100% Fresh Milled Whole Wheat Bread

This week I tried out a 100% whole wheat loaf made with freshly milled Edison wheat, a hard white spring wheat bred specifically for the Northwest maritime weather where I live.  It was developed in the Bread Lab at WSU and is a fantastic cultivar with a buttery flavor and beautiful golden color.  You can get it already ground into flour, or whole and I highly recommend giving it a try as it has wonderful flavor.

I am just thrilled with how it turned out and will have to give it a try with a portion of sprouted grains next time.

This bread has the most delicious aroma both during and after baking!  There isn't a huge amount of honey, but it has the most beautiful sweet smell.  That may be partly due to the variety of wheat.  I have used Edison wheat before that we grew and threshed in the local church garden and it has amazing flavor.  That was why I chose it for this loaf, knowing it was a good performer.  I also have lots of sprouted grains to mill, but wanted to test out this loaf with a regular wheat first.

100% Fresh Milled Whole Wheat Bread

makes 1 loaf

267g water (1c + 2tbsp)

30g oil, ghee, or softened butter (~ 2 tbsp)

40g honey (~2 tbsp)

8g sea salt (1½ tsp)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

30g milk powder (~3½ tbsp) (I use whole goat milk powder)

455g freshly milled wheat flour (~3 3/8 cups) (I used Edison wheat, which is a hard, white, spring wheat, and I sifted and reground the bran to be quite fine.)

5.5g instant yeast (1½ tsp)

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer or large bowl and knead on low or mix by hand until all ingredients are combined.  Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.  Adjust dough if necessary by adding water by tbsp.  It should be between sticky and tacky and somewhat firm, but not stiff.  Knead just long enough to make a cohesive dough ball. 

Cover and let rise for 40 minutes.  Turn out dough and press out into a rectangle.  Fold in the short ends by thirds, press down and turn 90º and fold in the ends again.  Place back into bowl.  Repeat the 40 minute rise and fold twice more.

Let dough rest for 10 minutes.  Form into a loaf and place in a buttered 8x4" loaf pan.  Allow to rise until double, approximately 40-60 minutes.  Meanwhile preheat oven to 400ºF.

Place loaf in oven and turn down to 375ºF.  Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from pan and bake directly on the rack for another 5-10 minutes until internal temperature is at least 190ºF.  Remove from oven and cool on rack completely before slicing.

Although it can be hard to resist, you will get a better crumb, flavor, and keeping quality if you refrain from cutting into bread that is still warm.  Cutting too early can result in a sticky, gummy crumb and ironically, a dried out bread as well.  Bread can always be reheated after the starches have set, if a warm bread is desired.

This actually turned out to be a forgiving dough as the timing ended up being right when I needed to take my daughter to an appointment.  So I threw the rising loaf in the fridge and hoped for the best.  It still rose so much it flattened the top against the upper shelf and I had to gently reshape it somewhat.  But it puffed up nicely in the oven and there you go, lovely 100% whole wheat loaf.