Posted Jun 16, 2014 by  John Corwith

This may seem long, but if you've made bread before, you know it's a touchy process. Once you've done it once, you'll realize how easy it is if you follow all the tips I've included.

This makes a 1.5 lb loaf, it can be reduced for a 1 lb loaf but I don't know why anyone would bother unless they don't have the necessary ingredients.

2 T olive oil (I use whatever I have, light, virgin, extra virgin... all depends on how much olive oil flavor you like.)

3 T honey (Sams has a great deal on honey!)

1 c + 3 T water (original recipe called for 1 1/4 c water, seems too sticky so I take out 1 T. Still a little sticky so I may try taking out 2 t next time, if I remember.)

1/2 to 1 t of garlic powder (to taste.)

1/2 to 1 t of onion powder (to taste, I don't know that I notice the difference when I leave it out...)

1/2 to 1 t of dried oregano (to taste, don't go overboard with the oregano, 1 1/2 t is too much.)

1 t salt (can't leave out, salt is needed to keep the yeast from rising too much giving you a huge loaf full of air pockets. Guess how I know... 3/4 t might be enough original recipe had 1 1/2 t.)

1 1/2 c bread flour (Sams has 25 lbs for the price of two 4 or 5 lb packages at Safeway.

2 c whole wheat flour.

1 t (rounded) yeast (bread machine recipe manuals usually call for more yeast, my generic bread maker book book says 1 t is sufficient. The packages seem to have 2 1/4 t, I get the jar since I make so much bread. Don't know about fasting active vs. other kinds. Never been able to figure out if there's a difference.)

Since the spices are not being infused in a liquid, I grind my oregano with a mortar and pestle to release more flavor from the dried leaves. I do the same with the garlic and onion powders while I'm at it.

Zap the water in the microwave for 60 seconds.

While zapping, whisk together all the dry goods except the yeast in a bowl.

Pour zapped water in to bread maker.

Measure oil then honey into bread maker (do oil before honey so that honey pours from measuring spoon more easily.)

Lick measuring spoon.

Add flour mixture to bread maker.

Add yeast on top of flour.

Setting the bread maker:

Mine has a single dough setting so that is all I have to use. I understand some bread makers have a wheat dough setting. If yours does, experiment.

I set my bread maker to the dough setting and put 10 minutes on the delay. This supposedly lets the wheat flour rest. You can also simply set your kitchen timer for 10 minutes before you start the dough cycle if your unit doesn't have the delay or if you can't figure out how to program it. You can also blow off the rest cycle as I'm not sure I've noticed it makes a difference...

Set your kitchen or microwave timer for the amount of time on your bread maker. My break maker makes a single chime when complete, I need the more annoying beep-beep-beep of my microwave timer.

When the bread is done rising in the bread maker, flour your hands and dump the bread out onto a floured surface. Punch it down by folding it over and forming it several times. How much you kneed the dough has been random for me. It can get sticky if you use too much water so you'll need to add flour. I just use all purpose flour at this point. I also use a metal spatula to scrape any bread that gets stuck to the surface (and add it back to the loaf.) Sprinkle flour on the surface, loaf, and rub on hands.

Pre-heat the oven to 125 F and shut when it reaches 125 F, shut it off, leave door closed.

While pre-heating, form the bread into what ever shape you want it to look (approximately) like when complete.

Stick it on a greased cookie sheet. You can also bread loaf pans, but I like a free form loaf.

Put into warm oven, let rise for an hour or so. Loaf should double in size.

Remove from oven and preheat to 350 F.

Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes. Longer will give you a thicker crust. (I haven't played much with different times or temps, if someone finds something the at works better, I'd like to hear about it.)

You basically need to wait till the bread rises and it fills (my) bread maker. I'm not sure if letting it set longer than it getting to the top of the bread maker makes any difference. I'll experiment to see by timing the rising time and see if it can be taken out sooner to speed up the process. Since the first rise fills my bread maker, I'd like to see if I can get the second rise (after the punch down) to rise more to make the bread more airy. It may help to get it out of the bread maker as soon as it has risen to the top so the yeast is still active more active after the punch down... watch for updates...