My favorite bread recipe~

This is my favorite recipe for lacto-fermented bread--so far. :) My friend, Dorena, shared it with me 3 years ago and we've made it often since then. Enjoy~


BREAD
The night before you want to bake bread, mix 6 cups of whole wheat flour with 4 cups of buttermilk (whey, yogurt, veggie or potato-water work too...). Cover and let set.

The next morning:
Add 2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup oil
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 Tbsp. salt
4 cups w.w. flour
1 more cup buttermilk (or whatever liquid you used the night before)
My mom and I also like to add:
1 Tbsp. unflavored beef gelatin (to help it stick together);
3 Tbsp. vinegar (to help it raise)
1/2 tsp. kelp powder (for health benefits).

Mix this all well. We use a Dimension 2,000 (similar to a Bosch), but you can mix it by hand also.

Then put 2 tsps. yeast into 1/2 cup warm water with a little honey and stir. Let this set a bit until it foams up, then add this to the bread dough, along with 4+ more cups of flour. Mix all this together and knead it well. (We usually let it run about 5 minutes in our Dimension...)

Next shape your loaves, put them in pans, and let them set for most of the day--baking them when they've risen a good deal. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 35 minutes, then take it out of the oven and oil the tops of the loaves. Let the bread set for 10 minutes before removing the loaves from the pans. Then, dig out your cutting board and the butter dish and enjoy!!!

Yields: 7 medium-sized loaves