New Bread Recipe

So, I had a bread recipe I had been using for about a year that for some reason was becoming unremarkable to me. I decided to go back searching, and remembered a King Arthur recipe I liked. I made it a couple times, but it was too orange-y to me. So I modified it a bit and came up with something nice and light and it really does keep well. There is nothing "weird" in the recipe that you have to search for except the vital wheat gluten (I buy it in bulk from amazon).

10 ounces warm water

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup dried milk (you can just use warm milk instead of the water)

1/2 cup instant potato flakes

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp some kind of oil/butter (I use extra light olive oil but canola or a low flavor vegetable oil would work best)

1-2 tbsp vital wheat gluten (you generally need less in the summer, if your bread is gummy, use less)

1.5 tsp salt

3.5 cups white whole wheat flour*

2.5 tsp instant yeast

I combine all the ingredients in an order recommended by my bread machine but you could use standard bread making procedures. After its kneaded (and whole wheat needs a good long knead) and risen, shape it into a loaf pan (metal works best, and actually I use three mini loaf pans because it keeps better if the loaf hasn't been cut into), cover and let rise again. Place bread into a cold oven, turn the oven on to 350 and set the timer for 20 minutes. If you use a regular metal loaf pan it will take longer (about 30 minutes), but my mini loaves are done at 20. Take it out of the oven and immediately out of the pans and let cool, then store in a ziploc bag.

*I use freshly ground white wheat flour. If you use wheat from the store you may need to use less. Sometimes I need less/more depending on the humidity anyways, so just make sure it has formed a nice ball and isn't too sticky while kneading.

**Metal is better by far than glass (I found some good pans at Kroger recently, and bonus, they were cheap, but still bake really well!). If you use a glass loaf pan you may also need to cover it with tin foil to prevent too much browning on top.