Whole wheat bread recipe

Cry for help! I have and am a huge fan of Jackie Clay’s Pantry Cookbook. The whole wheat bread recipe on page 120 is giving me fits. I have looked far and wide for a decent all whole wheat flour recipe and I’m sure this fits the bill if done right. I have followed the recipe to the letter and still the dough is so sticky I have to put it on a cookie sheet in round loaves with spoons. I have tried adding flour so it is less sticky as suggested but I usually end up with a brick and have used 8 or even 9 cups of flour. What am I doing wrong?

Gretchen Falkenburg
Cochranton, Pennsylvania

Okay Gretchen, I made up a batch of that whole wheat bread last night, just to be sure it’s not the recipe. (I haven’t been making/eating a lot of bread lately as I’m trying to cut down some weight and we LOVE our homemade bread.) I used the recipe right to the dot. This recipe makes a sticky “batter” that’s thicker than a regular batter as you can “kind of” knead it but your fingers will get sticky. Most folks just mix it well with a spoon and let it rise in the bowl, covered. When it’s risen, the dough is much less sticky and with lightly-oiled fingers you can minimally knead and shape it. I made mine into a single loaf and let it rise until a bit more than doubled (it keeps the whole wheat bread much lighter).

Wheat-bread_2

Wheat-bread

It rose wonderfully and I baked it. (When you bake any pure whole wheat bread, bake a little longer than recommended. If the crust starts to get too brown, cover it with aluminum foil. Pure whole wheat bread is quite dense and if you under-bake it the center will still be doughy when the outside looks perfect.) As you can see, it looks great and I ate two slices last night while it was hot and another two this morning — can’t help myself! So don’t add more than the recommended amount of flour. I added 5½ cups for a middle-of-the-road amount. You don’t want it like “regular” bread dough. It will be sticky. I hope this helps with your next batch. Good luck. — Jackie

9 COMMENTS

  1. Rita Caldwell,

    The book is JACKIE CLAY’S PANTRY COOKBOOK and is available through the magazine. You can just click on it on the magazine’s website or order from the blank in the back of your issue of Backwoods Home Magazine. You’ll find this recipe and hundreds more easy, tasty recipes with ingredients found right in your pantry. No wierd ingredients or difficult recipes. I promise!

  2. All,

    This recipe is real easy but it is naturally sticky dough so you don’t need to or shouldn’t refrigerate it. I just beat it with a spoon and let’er rise in the bowl (covered with a moist kitchen towel). Sorry I made everyone hungry. You DON”T want to know how much of that bread I ate myself!!

  3. Jackie
    I can’t find this cookbook she is talking about. Any ideas or willing to share that whole wheat bread recipe??
    Rita

  4. I could smell that loaf of homemade bread all the way from Minnesota to Texas. Somehow it just came through my computer. I really think it should be against the law for someone to be able to cook bread like that and use the pictures to torment women like me who can’t resist bread! Jackie, you are amazing!

  5. I do the dough refrigeration too, except for ciabatta bread, which sits on the counter for 24 hours or more. It does hydrate the flour and also starts the gluten development. Richard Blunt wrote a Backwoods Home article about this process. I also often add dry cracked or chopped grains to my bread and they take up a lot of moisture, so the overnight in the refrigerator is a must. My go to tool for breadmaking is a bench knife from King Arthur Flour. I can get it under any sticky dough to flip and move it. Jackie’s bread looks better than anything I’ve ever produced in my life. Just awesome. Who could resist? That’s real talent and expertise.

  8. Hi, Gretchen; Have you tried refrigerating the dough? That always seems to make dough very manageable for me. Maybe try making the dough and refrigerating it overnight so that you can knead it, shape it, and let it rise? They say that putting it in the fridge overnight allows the flavors to develop. All I know is it takes a lot of the sticky out of dough, and is perfect for making dough that needs to be rolled out. The recipe sounds really wonderful!

    Barb

  9. Gretchen, whole wheat dough takes longer to absorb liquids & also for the gluten to develop. I knead my bread dough for 20 minutes the first time. The longer you knead, the drier it does seem to get.

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