Slow Cooker 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Who has a bread maker? Not me. I have thought about getting one for a long time, but honestly I am tired of the amount of kitchen gadgets and appliances I have and trying to find room for them in my kitchen. I really have thought about it though. I have found it surprisingly difficult to find 100% whole wheat bread, that is both organic and only has a few recognizable ingredients. Because of that, I figured I would try to make my own. I am not a baker and actually really don’t like it at all, because you can’t just ‘wing’ baking. Everything has to be precise and exact. This combination didn’t leave me with much faith in being successful at baking my own bread BUT, I still couldn’t pass up this itching desire to try it. Then…..

I read this. Holy cow - make your own bread in a slow cooker (i.e. crock pot). Well, I do have one of those, so thought what the heck this is my chance. I knew the basics I wanted to put in my bread - salt, honey, butter, whole wheat flour and yeast. I also knew I wanted to use organic ingredients (the yeast isn’t). I searched the internet to do investigation on ratios, which varied quite a bit.  I just took a stab at my own recipe and gave it a shot.  I am not a bread connoisseur and I am sure there are things that could be better, but think this turned out pretty good, especially considering I only gave it one try. We always store our bread in the freezer and subsequently toast it when eating it, so we did the same with this bread. My husband has had a tuna sandwich and I had some peanut butter toast and we were both happy with it. Definitely will be repeating this. If you are like me, interested but nervous, I encourage you to give it a try.  Worse case you wasted less than a dollar on a yeast packet, because you probably had the other ingredients on hand in your house.

Slow Cooker 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Makes one loaf

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour, 3 ½ c

Yeast packet, 1 8.75 g packet (I used this brand because it said it was great for whole grains)

Water, 1 ½ c

Butter, 1 T

Honey, 2 T

Salt, 2 tsp

Melt butter and honey in saucepan over low heat.

Warm water. (I just stuck a glass measuring cup in the microwave for 1 minute). Do not boil, just needs to be warm.

Add yeast to water and stir to combine.

Add the butter honey mixture and yeast water to mixing bowl.

Add in 2 cups of flour and the salt and then use an electrical mixer and mix until combined. Gradually add remaining 1.5 cups, a half a cup at a time. Mix for 3-5 minutes on medium.

Better Bonus Tip: All of this can probably be done by hand, although I haven’t tried, if you don’t have a good mixer. You probably will just need to mix it longer, up to 10 minutes.

Flour a surface to roll a ball of dough. Don’t over mix! 

Better Bonus Tip: You could also try a 'log'. I might try that shape next time. 

Lay the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper and then lift into a slow cooker.

Cook on high for 1 - 2.5 hours. You want the dough internal temperature to be 190-200 degrees. Mine took 1.5 hours. (Pardon the unattractiveness of the bread. I asked my husband to check the temperature while I was feeding our son. He jammed the thermometer right in the center of the loaf - twice :)

If you want a slightly crispier crust, stick the bread under the broiler for a few minutes.

And voila - homemade bread with 5 ingredients (not counting the water)!

Better Bonus Tip: If I buy a loaf of bread, I buy sprouted grain bread, which you can read about here.

What do you think? Honest feedback….

~Ashley