Little Home In The Country: Bread

Friday, 23 October 2015

Bread

Before I forget (although a day late), here's the recipe I use for bread. It's called 14xmommy Bread and as the name suggests, it's a recipe used by a mother of 14 kids. I don't know her and I have no idea how I was directed to the recipe all those years ago during my mad experimenting to find a good bread recipe. I can't find the recipe on her blog but I did somehow come across it online at some point...

I buy organic wheat berries from John and Cindy at Gold Forest Grains and due to different growing conditions and other factors that are inherent in a natural, non GMO product, the wheat is unique each year (in terms of the gluten and protein content). We LOVE their grains for the quality and for their locality (they are literally neighbours just a few miles down the road). I encourage you to buy organic, non-GMO wheat/freshly milled flour to make your bread ~ the quality will win you over if you aren't already using it.

I've messed around with a lot of basic bread recipes over the years and haven't found any other recipe that consistently performs better than this one to give me a light, 100% whole wheat sandwich loaf that my family will EAT on a daily basis. I do make sourdough bread (using my own wild starter) and other "artisan" style breads but everyone still loves this particular recipe for basic sandwiches. If I could figure out a way to make it without the gluten added, I'd be happier but I haven't been able to do that successfully without making a bunch of "doorstops".

Learning to make "our daily bread" was an important, basic skill for me to learn because when all 5 kids were at home, we went through a LOT of it (easily 2 loaves a day sometimes 3). It was expensive to buy and as we transitioned to a healthier diet, I realized that I could bake a far superior product right at home (for less money). It's not perfect, but it's delicious and reliable which is good enough for me!