Can I make the Sprouted Wheat Sandwich Bread from start to finish in my bread machine, including baking?
Yes you can - and I did. Here's how I did it!
In order to use my instructions for baking your bread in a bread machine, you're going to need a machine with a separate DOUGH cycle AND a separate BAKE cycle. It is NOT a fully automated process as you will see, but it'll work. (I first tried the recipe using the machine's automated BASIC bread setting from start to finish, and the result was what I call the "super supper drop flop" - it fell as soon as the baking of the BASIC cycle began. )
My machine is a Sunbeam I picked up at the local Hospice thrift shop - it has a 1 lb and 1.5 lb setting . I wasn't able to select the loaf size for either the DOUGH or the BAKE cycle so just ran with what the machine did.
I started by putting my Sprouted Wheat Sandwich Bread recipe ingredients into the pan of my bread machine like the standard recipe.
I set the machine for the "DOUGH" setting, just like in my original recipe. When the DOUGH cycle had run through the knead portion and about half of the rise portion (my machine's dough rise runs 60 minutes - so for me I let it rise 30 minutes) , I opened the lid and removed the dough, but let the machine's timer continuing running.
I prepared a floured work surface with a 2-3 tablespoons of sprouted flour to the side to be worked into the dough. I plopped the very sticky dough ball out of the machine and onto the floured work surface. I used the spatula to get the sticky residual pieces of dough out of the pan to add to the dough ball. I kneaded the dough with floured hands and worked the extra flour into the dough ball to remove the stickiness and make a firm, somewhat heavy, not sticky, dough ball.
I removed the bread pan from the machine, removed the paddle, and washed and dried the pan - be sure to dry the underside that engages with the machine's motor. I sprayed the pan interior with coconut oil and put it back into the machine - I didn't put the paddle back into the pan. (No point in having a funny hole in your bread slices...unless you want to award a prize for the person who gets the holey piece of bread from the loaf!) . Finally, I lightly sprayed the dough ball and put it back into the pan in the machine.
I allowed the dough cycle to complete ( there was about 20 minutes of rise time left on the timer as I used about 10 minutes removing/kneading/reinserting the dough ball.) If at the end of the cycle your dough hasn't risen enough - no problem: you can finish the rise with the machine's residual heat if needed. Don't open the lid, but do keep checking the dough ball until it's the desired height.
Shown after 10 minute final rise in machine...........and after 20 minute final rise in machine.
Until you get a feel for the recipe and the consistency of the dough, don't push the dough to rise too high...or you might produce "super supper drop flop" !
Once the dough has finished the final rise, unplug the machine and reset it, then use the machine's BAKE cycle for a 1 lb loaf to bake the bread in the machine. For my machine, the BAKE cycle is set for 60 minutes. and I ran 50 minutes of this BAKE cycle. Remove the pan from the machine and allow it to cool for a couple minutes- as soon as it's safe to touch the pan, remove the bread from the pan to finish cooling on a rack.
My machine makes a fairly tall square loaf ----I would say the square loaf could be easily sliced into 8 large pieces instead of the 16 slices for an oblong loaf. One slice of the big square loaf would be a THM "E" serving appropriate.
Are you a KNITTER? The dish towel shown is available as a knitting pattern on Ravelry by clicking here. It is designed to be worked with Knit Picks' Dishie yarn using US #5 needles.
