on your mixer and knead again for a few more minutes to get all the air bubbles out. Remove from mixer and divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape into loaves and put in bread pans that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Let the loaves rise until they are about to 1 inch above the rim of the bread pan. Bake at 350 for approx. 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Thanks to my awesome neighbor Jessa for sharing this delicious recipe for blender pancakes. My family loves them. I'm not a pancake fan myself, but the batter also tasted great cooked up as waffles.

Combine in blender:
1 cup whole wheat kernels
1 cup milk
Mix on high for 2 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup milk and continue to mix for 2 more minutes.
Add:
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. baking powder
Blend well. Cook on a hot griddle.
Make 8-10 medium sized pancakes. Can also be used in a waffle iron.