I'm looking for a recipe for whole wheat bread that I discovered over 20
years ago while I was in college. I've googled like crazy and haven't
found it yet. I thought I might try the group and see if anyone had
something close. The recipe was on the back of the whole wheat flour bag
(and no, I can't remember the brand of flour except that it was stone
ground). The recipe was unique in that you started with a 1/2 cup of
butter, 1/2 cup of honey and I *think* a 1/2 cup of powdered milk in a
large bowl. You then added boiling water into the bowl (not sure how
much) and let it cool to add the yeast. I'm fairly certain it called for
5-6 cups of whole wheat flour and made two loaves. This was an excellent
recipe, very consistent for a beginner baker and produced a nice moist,
hearty loaf.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions/guidance/advice.

"deepeddygirl" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a recipe for whole wheat bread that I discovered over 20
years ago while I was in college. I've googled like crazy and haven't
found it yet. I thought I might try the group and see if anyone had
something close. The recipe was on the back of the whole wheat flour bag
(and no, I can't remember the brand of flour except that it was stone
ground). The recipe was unique in that you started with a 1/2 cup of
butter, 1/2 cup of honey and I *think* a 1/2 cup of powdered milk in a
large bowl. You then added boiling water into the bowl (not sure how much)
and let it cool to add the yeast. I'm fairly certain it called for 5-6
cups of whole wheat flour and made two loaves. This was an excellent
recipe, very consistent for a beginner baker and produced a nice moist,
hearty loaf.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions/guidance/advice.

Where were you located when you purchased the flour? Did you buy a
local/regional brand?
Janet

Janet B. wrote:

"deepeddygirl" wrote in message
...

I'm looking for a recipe for whole wheat bread that I discovered over 20
years ago while I was in college. I've googled like crazy and haven't
found it yet. I thought I might try the group and see if anyone had
something close. The recipe was on the back of the whole wheat flour bag
(and no, I can't remember the brand of flour except that it was stone
ground). The recipe was unique in that you started with a 1/2 cup of
butter, 1/2 cup of honey and I *think* a 1/2 cup of powdered milk in a
large bowl. You then added boiling water into the bowl (not sure how much)
and let it cool to add the yeast. I'm fairly certain it called for 5-6
cups of whole wheat flour and made two loaves. This was an excellent
recipe, very consistent for a beginner baker and produced a nice moist,
hearty loaf.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions/guidance/advice.


Where were you located when you purchased the flour? Did you buy a
local/regional brand?
Janet


San Marcos, Texas. I doubt it was local. IIRC, I got it at my local HEB.
I was a student at the time, so I doubt I spent a bunch of money on it.
Thanks!

deepeddygirl wrote:

I'm looking for a recipe for whole wheat bread that I discovered over 20
years ago while I was in college. I've googled like crazy and haven't
found it yet. I thought I might try the group and see if anyone had
something close. The recipe was on the back of the whole wheat flour bag
(and no, I can't remember the brand of flour except that it was stone
ground). The recipe was unique in that you started with a 1/2 cup of
butter, 1/2 cup of honey and I *think* a 1/2 cup of powdered milk in a
large bowl. You then added boiling water into the bowl (not sure how
much) and let it cool to add the yeast. I'm fairly certain it called for
5-6 cups of whole wheat flour and made two loaves. This was an excellent
recipe, very consistent for a beginner baker and produced a nice moist,
hearty loaf.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions/guidance/advice.

Not sure why the water needs to be boiled. You don't need to
scald the milk, and you don't need it for the butter, because
you can easily just use melted butter as long as it's not
too hot.

Was is whole wheat or white flour? Most stone ground varieties
are whole wheat but not all. Honey is commonly used with
whole wheat breads, but not 100% as a rule. If it was whole
wheat, it may have also included some white flour to give the
dough more strength. It's common for whole wheat breads
to have some white flour mixed in.

I can guess at reconstructing a recipe if you're interested.

--
Reg

Reg wrote:



deepeddygirl wrote:

I'm looking for a recipe for whole wheat bread that I discovered over
20 years ago while I was in college. I've googled like crazy and
haven't found it yet. I thought I might try the group and see if
anyone had something close. The recipe was on the back of the whole
wheat flour bag (and no, I can't remember the brand of flour except
that it was stone ground). The recipe was unique in that you started
with a 1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of honey and I *think* a 1/2 cup of
powdered milk in a large bowl. You then added boiling water into the
bowl (not sure how much) and let it cool to add the yeast. I'm fairly
certain it called for 5-6 cups of whole wheat flour and made two
loaves. This was an excellent recipe, very consistent for a beginner
baker and produced a nice moist, hearty loaf.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions/guidance/advice.


Not sure why the water needs to be boiled. You don't need to
scald the milk, and you don't need it for the butter, because
you can easily just use melted butter as long as it's not
too hot.

Was is whole wheat or white flour? Most stone ground varieties
are whole wheat but not all. Honey is commonly used with
whole wheat breads, but not 100% as a rule. If it was whole
wheat, it may have also included some white flour to give the
dough more strength. It's common for whole wheat breads
to have some white flour mixed in.

I can guess at reconstructing a recipe if you're interested.


Thanks for your response - it was stone ground wheat flour in a plastic
bag. I'm guessing the boiling water was to reconstitute the dry milk,
melt the butter and warm up the honey so it mixed well before you added
the salt, yeast and flour. I kneaded it by hand and it was a workout! It
made 2 loaves. Moist, slightly sweet, really delicious for breakfast.

On 11/12/06, Reg wrote:


Not sure why the water needs to be boiled. You don't need to
scald the milk, and you don't need it for the butter, because
you can easily just use melted butter as long as it's not
too hot.

Actually, it is a good idea to boil the instant milk. Unless milk, or
even dehydrated milk, has been denaatured, it has some enzymes in it
that interferes with bread rise.

Most modern dehydrated milks are not heated very much, so the enzymes
survive the process.

Laurel Robertson discusses this at some length in "Breads From
Laurel's Kitchen." Is this a real issue? It's worth noting King
Arthur offers dried milk that is denatured just for this reason.

MIke

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 23:08:54 -0700, "Mike Avery"
wrote:

Laurel Robertson discusses this at some length in "Breads From
Laurel's Kitchen."

It's called The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. It's wonderful.

Serene
--
"I can't decide if I feel more like four ten-year-olds or ten four-year-olds." Laurie Anderson , on turning 40.

http://serenejournal.livejournal.com

Mike Avery wrote:

Actually, it is a good idea to boil the instant milk. Unless milk, or
even dehydrated milk, has been denaatured, it has some enzymes in it
that interferes with bread rise.

Most modern dehydrated milks are not heated very much, so the enzymes
survive the process.

That's a surprise. If the milk is pasteurized, which I would assume
powdered milk is, wouldn't that also inactivate the enzymes? They
denature at something like 150-160 F like most proteins.

I'll look it up when I get a chance. Thanks for raising the point.

--
Reg