1/2 cup wheat gluten
2 Tablespoons yeast
1/3 cup oil
1 Tablespoon salt
3 squirts soy lecithin* (size of a quarter)
1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons dough enhancer
4 cups warm water (not warmer than 110 degrees)
Place 2 cups whole wheat flour in a Bosch mixer with dough hooks. Add dry yeast and gluten; give it a quick stir. Add 4 cups water and mix for one minute. Cover and let dough sit for 10 minutes.
Add oil, salt, lecithin, honey, dough enhancer (I like to stir this up in a small bowl.)
Turn on Bosch mixer and stir this together.
Add remaining 6 cups of wheat flour and knead for 8 minutes.
Dough should be smooth and elastic.
Divide and shape dough into 4 loaves and place in greased (Pam) pans.
Place in warm oven on lowest setting (150 degrees) for 25 minutes.
When timer rings, turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
Turn out of pans onto a wire rack and cover tops with melted butter.
*soy lecithin is too sticky to measure. You have to squirt it right out of the bottle. I make three quarter size circles, right into the mixer. I have found the lecithin lightens this bread and also has turned a three loaf recipe into a four. (You can buy it at Macey's.)
Wheat bread can be really tricky. The usual problem is of course, too much flour. But too little is a problem as well. I usually look at the texture. You want a little shine to begin with. That means you don't have too much flour. You have to remember that 8 minutes of mixing will change the consistency of your dough. This recipe originally had 10 cups of flour. By reducing that, I think you are a lot more likely to get the right results.
This is Julie O's recipe with my few changes.
I have been using honey powder to save a bit of money. You add 1/3 cup honey powder then enough liquid to make it look like the consistency of honey.
The lecithin makes this the best and softest wheat bread I have ever had. Trust me and try it.
