The Easiest Way to Make Homemade Wheat Bread

Makes 18 slices of bread

99 calories per slice of bread

Nutrition per serving: 99 calories, 17.5 carb, 1.2 fat, 3.7 protein

Nutrition in entire recipe: 1786 calories, 316 carb, 21.8 fat, 66 protein

Prep time 5 minutes

Cook time 3 - 4 hours

Notes:

This is my favorite bread recipe. I just dump the ingredients into the bread machine and push the button. The machine does all the kneading and baking so I don't even have to think about it until it's ready to eat. The texture and flavor are fabulous!

For extra convenience, I keep the ingredients in the cabinet above my bread machine and tape the recipe inside the door. 

It's easy to blow your calorie budget on warm fresh bread! To ensure the correct serving size, I weigh the entire loaf after I get it out of the pan, then I divide that number by 18. When I cut a slice, I try to get as close to that number as possible. If I'm way off, I cut off the end to make it weight less, or to make it weight more I add in an additional piece. 

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water 

1 tablespoon olive oil (120 cal, 0 carb, 14 fat, 0 protein)

2 tablespoons sugar (97 cal, 50 carb, 0 fat, 0 protein)

2 cups whole wheat flour (240 g) (I use my vitamix blender to grind the wheat. For maximum nutrition, grind the wheat just before using) (816 cal, 172 carb, 6 fat, 32 protein)

1 1/2 cups white all purpose flour (187 g) (683 cal, 143 carb, 1.8 fat, 20 protein)

2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (17 g) (70 cal, 1 carb, 0 fat, 14 protein)

1 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast 

Instructions

Put all of the ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed. Program for basic white bread (or for whole wheat bread, if your machine has a whole wheat setting), and press START. 

This is the bread machine I use- available on Amazon here. I've made over 300 loaves of bread with it over the last couple of years and it still works great! 

I picked it out because it has a ceramic nonstick pan, and the mixer blade does not leave a large hole in the loaf like other kinds of bread machines do. This model has a very thin and small mixer and you can hardly notice the void in the loaf when you remove it from the pan. 

I LOVE it and would buy it again in a second! 

Put all of the ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed. Program for basic white bread (or for whole wheat bread, if your machine has a whole wheat setting), and press START. 

My bread machine takes about 3 hours and 15 minutes to make wheat bread. It comes out of the pan the easiest if I let it cool down for a few minutes. The longer the better, but at least 10 minutes is best. 

Then I let it cool down on a cutting board for a little longer- at least 5-10 minutes, but about 30 minutes is best. It cuts much easier if it's cooled down. 

This is such a great way to make bread, right? It's delicious, very healthy, and it only takes about 5 minutes to make if you use a bread machine!!