Large Batch Sprouted Wheat Bread

         So, you've put the time and energy into sprouting your own wheat and grinding it into flour.   Did you do all of those steps just to make 1 loaf of bread?  I think not!  I decided that this time I would make a large batch of bread and freeze some so that we would have it for a while before I went through the entire process again.  It isn't a difficult process, but lets face it, large batches are just as easy to make as small ones and that is a good use of time and energy.  I gave you a single batch recipe here.  I mean, that would be great for people with those single loaf bread machines and maybe one person or a couple.  But, for more people than that, a larger batch of bread just makes sense. 

            The recipe I have will make 6 loaves of bread.  Since I promised to share my glitches and all today, here is glitch #1.  I only have 5 loaf pans.  I made 5 loaves from this recipe so consequently my loaves came out humongous!  I should have just done one loaf free form or made it into rolls.  It didn't alter the taste at all, but I had to bake these loaves much longer to make sure that they were done in the middle.

              To make such a large batch, you need a large bread machine, or Bosch.  It looks like this.

Of course there is a lid as well. This is a knock off brand that works great! There are many varieties of machines like this.

         My recipe for this large batch of bread gives the exact order that the ingredients are to go in the mixer.  It may seem a little different from other bread recipes, but the results are amazing.  I adapted this recipe from one given to me by my good friend Tracy Moore.  Click on the button for the recipe.

Moore Family Bread Recipe (adapted)

        Now it is time for glitch #2.  If you will remember, in yesterday's post, when I told you how to sprout the wheat, I told you that I had sprouted 9 cups of wheat.  One of the videos I watched had informed me that one cup of wheat would make about 1 1/2 cups of flour.  Like a goofball, I didn't check my recipe first and I just assumed that 13 1/2 to 14 cups of flour would be plenty.  It wasn't. This recipe starts with 8 cups of flour and then by the end you add 8 or 9 cups more.  Luckily, I had a little bit of the King Arthur Flour left over that I was able to combine with my own self-sprouted flour.  But, in the end, I had to add about 3 cups of all purpose flour to get the right consistency of dough.  So, for all of you purists out there, I am sorry!  But, because I have done this before with the one loaf recipe, I know that the results with just the sprouted wheat flour are amazing.  There is plenty of sprouted wheat flour in this batch to give us great health benefits, so I am not going to feel badly about this mistake.  Next time I will either sprout more wheat or make a slightly smaller batch.  

             The really nice thing about using a bread machine like the one I used is that there is no kneading needed!  (Say that 3 times real fast!)  You let the machine do the work for you for as long as it takes to get a stretchy, not too sticky dough.  Then, you roll it out onto an oiled surface and divide it into your pans.  

Here is the massive blob of dough on my oiled counter.

Here it is in the loaf pans. See, they didn't look so huge at this point.

               I covered the pans with a towel and let them rise.  I figured that they would take an hour or and hour and a half to double in size.  But, in 30 min., Madalynn went into the kitchen and asked, "Mom, when are you going to bake these?"  I replied, "When they double in size."  Then I looked and she looked at me wide-eyed because they were already large and bulging up over the pans.  That was fast!  I quickly heated the oven up to 350 degrees and popped them in.  As I said earlier, I had to bake them a little longer than the recipe calls for because they were such huge loaves! 

And there were 2 more of them!

             Once, my friend Rhonda, who got me interested in the sprouted wheat technique, told me that the first loaf you cut into is the sacrificial loaf that everyone eats right away.  Just like the story of the story of the Little Red Hen, there are always plenty of people ready to help sample the bread when it comes out of the oven! It is a good thing that around here they are willing to help, too. The butter and honey spread on the warm bread is hard to resist.

                As I mentioned in the 1 loaf recipe, it is hard to believe how light and fluffy this bread is and what a mild flavor it has.  Combining that with the health benefits of sprouted wheat makes this the perfect bread! I call that a great use of time and energy! 

Here are some other bread posts you might enjoy! 

Beautiful Braided Bread

Ecuadorian Cheese Bread