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Flax Seed Recipes - Whole Wheat Bread with
Ground Flax
There are many ways to make wheat bread. This is exactly how
I make my wheat bread and I get excellent results. You may be able
to add or subtract ingredients or steps and still get good results.
Experiment or stay inside the lines — you decide.
Notice that this recipe has no shortening, butter, or oil. All the
fat comes from the flax meal which is high in Omega-3
fatty acids.
Recipe makes 4 medium loaves (1 lb. 6 oz. each)
| Starting the Yeast |
| 2 |
tsp |
Honey |
| 4 1/2 |
tsp |
Yeast (2 packets) |
| 1 |
cup |
Warm Water (105° - 115°) |
| For the Dough |
| 3 |
cups |
Warm Water (105° - 115°) |
| 2/3 |
cup |
Honey |
| 1 |
tbsp |
Salt |
| 1 |
cup |
Flax Seed (measure then grind) |
| 8 - 9 |
cups |
Fresh ground wheat flour |
Prep
Grind your wheat and flax and combine them in a separate bowl. (consider
using a Vita-Mix Super 5000 to grind your wheat)
I use a KitchenAid mixer to make my bread, so I use the mixer bowl
to start my yeast.
Start
Add one cup warm water and 2 tsp honey to the bowl. Stir until dissolved.
Sprinkle the yeast onto the liquid. Let sit for 10 minutes, or until
you have a nice foamy cap on top of the water.
Mix
Add 3 cups warm water, 2/3 cup honey, and salt to the bowl. Use the
mixing beater on low (1) to begin to mix ingredients.
Add 3 or 4 cups of your flour to the bowl. Let it mix for a minute
or two until you have a nice pancake batter-like consistency.
Knead
Slowly add flour a bit at a time and the dough will start to form.
After adding a few cups of flour, take out the mixing beater and replace
with the dough hook.
Continue to add flour, scraping the bottom of the bowl as necessary.
Add flour until the dough pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
Dough will be sticky, however. This isn't white flour so don't expect
a nice pizza-dough ball you can spin around over your head. Run the
dough hook for on medium (2) for about 10 minutes to completely mix
the ingredients and to stretch the gluten strands.
Rise
#1
Lightly spray a large mixing bowl with non-stick spray and drop the
dough into the bowl. Cover with wax paper (also lightly sprayed) and
a dry dish towel.
Place bowl in a nice warm spot to rise. I like to heat the oven up
a little bit and then put the bowl in. Just warm it up. Don't cook
the dough. Some people use the oven light to do this.
Let dough double in size, about 50 - 60 minutes.
Lift
& Separate
Punch down the dough with your clean fist and place the dough onto
a cutting board.
Cut the dough into 4 equal sections. I use a culinary scale to weigh
them. Each hunk should weigh between 1 lb. 4 oz - 1 lb. 8 oz.
Rise #2
Shape each hunk into something round, cover with a cloth, and let
rise again for about 10 minutes.
While the dough is rising, get out 4 medium bread pans (I like Pyrex
pans myself) and spray with non-stick spray.
Shape
Flatten each dough ball and form a rough rectangle. Roll the dough
up like a jelly or cinammon roll, trying to avoid air pockets as you
roll.
After rolling it up, pinch the ends and seam closed and drop the loaf
seam-side down into your pans.
Rise #3
Place the pans in a warm spot with a towel covering them for about
50 minutes. The dough should rise almost to the same height the baked
bread will be - 1 1/2 inches above the top of the pan.
Bake
Pre-heat over to 400°. Place pans in oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350° and bake for another 20 minutes.
Bread is done when it's nice and brown on top and makes a hollow sound
when you tap on it with your finger.
Cool
Remove from the pans immediately and place bread on a wire rack. Do
not bag the bread until it has cooled completely (it'll sweat, otherwise).
Eat the bread within 2 - 3 days. After that, the bread will start
to have a poor taste and texture. The bread will freeze and defrost
perfectly when placed in freezer-proof ziploc bags. Just remove from
freezer and let it defrost on the counter.
Last Words
This recipe can be made by kneading by hand instead of using a mixer.
Some might want to touch the dough in order to reconnect with Mother
Earth. To each her own...
I find wheat bread dough pretty sticky and it just seems easier to
use a mixer. You decide.
Mixers
Using an electric mixer will save you time and make baking bread
a lot easier. Try out one of these KitchenAid mixers from Amazon.com.
Wheat
One of the most important factors in this recipe is the quality of
your wheat flour. Poor wheat flour will make this bread turn out flat
and hard. Yechhh!
So where can you get good wheat for grinding?
- Wheat
Montana Prairie Gold
- Lehi
Roller Mills Spring White
Wheat Montana products can also be purchased from Whole
Foods Market. Many of their stores let you buy the wheat berries
and grind them in the store. The flour should then be stored in the
freezer or used within a few days.
Believe me, there is a difference compared to run-of-the-mill wheat.
If you want to grind your own wheat, you can buy an excellent grinder
for just a few hundred dollars. Believe me, it's worth it.
This is the grinder I use. It turns 8 cups of wheat berries into 12
cups of fine flour in 3 or 4 minutes. Excellent!
Flax
It's much better and less expensive to grind your own flax seed. Again,
I buy my flax in bulk from Whole Foods Market, but you can probably
find it at any decent health food store.
I've heard some people comment that flax seed has kind of a fishy
smell or flavor. That is only a sign that the ground flax seed is
rancid and should be thrown out. Fresh ground flax seed tastes good
and has a nutty flavor.
I use a small coffee grinder like one of these to grind flax right
when I need it.
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