Bread is definitely one of my favorite things to make. I remember being 7 0r 8 years old and my mom giving me my own little piece of yeast dough to roll out so I could make my own “rolls” while she made a batch for dinner. But I progressed over time and I’ve been making actual homemade bread (not those inedible stone-like creations that got fed to Barbie) since I was about 14. Rolls might actually be the first thing I learned how to cook, I remember it’s what I immediately chose the first time I cooked for my husband’s family. Bread can be very tricky, and I’ve had many a failed loaf in my day, but if you follow recipe instructions it can also be really easy and rewarding.

Today was my first attempt at whole wheat bread. I’m trying to make our diets healthier, and the switch to whole wheat has been a part of that. My mom suggested I go with a recipe from a guy who owns a company called Dave’s Killer Bread. He’s an interesting guy with an interesting story (I believe he learned how to make bread in prison, really), but he really knows his stuff. So after watching the following video he made for his 100% Whole Wheat Bread, I used the basics of his recipe and made a new one to suit my needs.

Lauren’s Whole Wheat Bread:

• 3 1/3 cups organic whole wheat flour
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 packages instant yeast
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons blackstrap molasses
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon canola oil
• 2 teaspoons salt

Combine whole wheat flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer/food processor until combined. Add water (reserving 1/4 cup), molasses, honey and oil to the bowl. Mix with a dough hook/blade for a few minutes, until a smooth dough has formed. Cover and let the dough rise for an hour, the dough should look very fluffy and spongy. Punch the dough down.

Add the all-purpose flour, gluten flour, salt, and the last 1/4 cup of water to the mixer and let it mix for 10 minutes. (Note: My food processor had a hard time with this because the dough is very firm, so it only mixed for about 5 minutes before I took it out to hand knead it. Ideally, it should mix in the mixer for at least 10 minutes.)

Roll the dough into a ball and let it rest on a cutting board underneath a damp towel for 15 minutes.

Once the dough is rested, knead it into the shape of a log and place it into your greased loaf pan. I greased mine with olive oil spray.

Cover again with a damp towel and let rise until it doubles in size, a little over an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

If the dough has risen past the top edges of the pan (so that it looks like a loaf), it’s ready to bake. Bake in the preheated oven until the crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Slather the crust with melted butter.

Allow to cool completely (or as long as you can wait), slice, and enjoy!

Yields: 2 9×5 loaves or 1 larger loaf

It’s pretty good for a first try, next time I’ll make the loaf a little larger and maybe let it rise a little longer for a lighter texture. But it’s definitely a keeper!