Wheat Bread Recipe

Exodus 23:25: "And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee."

What an amazing promise that the Lord will bless us in our nutrition when we serve Him! I think of the story in 1 Kings 17 of the widow Zarephath, who was blessed that her oil and meal never ran out when she served the Lord by sacrificing her food (and she thought the lives of herself and her son) to feed the prophet Elijah.  I love this story because it reminds me of so many similar modern day miracles that have happened to people I know and love. 

My uncle and aunt one year were very low on funds, and consequently, on food.  My aunt had done her best to store up food for the future, and now they were living off of their food storage.  They had a small baby, and the only food they had for her were the few remaining bottles of apples that my aunt had preserved the year before.  The day came when there were only 2 bottles of apples left in the garage, and the baby ate a bottle of apples a day.  My aunt and uncle didn't know what they would do when the apples ran out in two days, but they prayed hard and tried to have faith that the solution to their dire circumstances would present itself.  My aunt went into the garage and brought in one of the two bottles of apples and fed the baby.  The next day, my aunt went out to get the very last bottle of apples.  When she looked on the shelf, there were again two bottles of apples.  It was a miracle.  With a prayer of gratitude, she took one of the bottles into the house to feed the baby.  The next day, when she went out to retrieve the last bottle of apples, there were two bottles of apples on the shelf.  This continued for some time.  Each day, she would go out to the garage to get the second to last bottle of apples, only to return the next day to find two bottles again.  The Lord blessed them with enough for their baby until their financial circumstances improved.


One of my favorite things about this story is that it reminds me that when we do our best to prepare, the Lord will magnify our efforts.  Even if we can only do a little, maybe learning to bottle the free produce we receive from our neighbors or from online advertisements, we are that much more prepared for an emergency, whether it be natural or financial.  With that in mind, I'm sharing my favorite recipe for home baked bread, made with food storage items.  It's a great place to start learning to use the kinds of long-term foods that we are counseled to keep in our storage.  And making your own bread is a fantastic way to stretch your dollars, regulate what your family is consuming, and add improve nutritional intake.  These ingredients can be purchased in large or small amounts, as budgets allow.  This recipe is adapted from one I received from my sister, who got it off of a website somewhere.  The adaptations made for a lighter, chewier texture and better flavor, as well as incorporating ingredients with a longer shelf life.  If you don't have these exact ingredients, you can also adapt the recipe to use what you have and can afford.  I'll write more about that in another post.  With this recipe, I'm going to pretend you've never made wheat bread before and give you excessive instructions.  :)

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
5 cups hard white wheat berries + 1 cup oat groats (available at WinCo in the bulk foods)
2 1/2 cups warm water (a little warmer than the temperature of a baby bottle)
1 1/2 Tbsp SAF brand instant yeast
1/3 cup raw honey
1/3 cup good coconut oil
2 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 Tbsp dough enhancer (available at Macey's, baking supply stores, or emergency supply stores)
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten (available where dough enhancer is sold)

Directions:
Mix together, then grind the wheat berries and oat groats to create a semi-fine wheat flour.  This can be done in a wheat grinder or even in a decent blender. (The wheat gives the bread its substance, while the oats add moisture and lightness to the finished product, without changing the taste.)  This will make up to 8 cups of flour, which is a little more than you'll need, but the leftovers can be used for some awesome whole wheat pancakes.

While the flour is grinding, combine the warm water, yeast, honey, oil, salt, and dough enhancer in a mixer.  (If you don't have a good mixer - I use my Kitchenaid - you get to work out all your aggressions while mixing this bread by hand.  Who needs an expensive gym membership?!)  Add 3 cups warm, fresh flour and the wheat gluten  and mix well until nice and smooth.  Let the mixture sit and "sponge" for 15 minutes.  Sponging eliminates the need for a second rising of the dough, and helps incorporate flavors. 

After 15 minutes, slowly add more fresh flour, one cup at a time, mixing as you go, until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl and form two little "arms" that reach up and to grab you as it's mixing in the Kitchenaid.  If you're mixing by hand, you will add flour until you can no longer stir it with a spoon, then knead the dough in until it's no longer leaving globules on your hands.  Be careful not to add too much flour.  This is a common mistake when making wheat bread, and is what causes the hard, indigestible loaves that you can use as a doorstop.  Just make sure that the dough is nice and moist, but not messy.  Continue to knead or mix the dough for about 7-10 minutes to activate the gluten and give the bread a nice, chewy texture.  Don't skimp on the kneading!  If you need to add additional flour to keep the dough from sticking, be sure to use very small amounts of flour so you don't end up with dry, yucky bread in the end.

Form the dough into loaves.  I always make 3 loaves in a medium-sized, Pyrex bread pan, which I've found for a great price at WalMart.  Metal pans are good too, but I just love the result I get with the Pyrex.  Spray the pans with a silicone and soy free, non-stick cooking spray, or lightly grease with shortening.  Place your loaves of dough, seam side down, into the pans.  Put the pans of dough in a warm place to raise.  I always heat my oven to about 100 degrees, then turn it off and put my loaves in there.  (It saves a whole lot of time, and I usually don't have a whole lot to spare - especially if I'm making more than 1 batch of bread.  I can be mixing batch #2 while the first batch is raising and baking.)  Let the dough raise to about double, then bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.  You know the bread is done when the top is a dark, caramel brown and the sides are golden, and when you tap the bottom of the loaf it makes a hollow sound.

Turn the loaves out onto a cooling rack to cool, instead of allowing them to cool in the pans, or they will sweat and stick in the pan.  Nobody can resist eating hot bead, but just give it a little bit before you cut into it so you don't smash the loaf.  This bread freezes very well, and the medium loaves fit perfectly into gallon-sized ziploc bags for storage.

I would love to answer any questions you may have about baking bread or the ingredients or whatever - just leave a comment.  I'm sure if you have a question, someone else is wondering the very same thing!

I just want to add that I do have a strong testimony that as we do all we can to prepare for the future and serve the Lord to the best of our capacity, He will magnify our efforts.  I really believe that this applies not only to our efforts in serving, but our efforts in preparing for emergencies and becoming more self-reliant.  And when we put forth the effort, and it's right for us, he will even magnify things like the food in our pantries.  Miracles do still happen, and when we do our best, the Lord will provide miracles in our lives.

-Katie