If at first you don't succeed... try, try again!

In our not eating out quest both this year and last year I have been eager to try and make our own bread. There are lots of reasons for wanting to make our own bread, not least of which is that bread is a staple of all the sandwiches I eat.

When I was in high school and had just started experimenting with cooking/baking a friend of mine and I would make bread together. I recalled this being a relatively easy process but then again I probably wasn't the person playing the main role in high school. In either case, I have been trying to master a new way of making break with a bread maker but as we chronicled, the bread wasn't rising and came out incredibly dense.

The bread maker not being as useful as we imagined, we went back to the old fashioned way... with a kitchen aid.

I must say that this came out MUCH better. We used this Easy Whole Wheat recipe which was pretty simple to follow. I would recommend letting the bread rise for as long as possible (we did an hour and then an hour and a half) to ensure it rises.
Easy Whole Wheat (or Spelt) Bread
yields 2 loaves

2 1/2 cups warm water
3–4 Tbsp. molasses
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
3 cups whole wheat (or spelt) pastry flour, sifted
1/4 cup organic oil such as sunflower
5–5 1/2 cups whole wheat (or spelt) pastry flour, sifted
1/4 cup organic soy milk
3 tsp. sea salt
3 tsp. herb seasoning (such as Herbamare)
2 Tbsp. powdered egg replacer (or arrowroot)
2 Tbsp. gluten flour (optional)

1. Mix water, 1 Tbsp. molasses and yeast together in a large bowl. Wait a few minutes for bubbles to form. Add the 3 cups of flour and mix well. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place. Let sit for a minimum of 20 minutes, two hours, or up to a day.
2. Pour in molasses, oil, soy milk, sea salt, herb seasoning, egg replacer and gluten flour. Mix. Begin adding remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. After the third cup, it begins to get dense. Begin kneading it in the bowl. It will be sticky; continue adding the rest of the flour. Knead for 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
3. Cut dough into two equal parts. Shape into loaves and place them into two 8 1/2” by 6” or 7” oiled bread pans. (or make approximately 24 rolls or one loaf and 12 rolls)
4. Cover pans with a clean towel and set in a warm place until dough is doubled in size. This will take at least an hour.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350° for 30–40 minutes or until golden-brown and a paring knife comes out dry.