How to make perfect whole wheat bread…

If you know me, chances are, you know I love food. But instead of going out to the grocery store or out to the restaurants all the time, I’m a big sucker for making food from scratch, using simple ingredients. Cooking is not only a great, healthy pastime for you to enjoy, but it’s an amazing gateway into social situations and dates, giving you a great excuse to have people over. After all, who doesn’t love food?

One of my favourite foods to make is whole wheat bread, due to the ease at which you can make it, and the variety of different ingredients you can add in to spice it up. It’s also something most people like to enjoy in some form, and always feels like a rewarding baking process. So today, I’m going to be sharing with you my perfect, zero sugar, whole wheat bread recipe, and teaching you simple ingredients to add in to turn your whole wheat bread into a party.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup warm water
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat bread flour

DIRECTIONS

Pour all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Knead ingredients together using your hands until it forms into a nice ball. Add more flour 1 tbsp at a time if dough is too wet, or 1 tbsp of water at a time if dough feels too dry.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and wrap bread in pre-wrap to let rise for 30 minutes. Carefully flour the outside of the pan.
Using your hands, gently shape and stretch the dough into the shape of the bread pan or cooking appliance of choice. Lightly flour the outside of the dough again along any sections sticking to the pan. Cook for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F. For a little crispiness on top, broil for 2-5 minutes at about 525 degrees F.
Let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Then use a spatula to get around the outside and release from the shackles of the pan. Put on a cutting board and carefully cut into slices. Enjoy while the bread is still warm!

SPECIAL TWISTS

One of the best things about making homeade bread is that it is incredibly easy to add additional ingredients into the mix, while keeping the base recipe above the same every single time. Here are some of my favourite special twists, to spice up your bread recipe.

1. HAZELNUT-RAISIN BREAD

Add 3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, 3/4 cup of raisins, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.

2. SPINACH BREAD

Add in 1 cup of chopped spinach.

3. CHEESE, ONION & HERB

Add in 1 cup of cheese, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme, and 2 tbsp minced or green onion.

4. BRAN

Use only half whole-wheat flour, then half bran flour in the recipe.

5. BANANA

Start by mashing two-three ripe bananas, then add in the rest of the ingredients.

So there it is! My perfect whole-wheat bread recipe! Be sure to check out more from my Food & Nutrition section, on your quest to become the very best version of yourself. Thanks for reading and see you soon!