How to make Whole Wheat Bread {Step by step}

You guys, I can make bread. It’s a freakin’ miracle.I have had the urge to be more domestic lately. You may have noticed more recipes around here than usual, and I’ve been soooo proud of myself to be completely honest.It’s a foreign feeling to actually WANT to make dinner for my family. Are you one of those people who is perfectly organized and cooks EVERY night? I envy you. I am the person who thinks about dinner at 4:45 pm. And then when I start making the recipe, I find that I’m missing 4 out of the 5 ingredients that I need. Hence why I make scrambled eggs at least twice a week for dinner.

Well, a few months ago, I was contacted by the peeps from Boschmixers.com. They told me they could teach me how to make the perfect whole wheat bread. I laughed inside my head because I plain didn’t believe them. Well, they sent someone to my house to teach me. It was absolutely amazing. It was basically a one on one bread-making class, and they held my hand through the entire process. I have to admit, it was much easier than I thought it would be too. We made the most delicious bread I have ever tasted in my whole entire life. {I am not even exaggerating!}

Yep, I took this picture, and I made this bread ALL. BY. MYSELF. Ha! I can’t believe it.

After they taught me, I decided that I couldn’t just hold onto information like this. I had to share it....so, I made a step by step video tutorial to share what I learned! The wheat bread recipe is pretty self explanatory once you get the hang of it, but this video might help explain a few of the tricky parts. 

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

  •  – 6 cups warm water
  •  – 2/3 cup vegetable oil of choice
  •  – 2/3 cup honey or 1/2 cup agave nectar
  •  – 2 Tbsp. Vital Wheat Gluten
  •  – 2 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer
  •  – 2 Tbsp. SAF instant yeast
  •  – 14 – 18 cups freshly-milled whole wheat flour, divided
  •  – 2 Tbsp. Salt

Add water, oil, honey, gluten, dough enhancer and yeast in the Bosch mixer with around 6 cups of flour to start. Move the dial to “M” a few times to start mixing the flour in, and then move the dial to “1” and mix until smooth. Add the salt and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until it cleans the bowl. Turn the dial to “2” and knead for 6-8 minutes until you reach the correct elasticity with your dough. Watch the video below for a demonstration about that.

This recipe makes 6 loaves at about 1.5 pounds of dough each. Divide the dough into six equal bread pans and let rise until it reaches 1 inch above the pan lip. Then bake on 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

As you can see, I had an AMAZING experience with the Nutrimill Grinder and Bosch Mixer. {And no, they aren’t paying me to tell you about it}. All opinions are 100% mine. Although they did give me each machine to review, I am not getting paid to write this post.

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to tell you my honest opinion about each machine.  Seriously. I wish I could think of more sophisticated words but I can’t! I am just so excited!

Let’s be honest, we all know I am not a master chef so making bread is not a skill I possessed. But, I try hard and can cook pretty well once I figure stuff out.  My kids and husband are thrilled at the change, and so am I. This was so fun and so worth every minute it took! I had to go buy bread pans guys. I didn’t even OWN bread pans before this! How embarrassing!
OK, so I first have to thank Lori Veits from BoschMixers.com because as I said before she showed me {step by step} how to use the wheat grinder and make bread. Lori is a bread-making ROCK STAR. She wrote the book, “No more Bricks,” a book about making whole wheat bread quickly and easily.

After Lori taught me, I realized it was super easy, and I have done it at least a half dozen times on my own since. I even called to for advice about which pans to buy and such. She was so patient with me. Thank you so much Lori!!

{I think that pictures sometimes just say it better}


Do you see the look of pure excitement on my face? Ha! 

I think Dan {Mr. All Things Thrifty} was worried that I wouldn’t learn properly, so he came to observe. But, he even mentioned how easy the process was!

Making bread is hard work! Look how serious we are! Ha! In all honesty, I was terrified that I was going to screw it up because she kept saying, “I’m not going to tell you exactly how much flour to add.” I am a recipe follower guys. I don’t venture off the recipe card. I guess we can say I have recipe anxiety. 🙂 The recipe actually says 12-18 cups of fresh ground wheat flour. Ummmm, that’s a difference of 4 CUPS! I would have never known that the amount of flour you add depends on your climate! So, basically you follow the recipe and add the flour 1/2 a cup at a time until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. If you watch the video above, it shows this happen. When you have added the precise amount of flour to your dough, the bowl will look spotlessly clean while it kneads the dough.

The dough was really thick, and I couldn’t believe how easy it was for the Bosch mixer to knead it. I know that any other mixer that I’ve tried before couldn’t have handled it.


Look how pretty that dough is, and  look how clean the sides of the bowl  look!

Then Lori taught me all sorts of tricks and tips to making different things with the dough.

We made cinnamon bread…

She taught me how to precisely weigh each loaf so it would cook evenly…

She taught me how to add pretty toppings to the bread…

How to make rolls…

and it wasn’t hard AT ALL…

Look how cute they all turned out.

I know my Mom is quite proud that I did this, and I’m beaming with pride at this point.

It tasted more delicious than any other bread I’ve tasted.

Seriously the yummiest stuff ever. I also want you to know that since this visit, I have made my very own cinnamon rolls and wheat bread quite a few times! Again, I was amazed at how easy and good it was!

In fact, the cookie paddles and bowl scraper attachments have changed my life forever.

For your information, the Nutrimill Grinder is amazing. Basically, all you do is pour the wheat into the top, and press the on button. It turns into perfectly soft wheat flour in minutes, AND, it isn’t very loud.

The L’equip Nutrimill Wheat Grinder is $239.99.

The Bosch Mixer has changed me forever. I make bread now. Holy crap, isn’t that awesome!?!? In fact I made bread twice this week. FYI the Universal Plus  Bosch Mixer  is $399.99.

Thank you to the amazing people at Bosch Mixers for allowing me to review their amazing machines.

{If you purchase a Bosch Mixer I will earn an affiliate fee on your purchase. I just wanted to be completely upfront about that. I only endorse products that I can stand behind 100% and these products are definitely products I can say I love and use.  I am confident you would love them too.}

Published on March 18, 2013

8 thoughts on “How to make Whole Wheat Bread {Step by step}”

  1. Beautiful bread!!! I make my own bread, but just do it by hand and without freshly ground whole wheat flour {I know, I know…horrible person!} 😉 I’ve heard great things about the Bosch mixer, though! Glad you love it!!!

  2. You are so funny. This looks delicious. I don’t have dough enhancer though, do you think I could make the bread without it?

    1. Virginia,
      I have no idea! HA! I am a newbie to bread-making, and all I know is that I did exactly what Lori told me to, and the bread is amazing. I wouldn’t leave it out just because I trust her. Good luck! I found some on amazon, here is the link: L’EQUIP Dough Enhancer

  3. Long time reader…. first time commenter. I LOVED this post and the step by step video tutorial. I am also totally intimidated by bread. I just got a Kitchen Aid for Christmas, promising my husband to start making bread. Now I wish I would have gone for the Bosch. Thanks for sharing everything you learned!

    1. Angie, thanks for your comment! I had a lot of fun making the video! Thanks for reading. xoxo.

  4. I have had my Bosch for over 20 years and it’s still going strong. I wouldn’t own anything else. I am definitely trying this recipe. Thanks Brooke your ATT, I look forward to reading every new 🙂

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