Mom's Bread Recipe, and yes, I mean MY mom's bread recipe.

Mom's bread.

 I know that a lot of you are suddenly drooling over the memory of my Mom's white bread but sadly, that is NOT the bread recipe I'm sharing today. 

But honestly, it is just as good or better. I think its better, in case you were wondering. 

When we were living in Kingston I tried to make my Mom's bread and it never worked great so one day we had a Skype date bread making party and that was that. You would think that I would have been a natural since my Mom made bread literally every week my entire childhood but the only thing that came natural to me was coming home and eating half a loaf of with home made honey butter while I watched Full House. 

I got pretty good at making bread in Kingston and as I said before, I made it regularly but then we moved back home and I COULD NOT make bread. Well, I tried but it never turned out. I was sad.  I finally told my Mom that I was a bread making failure and she saved me! She brought me some yeast from the Bosch Kitchen Centre in Edmonton and it made all the difference. I couldn't believe it. 

This week I pulled out my 'Mom Recipe' and tried again and it turned out better than ever before. I think this goes to show that fresh ingredients are best. My Mom has had lots of problems buying yeast from grocery stores because it doesn't last and now I've learned my lesson! Oh, and she said the yeast she bought at the Bosch Kitchen Centre is a better price too. 

Now, onto the good stuff...

Mom's Most Delicious Bread

 (according to moi!)

(Also, I have a Bosch and so this recipe and directions are using a mixer with a bread hook. Also, if you try this with a Kitchen Aid you will NOT be able to make this large of a recipe so cut it in half!)

***This recipe makes 6-7 loaves of bread

Start with 1 cup of Warm Water

3 TBSP of White Sugar

3 TBSP of Yeast (the good yeast)

Dissolve the sugar in the warm water then add the yeast. Let the yeast sit and 'grow' in the water for a couple of minutes. When it is frothy (I guess is the word you should use) toss it into the mixing bowl.

Add 6 more cups of Water (I still use warm) 

and 4 - 6 cups of Whole Wheat Flour and mix.

Add 1 cup of Quick Cooking Oatmeal (I actually double this but I'm giving you my Mom's recipe)

1/2 cup of Ground Flax

1 cup of Sunflower Seeds (I love textured and seedy bread best)

1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil

1 TBSP of Salt

1 Egg

Mix. And then add more flour, as much as needed. About 10 - 12 cups.  (I use White and so does my mom at this point because it holds together well.)

This is a tricky part if you have never made bread before. You don't want to add too much flour but if you don't add enough then it won't work either. If you add too much flour then your bread will be really heavy.

 At this point when you are adding flour add it until it is "dough-like" and pulling from the sides of the bowl but don't add so much flour that it isn't sticky any more. Get it?

At this point, let your bread rise 15 minutes.

I forgot about mine and left it for probably 45 minutes and it got a little large...

At this point put a little oil on your counter, get your dough out of the bowl and play with it a little bit. Separate it into 6 - 7 'chunks' of dough. (I use a serrated knife to divide mine). Play with it for a while (important so you get the air bubbles out of it) and shape it into loaves and put it into greased loaf pans. 

Let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size and then bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until it is brown and your whole house smells AMAZING.

When you take your bread out of the oven I like to take my loaves out of the pans right away but if you try to get it out and the bread won't budge then just walk away. The bread will steam itself out of the pan and when it is cool it will just fall right out of the pans when you try.

Eat Hot and with butter or our favorite: Honey Butter...

Just whip equal parts butter and honey and it is honestly WAYYYYYY better than buttering your bread then spreading honey on it. Promise. 

And sorry, I have no pictures of my bread! I'm terrible! But instead, how about one of my Mom?

She might kill me for posting this picture on here but too bad! Love you Mom!!!!

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This one is for you Megs: Quick and Easy 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Bread. I love bread. 

But not as much as Aaron. Or Hazel. These two are my bread eaters. They want toast for breakfast everyday of the year. Bread at dinner, and bread for a snack. Now, I like bread but not as much as these guys. And they are picky. They want fancy bread. Baguettes, pumpernickel, really anything expensive is fine with them. I can't afford to keep them bread fed. 

I'm picky about my bread too though. I grew up on homemade bread but dreamed of white sliced bread from the store. When my mom would bring this home we would eat it within the hour. I loved how I could mold my bread into a ball and pop it in my mouth or eat it on the couch and have no crumbs to hide. 

I've grown up on this subject now though. I have been married coming up on 9 years and have never ever in that time bought white sliced bread. Of course I will eat it if it is served but I no longer ball it up and pop it in my mouth all at once. I have bought all kinds of bread but have come to the conclusion that we only have 2 true bread choices for everyday in our house.

#1: Light Rye Bread (2 loaves for $5.00 at Costco. I know there is cheaper rye out there but remember my fancy bread people)

2: Homemade.

I usually make a fabulous recipe from my mom that has whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, and lots of other texturey goodness. (I will post this recipe soon)

My cousin Megan though has been looking for a 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe. No seeds. No extra grains. No white flour. So I had to go on a hunt. 

I was sure I would find a recipe in my Aunts Book. Nope. Nothing 100% Whole Wheat.

I turned to the internet and found a recipe that looked so quick and easy to make I had to try it out, and I think it turned out pretty dang good. I literally had everything mixed and was letting the dough rise in less than 7 minutes (and for you bread making beginners, it will still be fast for you too).

My usual recipe makes about 7 loaves of bread. I use a bosch to mix everything and have to use my tetris skills to get the pans to fit in the oven. But last night I made a single loaf of bread. It was easy, fast and yummy when I got to eat the first slice warm out of the oven.

Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Bread

3 1⁄4 cups whole-wheat bread flour, preferably stone-ground (I wish I had stone-ground)

1 teaspoon salt

a heaping 1/2 Tbsp of Active Dry Yeast (or if you are in a hurry, instant)

2 Tbps brown sugar or clear honey (I used Honey) 

1 3⁄4 cups tepid water (Mine was much closer to warm/almost hot)

1 tablespoon white all-purpose flour to dust (If you notice in my pictures, there is no dusting of white on my bread. I skipped this)

Lightly grease a 23 x 13 cm (9 x 5 in.) loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Set aside while you make the dough (PAM worked great for me last night).

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add salt. Stir in the yeast and make a well in the center. Stir the sugar or honey into the tepid water, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients.

Mix together, then beat vigorously with your hand (or with a wooden spoon if you prefer) for about 2 minutes or until the dough comes away from the side of the bowl; it will be very soft and sticky (I used a wooden spoon for about 2 seconds then I dove in with my hands. Play with your bread dough,It gets the air bubbles out and its fun).

Pour the dough into the prepared pan, cover with a damp dish towel and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until the dough has risen almost to the top of the pan (It took much longer for my bread to rise, but I didn't use instant yeast).

I was at  his stage in less than 7 minutes

Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Uncover the pan and dust the top of the loaf evenly with the white flour. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until well risen and brown. It should feel light and sound hollow when turned out of the pan and tapped on the base.

Transfer the whole-wheat bread loaf to a wire rack. Leave on the wire rack to cool (Yeah right. I was cutting this baby up within minutes of it coming out of the oven. Don't wait for it to cool! You made it which means you get to enjoy it still hot and steamy from the oven). 

 I know bread seems hard but this recipe wasn't. The trick, play with your dough and be patient and let your bread rise. Enjoy your fresh bread and feel free to bring me a slice!

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