How to Make My Simple, Whole Wheat Bread and Rolls

Once a week I make 1 loaf of whole wheat bread and 1 batch of dinner rolls, at the same time.  I started making my own bread when I became aware of the ingredients that are used in bread that we buy at the grocery store.  Did you know that grocery store bread has sugar in it?  I didn't either until one day when I actually read what the bread I was buying had in it.

There are technically only 4 ingredients needed to make bread.  Flour, yeast, salt and water.  You can actually even omit the salt if you want and still have a successful loaf of bread, it just tastes quite bland.

This recipe has olive oil in it but not much.  The oil smooths out the bread and I think it creates a better, less dry texture.  I have never substituted anything for the olive oil but I imagine that melted butter would give you the same type of texture that the oil does.

A lot of people act shocked when they find out that we don't buy bread at the store and that I make it every week because for some reason, they think it takes a lot of time to make.  From start to finish, depending on the temperature in the house, it can take up to four hours.  Thing is, that's from the minute the yeast goes into the bowl to the minute that it comes out of the oven.  Actual hands on time MIGHT be 30 minutes total.  I always go do something else while the bread is rising or cooking.

You can make so many things with this bread recipe.  I've used it as pizza crust, rolled it into breadsticks and made cloverleaf dinner rolls out of it.  I haven't found anything yet that doesn't work with this recipe.  You can also break it up into pieces between rises, coat the pieces in butter and brown sugar and make monkey bread.  This is an amazing versitile dough.

I suggest using a stand mixer with a dough attachment for breadmaking unless you are ready to do some serious hand kneading.  Either way will result in a good bread but hand kneading will add quite a bit of time to the process compared to the 9 minutes that it takes for the mixer to do the work for you.

Cost wise, I estimate that each batch of bread costs less than $1.00 to make which isn't bad at all.

Ingredients to Make Whole Wheat Bread

• 2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 package yeast, rapid rise or regular both work the same here
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• water

How to Make It

Tear open your yeast packet and pour it into the bottom of a bowl.

Add both types of flour and salt.  Mix it around with your fingers to make sure everything is evenly distributed.

If you are using a mixer, drop the dough hook down and lock it in place.

Measure your 1/3 cup olive oil.  I do it by eye in a 1 cup measuring cup and then fill it the rest of the way up with warm water.  Do not allow the water to be over 115 degrees, otherwise it will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise.

Pour the olive oil and water into the bowl and start the mixer on LOW.  If you start it too high, flour will come out of the bowl and you'll have a mess.

If you are making this by hand, pour the olive oil and water in and use your hands to start mixing.  It's messy but it can be fun.

Measure another cup of the warm water and start adding it little by little while the mixer is running.  If you are doing this by hand, dump in some of the water then mix it in by hand.  You know you have enough water when the dough comes completely together.  Depending on the humidity in the air, you may need more or less water each time you make this.

Turn the mixer up to medium high and set your timer for 9 minutes.  The mixer is now kneading the dough for you.  If you are making this by hand, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it is soft and springs back when you touch it.  If you don't know how to hand knead, take a peek at the video I've included to help you out...

After the dough is kneaded, it's time to let it rise.  Form it into a ball...

Add some olive oil to the bowl that it was mixed in...

And turn the ball of dough around in the olive oil until every bit of the dough is covered in the oil.  This keeps the bread from drying out on the surface as it rises.  Do not skip the oil!

Cover the top of the bowl with a damp paper towel or damp clean kitchen towel.  Set the bowl in a warm place to rise.  There really is no timeline on rising.  Sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes it takes 90 minutes.  

You want to let it rise until it is at least double in size.

Poke the dough down with your fingers to deflate it and then turn it out on a clean counter or table.

Now we are going to start shaping our loaf and rolls.  Cut the doughball in half.

If you are wanting to make just two loaves of bread, form both halves into two loaves.

Put the loaf (loaves) into bread pans (grease the pan AND the loaf with butter or olive oil).

Set the bread pan(s) in a warm place to rise covered with a damp paper towel or clean kitchen cloth.  You can use the same towel that you did for the first rise.

To make the dinner rolls, flatten out the other half of the dough with your fingers.  About 1/2" thich works easiest for me.  This makes it easier to separate the dough for each roll.

Cut the dough in half.

The cut each half in half...

Then cut each quarter in half.  You should now have 8 pieces of dough.  You can watch the quick video on how to form the dough into balls for your rolls...

You should have 8 round dinner rolls when you are finished.

Arrange the rolls in a baking dish or on a baking tray.  Lightly brush with either butter or olive oil to keep them from drying out during their last rise.

Again, cover with a damp paper towel or a damp kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place to rise.  This second rise can vary between 30 minutes and an hour depending on how warm your kitchen is.
This is when you want to turn on your oven to allow it to pre-heat.  Set your oven for 400 degrees.

This is after about 15 minutes on a really warm day.

This is after thirty minutes.  They are ready for the oven.
Put the rolls and the bread into the oven.  After you close the door, turn the heat down to 350.
The rolls will cook for approximately 25 minutes and the bread will take about 40 minutes.  You know it is done when you tap the top and it sounds hollow.

Brush the loaf and the rolls with melted butter and allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes before taking them out.  Once out of the pan, let the bread cool to where it is just warm to the touch before you cut off your first slice.  If you slice it when it is too warm, you will cause the center of the bread to mush up.  Patience.  I know, it's hard to wait that long but believe me, it's worth it.
Enjoy your easy, homemade whole wheat bread.  :)