My Favorite Homemade Bread

I've always wanted to make all our own bread, and after much trial and error I finally found a recipe that works for our family.  It tastes great, it holds up well enough for sandwiches and toasting, and the girls gobble it up!  What's more, it's 100% whole wheat and I've found a way that works with my bread machine to make a great loaf with really minimal work on my part.  See what you think!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup water (I use just 1 cup in the summer when it's more humid)

1 tablespoon plain non-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons coconut oil (I zap it in the microwave to pour it out of the jar)

3  tablespoons molasses

3¼ c. whole wheat flour (divided)

2 teaspoons yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Mix the water, yogurt, oil, molasses, and flour together.  I like to put them in my bread machine's pan in the order and let it do all the work of mixing them together, on a 'dough' setting.  Cover the dough (or close the bread maker lid) and leave it for 12 to 24 hours.  This allows the water to soften the hard whole wheat and the bacteria in the yogurt to start breaking it down, as well.  I like to do this in the morning.

In the evening, after everything's been all mixed together and sitting for a while, put the remaining 1/4 flour on top of the dough and make an indentation in the middle of the flour, like a bowl for the yeast and salt, so that the flour is a barrier between the moisture in the dough, and the yeast and salt.  We want those mixed in at the last minute!

Set the breadmaker timer on a dough setting (again, I know; but this time you are mixing in that yeast and salt and letting it rise appropriately) so that it will be all done whenever you are up in the morning, to get it out and put it into a bread pan to let it rise for an hour, then into the oven for 35 minutes.

We like to use a stoneware bread pan to avoid having to put any extra oil to grease the pan.

Bake it at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes

My recent favorite way of eating it is toasted, with a thick layer of sand plum jelly.  Hurray for Oklahoma!

Adapted from Kitchen Stewardship

I can't help it.  I always take a picture when it comes out prettily!