Whole Wheat Bread (Lora)

2 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil + extra for kneading and rising
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1-2 eggs
7 cups flour, about 4 cups whole wheat and 3 cups bread flour

(Makes about 3 loaves of bread)

Combine water, yeast, sugar and whisk. Add the oil and eggs and whisk thoroughly. Add the wheat flour in 1-cup portions, whisking/stirring to ensure all the flour is well combined with the wet ingredients before adding the next portion. Add the bread flour and salt, whisk. Continue adding flour until it is too difficult to combine with a whisk.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and gently knead until dough comes together, adding more flour each time the dough gets sticky to handle. After the dough is well combined, switch to oil on the counter-top and continue kneading, about 10 minutes.

Oil the mixing bowl up the sides then work the dough into a tight ball and place back in the bowl. Rub the top of the dough with a little oil, cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm dark place to rise, about one hour, till doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and form into loaves or rolls, etc, and let rise another hour.

For Loaves: Bake 350, for 30 minutes until brown and it sounds hollow

For Rolls: Bake 375 for about 20 minutes

For Scones: heat oil to 350 and fry on both sides.


Tips:
If you think you’re working in too much flour but the dough still needs to be kneaded, don’t flour your counter tops – just pour a little oil on the counter and continue kneading.
Bake your bread so that the top of it is in the middle of the oven
Add the whole wheat flour before the white flour, since whole wheat absorbs more water.
For rolls, add a little extra yeast to give them extra fluffiness.
Do not add salt until after all the wet ingredients and ½ of the flour are thoroughly combined. Salt kills yeast and the other ingredients provide a buffer.
You can make the bread without eggs, but it will go stale faster. Eggs, powdered milk and lemon juice are all dough conditioners and allow the baked bread to stay fresh and soft longer. For this recipe, you could add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and/or ¼ cup powdered milk.
If you grind your own wheat, do it just before adding to the dough. The warmth from grinding helps the dough rise.