I have been making bread for most of my adult life. There were times when I didn’t make bread and would buy it — but have you seen the cost for good bread these days? Ridiculous.
In my work with Moms Across America I know that unless you are buying organic the chances are that you are getting glyphosate, or Roundup in your bread. Even though wheat is not currently a GMO crop, they are spraying Roundup on it too dessicate, or dry out the crop to make it easier to harvest it. They then send the grains to the mill . Glyphosate does not wash, dry or cook off.
Even when you go to the bakery and spend $8 on a beautiful artisan loaf, if it isn’t organic, it probably has toxic pesticides in it.
Making your own bread just makes sense. It is a very comforting ritual once you get into it. And this recipe makes 3 loaves, so depending on how much your family consume will depend on how often you need to make it. I usually make it on a Sunday afternoon. It is a ritual I look forward to, especially in the winter.
Annie Organie's Sunday Loaves
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cup Warm Water - 105˚ - 115˚
- 2/3 cup honey - divided
- 1 tbsp yeast (or 2 packets)
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 5 cup organic bread flour
- 1/2 cup butter - melted
- 4-6 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/4 cup whole oats (optional)
- 1/4 cup amaranth (optional)
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (optional)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine warm water, 1/3 cup honey, and yeast. Let sit until yeast starts to look foamy, about 5-10 minutes.
- Mix in 5 cups of the bread flour, one cup at a time. After mixed, cover with a towel and let sit for 30 minutes to form a sponge - or the dough has lots of tiny bubbles in it - looking like a sponge.
- with the mixer turned on with a dough hook (or you can mix it in manually), add the melted butter, salt and last 1/3 cup of honey. If you are using any of the optional ingredients, like the sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or oats, you can also add them here.
- Add in the whole wheat flour - one cup at a time until the dough starts to gather together. You don't want it too wet and sticky, but you also don't want to add too much flour to make for a dry crumbly loaf.
- Put dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes and put in a lightly greased bowl (I used coconut oil). Cover and let sit in a warm place until doubled - 1 to 2 hours.
- Punch dough down and put on lightly floured surface. Divide into 3 parts and shape into loaves.
- Put in greased loaf pans, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350˚
- score top of loaves with a lame, razor blade or sharp knife and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Once baked, put on a wire rack to cool and brush with melted butter if you like for a softer crust.
