I have baked my own bread for years and I have a very favorite recipe that I almost always make. A year ago I finally bought a bread machine. I got it for ~80 bucks off ebay. It was new, the box was a bit damaged is all, a Breadman Ultimate.
This recipe is very nutritious and hell of delicious. I usually toast it, keeping it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. It keeps for weeks on end. I don't think I've ever seen it go bad even after months.
I'll post two versions of the recipe. The first is for not using a bread machine and digital scale. The second is for using a bread machine and digital scale.
Version one:
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12 oz. water, heated to warm in order to dissolve yeast
1 T active dry yeast (put this in the warm water, let dissolve 5 minutes or so)
Add the following:
1 T salt
3 T sugar
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk (if you prefer, just use milk instead of water and skip this)
1/3 cup untoasted wheat germ (Optional. I store this in the refrigerator for freshness).
1/3 cup wheat bran (Optional)
1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup sasame seeds
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 raw egg
White flour (I get 50 lb. bags of bread flour at Costco!)
Mix these together in a mixing bowl, well and add white flour with a mixing spoon until thick enough to turn out on a floured kneeding board (a large cutting board will work). Scrape out most of what's left in the bowl onto the kneeding board. Kneed in more flour until the loaf is "smooth and elastic" and does not stick to the board. Continue to kneed for up to 5 minutes - this activates the gluten in the flour.
Put a 1/2 teaspoon or so of oil into the mixing bowl (You don't have to clean the bowl), and spread all around the bottom and up the sides, and toss the loaf into the bowl and swish it around to get oil all over it. Cover (plate or plastic) and put in a warm place (85 degrees or so) and let the loaf rise until around double in size. If it doesn't feel warm to the touch before doing this, heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds (maybe 30).
Pull out of bowl onto the kneeding board and kneed a few seconds and form into a loaf shape and press down into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Cover, if desired, and place back in the warm place (85 degrees or so), and let rise until around doubled in size and put in preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit 5 minutes and remove from pan and let cool thoroughly (a couple of hours) on a wire rack before slicing with a very sharp knife. Refrigerate in a plastic bag and it will keep for weeks (if you can resist eating it all first!).
I also make this recipe with 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds instead of the millet and sesame seeds.
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Version two:
Here's the exact post I made in a different one of these forums a couple of weeks ago. It's optimized for a bread machine:
Here's my own Whole Wheat Bread recipe that I make all the time, refined and perfected over a period of months for my Breadman Ultimate (it comes out perfectly every time now). I've made this recipe triple digits number of times. It's not as cheap to make as Ridefree's, but it's very wholesome and satisfying. You'd be amazed how delicious this is just toasted with some butter. Of course, I do all kinds of things with it. Now, I have a digital scale in my kitchen ($10-15 or so at Harbor Freight), and I use it every time I make recipes in my Breadman. Once having weighed volume measurments and compiled a table of equivalents, it makes cooking with the Breadman (and most other recipes) much easier and fuss free. It's important when using a bread machine to make accurate measurements. I also use powdered eggs + water in place of eggs when cooking unless it's an omelet or such.
Here's my own Whole Wheat Bread recipe:
Water: 11.1 oz
Powdered egg: 0.2 oz
[If not using powdered eggs, instead use 1 lg egg and subtract 2 Tbls water]
Oil: 0.5 oz
Salt: 0.2 oz
Nonfat Dry Milk Powder: 1.3 oz (1/3 cup)
Whole Wheat Flour: 8 oz
White Flour: 8 oz
Sugar: 1.3 oz (3 Tbls)
Wheat Bran: 0.45 oz (1/3 cup)
Wheat Germ: 0.9 oz (1/3 cup)
Pumpkin Seeds: 1.5 oz (1/2 cup)
Active Dry Yeast: 0.17 oz
Two pound whole wheat cycle. I remove the paddle at the beginning of the last rise cycle (and push the dough down flat into the pan), which occurs 2:05 into the whole process. At the conclusion of the bake cycle, remove from the pan and place on wire rack to cool completely (3 hours) before slicing with very sharp knife (be careful!). Store in plastic bag in refrigerator and generally toast before using. Keeps virtually indefinitely when stored this way.
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