My Secret to Amazing 100% Whole Wheat Bread

I love bread baking!  It is such a sense of accomplishment when the bread rises to a perfect loaf. I have been trying to get a good 100% whole wheat for a while.  I kept going back to the one in the King Aurthur All-purpose baking book.  One day I decided to try the molasses version instead of honey or sugar. The result was an amazing loaf that was rich and wonderful for sandwiches.

The Molasses must be the answer!  This is now my favorite 100% loaf and I make it almost every week.

100% Whole Wheat
(adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)

1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons molasses
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional, but helpful)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

  In the bowl of your mixer combine all the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This lets all the liquid absorb into the flour.

then knead it for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and supple. It may seem wet at first but it will come together nicely. (it is a bit of a sticky dough)
It is best to use a bread machine or your stand mixer to kneed this dough.  Otherwise you will have a dense loaf.

Let the dough rise in a greased covered bowl for at least one hour.  Shape it into a log and place it in a lightly 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for about another hour until it has crowned about 2 inches over the pan.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake the bread for 45 minutes.  Tent it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 20 minutes of baking so the top does not get too brown. Remove it from the oven and turn it out on a cooling rack to cool. (do not attempt to cut the bread until it is completely cool!)

Now it's time to get your Yum on!!!

This is the perfect loaf for sandwiches especially PB&J
Enjoy!