Finally! Successful (whole wheat) Bread!

For the past 5 or so weeks I have been making my own bread. Usually it is pretty easy (with a bread maker). But when you only do 100% Whole Wheat and ditch the eggs and milk/dried milk, things can get fairly difficult. The bread still will taste good, but it's seemingly undercooked, overhydrated, too thick, and doesn't cut well. And, to top it off, a whole loaf is a mere 8 slices rather than 12+. The dense bread is nice but only sometimes - such as a one piece toast breakfast before a bike ride. But if you make a sandwich with that heavy of bread, it is a meal and a half. So after many, many loaves I finally made a loaf that rose perfectly and still tastes excellent.

Fluffy, Yummy, but not too Light. Just Right.

Here's the recipe - in order of typical placement into bread maker tray:

1 C Almond Milk
2/3 C Water (no specific temp)
2 T Smart Balance (Butter substitute)
2 T Agave Nectar
2 tsp Sea Salt
3 3/4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) Active Dry Yeast

*To top it off with some added texture and flavor: (I highly suggest this step)
1/2 C Rolled Oats
1/4 C Sunflower Seeds

Put all ingredients in bread maker and choose correct setting ("Whole Grain/Sweet Bread" for mine!). Mix up ingredients just to be safe - see below. Set it, go for a 3.5 hour bike ride, then come home to wonderful fresh bread! Scratch waiting to cut it...that's far overrated. Although, honestly letting it sit for an hour does help overall. Nevertheless, I always cut off the top end and throw some MNB: Glorious Almond Butter on top of it.

I have had mixed results on my bread maker's ability to evenly mix the ingredients...thus, in order to assure everything is mixed, I pre-mix it with a fork until the dough has been somewhat mixed. Then I lick the fork and enjoy the flavor that is the bread even before it is cooked!

So in the rush of putting everything together, running some errands, then a long bike ride...I didn't take any pictures during the process! However, I have a couple after photos of the glory that remains.

Pretty great crust texture. A little crispier would be nice for me, but I think the masses will like how this turned out.