Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Whole Wheat Bread (with vital wheat gluten)

Long Summer vacation came to an end last week. Kids are back in school and with the luxury of getting some quiet time comes the chore of thinking what to pack for lunch. My kids can live on sandwich. Either that has to be a Nutella sandwich or a grilled cheese sandwich. Needless to say, I need bread every week. This actually is a nice excuse to try different whole wheat or whole grain bread recipes, don't you agree?

For those who are wondering where I had been all this time, I am still here. I got hooked on to a few Indian soaps and finally I fought my way out of all of them except for one. That plus kids running around 24/7 didn't give me a chance to blog even when I cooked/baked lot of new things. Hopefully I will blog more often now compared to the past 3 months.

One Year Back - Easy Marinara Sauce
Two Years Back - Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Bread Machine manual by Breadman Pro (Makes 1.5 lb loaf)
Ingredients: 
Water - 1 1/4 cups (luke warm)
Oil - 2 1/2 TBSP
Molasses - 2 1/2 TBSP
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Whole Wheat Flour - 3 3/4 cups
Vital Wheat gluten - 2 1/2 TBSP
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Method:
To make in the bread machine: 
Place all the ingredients in the pan in the order given. Use whole wheat cycle.

To make the dough in the machine and bake in the regular oven:
Place all the ingredients in the pan in the order given. Use the dough cycle. When complete, remove and shape and bake.

To bake in the oven:
Grease a 9 X 5 pan with vegetable oil spray. Take the dough after first raise and shape it into the loaf. Place the dough in the pan and cover with a greased aluminum foil. Let rise for the final time (about 45 minutes to an hour). Dough should rise till the edge of the pan. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 325 F and bake for additional 15 - 20 minutes or until nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool completely on the wire rack.

To make the dough by hand:
Refer to this post.

Enjoy.

21 comments:

  1. Bread looks so perfectly baked...excellent!

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  2. Hi Champa, Glad to see you back.. I have been coming to your blog DAILY(almost) to look for new recipes!!!! Sorry if that was putting pressure!!

    Nice recipe and bookmarking this..

    Sowmya

    Ongoing Event - Coconut

    Ongoing Event - Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids - Combo Meals

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  3. Looks very good Champa, as you know any bread making is my fancy!..Even my daughter can live on bread and wants to try all the varities at any given time..so many some time I will end up trying out your recipes

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  4. Prefect looking wheat bread,can start my day with this bread slices.

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  5. Welcome back Champa, we missed you.

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  6. Welcome back Champa! Nice variation to whole wheat bread. I also bake bread every week but it is for breakfast and once in a while for veggie lunch sandwich. I have been baking avocado bread with molasses. I will try this one.

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  7. This looks like a great recipe to try. Can I substitute Molasses with honey or maple syrup? BTW, do you watch Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? ;)

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    Replies
    1. Swapna, yes you can use honey or maple syrup. You got the culprit behind my less blogging. I am hooked on that show.

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    2. Me too... Love Arnav and Khushi's dynamics :D.

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  8. Actually I was looking forward for one more wheat bread from u.How long does it take for the first proving if u r kneading by hand for this bread? I m from Bangalore nd love ur Blog.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. It takes anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half based on how the weather is. Second proofing takes less time since you don't deflate it all the way.

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  9. Hi,
    Nice recipe.But in India we do not get wheat gluten so what can be substituted for it.
    Also when will you post "Pineapple upside down cake".I am awaiting it since long.

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    Replies
    1. Sugandha,
      You can get vital wheat gluten in Bangalore. Not sure about the other places. There is no substitute for that but you can refer to many other recipes I have which do not call for gluten. I have not forgotten about the request. I will post it soon. Thanks for reminding me.

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  10. Super!! I tried to make it without WWG but then it crumbles very fast... but this makes it perfect.

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  11. yours is one blog that i don't forget to visit.
    i thgt it is IPKKND that u r hooked to coz i too am a victim of its charm since one month.

    Vital wheat Gluten is available in General Food Additives, Sheshadripuram

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  12. Hi Champa, how r u doing. Got a question, what kinda whole wheat flour u use, normal atta or ? I have used normal atta in my mixed flour bread(APF + WWF) but today I'm tryiong this recipe for whole wheat bread. I've used King Arhur's White Whole Wheat Flour and also with above specification dough felt little tight so kept adding little water( i guess around 3 tblsp. i must have added extra). Let's see just finished with the dough & kept for first rise, fingers crossed...

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    Replies
    1. Spice,
      I prefer to bake with the whole wheat flour from Indian stores. They are softer (from soft wheat) than the king arthur flour brands. Those come out a little dense and dark in color. Let them rise nicely, it should be fine.

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  13. HEy, it did came out good...u r right while making the dough I was thinking, it is more darker then Indian store WWF(roti atta). I did let it rise for almost 2 hrs. first time. And yeah I did replaced 1/4 cup of water with milk....just wanted to make sure it comes out soft :) & it did. Thanks.

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  14. Hi. You mentioned that VWG is available in Bangalore. Can you please share where?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, I have no idea since it has been more than a decade since I left India. You will have to check with some local store.

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If you have a question and you leave it as a comment, I'll surely answer the question to the best of my knowledge. Thanks for visiting.