Whole Wheat Bread with Wheat Germ and Rye

I really love baking bread. I think its fun to watch the whole process of the bread rising and to work with the dough and in the end have a wonderful finished product that I created. I found this recipe over at Annie's Eats and was inspired to make it from her beautiful picture. I also needed to start using up the rye flour that is accumulating in my pantry. Somehow I have two bags and I'm not sure why! The great thing about making your own bread at home is you can really control all of the ingredients and it just tastes better! We loved this recipe. This one is a keeper and one I know I will make again many times. The outside of this bread has a perfect crust and the inside has a nice hearty taste. I can't wait to enjoy a sandwich on this bread! An added bonus, this recipe makes two loaves so you can use one and freeze one for later. I got so excited about this idea, that I sliced up the second loaf and put it in the freezer before it was photographed! Toddlers will influence your brain that way! The picture above is from the loaf we ate with dinner last night. This loaf didn't quite get the rise that the other one did. It was made in my Calphalon loaf pan which is pretty deep. The other made in a regular sized glass loaf pan got a great rise. So be sure to use a smaller pan if you want a taller, sandwich sized loaf. Now, what am I going to make with the rest of the two bags of rye flour, since this recipe only took 1/4 cup? Decisions, Decisions!

Whole-Wheat Bread with Wheat Germ and Rye

Yield: two 9-inch loaves

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups warm water (about 100°)

1 ½ tbsp. instant yeast

¼ cup honey

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 ½ tsp. salt

¼ cup rye flour

½ cup toasted wheat germ

3 cups whole-wheat flour

2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey, butter and salt with a rubber spatula. Mix in the rye flour, wheat germ, and 1 cup of each of the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours.

Add the remaining whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, attach the dough hook and knead at low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead just long enough to make sure that the dough is soft and smooth, about 30 seconds.

Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375°. Gently press down the dough and divide it into two equal pieces. Gently press each piece into a rectangle about 1-inch thick and no longer than 9 inches. With a long side of the dough facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing down to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place each cylinder of dough into a greased 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, seam-side down, pressing the dough gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted at an angle from the short end just above the pan rim reads 205°, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the bread immediately from the baking pans to a wire rack; cool to room temperature.

Source: Annie's Eats, as adapted from Baking Illustrated.