The Vegangeek! (basic

Basic Whole Wheat/Hemp Flour Bread

read is something I make at least once a week, usually in a few small loaves like this recipe shows, and I will often change up the mixture to add different types of flour, or something to make it crunchy, or whatever. This recipe is stock. Feel free to improvise with your own flour mixtures. If you find it too dense, or it doesn't rise enough, replace half of the whole wheat flour with general white bread flour, or all purpose flour.

Here's the list of ingredients:

16 ounces of a 50/50 mixture of whole wheat flour, and either hemp flour or buckwheat flour
A big pinch of salt
1 package of activated bread yeast (not the quick rising stuff)
10 ounces (two and a quarter cups) of purified water (not tap water with chlorine)
A table spoon of sugar or some other sweetener. In this recipe I use Agave Nectar flavoured with natural Amaretto.

Begin by taking half of the flour mixture and ALL of the water, along with your sweetener and your yeast, and mix everything into a wet paste. Place this in the fridge for 24 hours. This will allow flavour and gluten to develop. If you have chlorinated tap water, use bottled or otherwise purified water instead -- chlorine kills your yeast.

The next day, put the paste into your mixer and add the remaining flour and your salt. Mix at low speeds until combined, and then on high for 10-15 minutes or until it's achieved the consistency you need. You may need to add more flour or water depending on the time of year, humidity, or whatever.

To help my bread to rise in colder weather during winter, I will put it in my oven along with a pan of boiling water, and leave it there for a few hours. The hot water provides steam and heat and helps things go smoothly. If you want, you can do it the traditional way in a warm spot with a towel over it.

Preheat your oven to 350F. While that's happening, take your dough and knead it a bit on a floured cutting board and let it rest for ten minutes. It will probably proof a little more. Form it into your loaves (I like smaller loaves because they cook faster), and bake until golden brown and delicious.