I created this recipe throughout the years while attempting to give my kids a healthy diet. Now, as soon as the loaf comes out of the oven, my husband and I each consume half of it! We haven’t shopped for bread in the store in a long time.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 40 |
| Yield: | 3 loaves |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 ¾ cups warm water (110 degrees F)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup wheat bran
- 5 cups bread flour, divided
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 1 cup dry non-fat milk powder
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, wheat bran, 3 cups of the bread flour, wheat germ, milk powder, brown sugar, wheat gluten, sesame seeds, and salt; stir well. Mix in the yeast mixture, oil and eggs.
- Add the remaining bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
- Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into three lightly greased 8×4 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 92 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 14 g |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 196 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 2 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Outstanding recipe. I converted it to a vegan recipe: Substituted (¼ cup honey, ¼ cup blackstrap molasses) for ½ cup brown sugar; substituted (2 Tablespoons chia seeds, 6 Tablespoons water) for 2 eggs; substituted ¼ cup applesauce for ¼ cup vegetable oil; deleted the sesame seeds; added ¼ teaspoon ground ginger to yeast mixture to enhance the yeast.
I have made this bread in one way or another many many times. I never use the powdered milk, and I use less sugar, but otherwise i pretty much follow the recipe unless I am out of something. It always comes out well, today I realized I was out of bran. O well. I am sure it will still be good!
This recipe came out great, I subed 10 grain flour for whole wheat and added some nuts and sunflower seeds. I let it rise twice and it came out really great. I’m putting this one in my box!
I’ve made this recipe (or closeto it) three times now and it is growing on me, quickly. The crumb is wonderful if one keeps the dough wet and the flavor is the Real Thing. It includes all of the components of a tasty bread and minor variations to accommodate the pantry are no-brainers. I did not have and what bran the first time so I substituted more wheat germ. I often don’t have dry milk, but substituting fluid milk is fine if you keep an eye on the total fluid. Sesame seeds don’t agree with me, so I just omit them. The texture is good for sandwiches, for toasting and for o rdinary munching. No fan of sugar, I sub honey (calculated) and vary the wheat gluten a little depending upon the flour(s) used. For the nocice baker, this recipe is easy. For the more advanced folks, with a better grasp of ingredients and their interactions, it is modification friendly. A salute to Ms. Westrup! I suspect that a LOT of work went into developing the recipe published here. Thanks!! If I could add one tip it would be to keep the hydration high and avoid adding to much flour. The dough should remain stickey.
Pretty good, I like all the fibre. Mine turned out a little bit crumbly and not near as high risen as the picture, also I did not knead in the last cup of flour, was already getting tough. I will try it again though! I did like the one suggestion of turning one of the loaves into cinnamon bread, its just the two of us we dont need 3 loaves at a time!
This is a wonderful recipe. I think the person who gave it one star and said it was horrible did not follow the directions correctly. And the vital wheat gluten to flour ratio is correct, if you look at the package directions. I cut the recipe in half and made two smaller loafs, and baked for 24″, each weighed 1#5oz. Also, I didn’t have wheat bran on hand so used ground bran cereal flakes.
A most excellant bread. Wonderful to slice, sweetly nutty flavor. Just the right crunch. Dense, but light at the same time. This recipe is a keeper. Makes terrific sandwiches. Thanks!
I didn’t have powdered milk – so I substituted the water for 1% Milk and omitted the powdered milk. I made it into 2 freeform loaves and 1 loaf pan. This is absoulutly delicious!! A great sandwich bread!
I halved this recipe and made it in the bread machine on the whole wheat cycle. It made a nice large loaf with good texture. I enjoy the hearty taste, and will definitely make it again.
Nice bread. I subbed flax seed for wheat bran, as I didn’t have any, and decided (on a lark really–I have no good reason) to sub 1/4 c honey for the 1/4 c brown sugar. I used my breadmaker to mix the dough, and I halved the recipe to 20 servings, and ended up with 2 small loaves of bread. I had to add a bit more flour and a bit more water to get the consistency right, but it was more like a tbsp or so each so it wasn’t much at all. This is a pretty full bodied bread. It baked up very dark brown–no need for an egg wash here! I baked for 40 min at 375 and I put the dough in bread pans, covered in plastic, and placed in the fridge overnight. It rose well enough in the fridge and I just set out the bread pans while the oven was preheating so didn’t let it rise at room temp. I don’t think I like the sesame seed flavor so much, but otherwise I think it’s good. I’d make again and sub poppy seeds or sunflower seeds–some seed I like better! I can tell right now that bf won’t like it but he’s a plain white bread guy. Thanks for the recipe!
I was very disappointed with this- It was by far the worst bread I have ever made!! Something obviously went wrong since everyone else seemed to rave about this… Consistency was near perfect at the end of step 2, but adding the extra flour just dried it out and made it tough to work with! I had to and some extra water and didn’t even bother to add the last 1c of flour. The dough was way too dense and it never even rised!! I baked it and it still didn’t rise it just turned out like a brick! I did taste it and it tasted alright… I have never made bread with vital wheat gluten before so I did some research and I think that 1/2c was too much, there should have only been 4 tsp per loaf which would have translated to 1/4c of gluten! Also I think the flour needs to be cut by 1-2c… Since it is a wheat recipe I would suggest cutting the bread flour by this amount… I will try this again, only as a base but I will definitely only be making one loaf as per the modifications I already stated, and maybe some more…
This was my best success yet! I didn’t have any wheat bran, so substituted bran flakes cereal (no raisins). It worked just fine. I still feel like this bread lacks just a little bit of flavor, perhaps depth would be more accurate. I like to experience bread, not just eat it. All in all, a great recipe though.
OK, I have to agree with the rest, this is a great bread recipe. I really didn’t make major changes either. I didn’t have any wheat bran, so I used oat bran, also I don’t care for sesame seeds so I used flax seeds. Everyone loved the taste and it looked great.
This is a good bread. I like the fact that it makes 3 loaves and they are tasty. The only problem is that the dough is very dense and as a result the bread turns out less moist than I like. This does not, however, take away from its wonderful taste.
Yum! Finally a whole wheat bread recipe that is good for us and tastes great! It is a huge recipe so I am looking forward to eatting my yummy bread for awhile. No problem though, I just sliced it and then stuck it in freezer! Thanks Shannon!
Great recipe. Light yet filling. I actually thought I’d done something wrong when making it because the dough was so “tough.” I had to add extra water and then knead by hand because it was stopping my Kitchen Aid (has never happened before). Turned out great though. Will know what to expect next time – I will definitely make it again.
I couldn’t truthfully say how many bread recipes I have tried saved or gathered. I put the “WESTRUP W. W. BREAD” in a class I’ll call, for the sake of a better answer “Maine Fine Wheat Breads”, To put what I’m trying to say in two words of today’s worldy terms, “It Rocks” Thanks !!!!
This makes a beautiful loaf of bread, but it is totally uninteresting. No character and no real flavor. Just beautiful, even-textured, good-for-you bread. I am going to make it again very soon, but I’m planning on kneading in some chopped nuts for texture, increasing the salt a tiny bit, and adding some molasses for a more intense flavor. I’ll post results if it works.
Wow! Light, delicious, and hearty bread. I turned one of the three loaves into cinnamon swirl bread with great results. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Good and wholesome. Bread has good flavour. Have added some sunflower seed and it taste good. Planning to replace brown sugar with honey instead. Anyone know of the right proportion?
This is a very GOOD bread. Healthy and delicious.