Healthy + Homemade: Whole Wheat Bread

Ah, bread… we hear a lot of contradicting views on bread for our diets. Is it healthy? Is it not healthy? What kind of bread is better? What about the sugar content? All of these questions are valid!

My wonderful wife, Katerina, has a very simple and healthy whole wheat bread recipe that you can make at home. It’s MY favorite bread, and I had to share the recipe with you!

Why opt for a recipe like this rather than buy a loaf at the store?

When we make something from scratch, we feel connected to it. We’re excited about it. We control the process and the ingredients. Let’s look at the sugar content for bread: depending on the brand and the type, a slice of bread could be upwards of 8g per slice. Not just that, they are extremely processed and leave very little nutritional benefits.

This whole wheat bread recipe has everything you need, has about 1 gram of sugar per slice, keeps you full (fiber content), and tastes absolutely delicious!

The ingredients are not hard to find, and they are not expensive — give it a try!

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Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of warm water

• 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast

• 1.5 tsp of salt

• 1 Tbsp of honey

• 3.5 cups of whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. Fill a bowl with 1.5 cups of warm water. Add in 1 Tbsp of Active Dry Yeast, 1.5 tsp of salt and 1 Tbsp of honey. Whisk together until it’s dissolved. Cover with a towel to keep warm and set aside for about 10-15 minutes.

2. In another bowl, sift 3.5 cups of whole wheat flour.

3. After your yeast mixture has had time to rest, pour it into a mixing bowl (preferably your stand mixer with a hook attachment). Add the flour 1 cup at a time, allowing the mixture to incorporate before adding more.

4. Once the mixture has formed a dough (you’ll know that it’s ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl), take it out and place it on a whole wheat flour-dusted surface — like a clean countertop.

5. Knead the dough a few times and shape it how you’d like. Place it on a piece of wax paper (dust with whole wheat flour) on a pan, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

6. Remove the towel and with a sharp knife, carefully cut slices across the top (I do three or four!). Dust with a little more whole wheat flour.

7. Place the pan into a 400-degree preheated oven and let it bake for 28-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

To your health,
Dr. Anthony (and Katerina!)