DELICIOUS Homemade Wheat Bread

This recipe is amazing. For one.. its delicious. Two... its a FOOD STORAGE recipe. No eggs, no milk, etc.. like many bread recipies call for. Will come in handy one day if it needs to. I have to say that my mother in law makes the most amazing wheat bread. Its like candy... seriousely. My almost 2 year old (picky as picky gets) eater wont touch storebought bread, but calls for this one by name! I could eat a whole loaf, but havent (or have I?). Its sooo good and I didnt take pictures because its super easy and well.. i forgot. So get out your bread maker and write down this recipe!

*First of all I have to say that some of my comments are geared toward those who may have never made bread before, or are new at it. These are tips that I wish I would have known when I was new to making my own bread*

First, make your Bread Mix:
1 cup shortening powder (you can buy this in a #10 can at places like Emergency Essentials
2 cups sugar
4 TBS salt
combine all ingredients and mix WELL!

Now this mix makes about 13 loafs of bread, thats why this might seem like a huge amount. But if you are like me you make it often so I like to make it in large quantities and just grab a small amount each time I make it.

Tip: Have all ingredients ready when you start, if the water sits too long it will cool down and take longer to rise.

Here is the recipe: Add to bread maker in order.
1 1/4 cup very warm water (not HOT, just very warm)
1/4 cup Bread Mix (see above)
1/4 cup honey (I know.. YUMMM right?)
3 TBS, 1 tsp non-fat dry milk

Every good bread recipe has 3 cups of flour or grain. As you can see in the next part, she uses a variety of yummies that make the flavor of this bread INCREDIBLE!

First cup:
2 heaping spoonfulls of gluten (Walmart has this)
the rest whole wheat flour

Second cup:
whole wheat flour

Third cup:
1/4 cup instant oats (the quick ones... they are smaller then regular oats)
the rest bread flour

2 tsp yeast. When adding yeast to the top of the flour, make sure the yeast does not touch the liquids in the bottom. The heat from the water kills the yeast and it will not rise properly if it doesnt churn with the flour first. The best way to do this is to make a pool on the top of the flour thats about 2 inches wide and an inch deep. Pour yeast in pool, cover lightly with flour. Set bread maker to dough setting. When its done, do not knead! Gently form dough into loaf and place in greased loaf pan. Ive found that using crisco works best. Let rise until double in size. This should only take 1-2 hours. Sometimes less depending on temperature of your kitchen, and altitude level. Im in California and it takes about an hour. I just moved from utah and it used to take like 3 or 4 haha! But when its double the size its ready to go in the oven. 350 degrees. 29 minutes. TaDa!

This hits store-bought wheat bread out of the park!! Its a lot healthier for you too. Im a nerd sometimes. One thing that makes me a nerd is that when I find or make up new recipies I like to do all the math and figure out the nutrition facts for it. This is especially fun to do with bread because bread isnt very good for you. BUT, lets be honest now, most of us would sit and eat a whole loaf becaues bread is AMAZING! So its fun to find recipies that are healthy, as well as delicious. SO, I have done the math on this one and the nutrition facts are as follows:

Serving size: 2 regular slices (or one large (3/4 inch or so) slice if you like to eat it plain like me)
Calories: 106
Fat: .5 g
Sugar: 6 g
Sodium: 151 mg
Protein: 4.5

So as it turns out, its actually pretty healthy for you. A great source of healthy calories. Enjoy!