Homemade Bread
 
 
Please note that this recipe calls for a 7-day ferment. THM:E, Low-fat, Sugar free, Nut free
Author:
Serves: 3 loaves (two slices per serving)
Ingredients
For the "starter":
  • 10½ cups whole wheat flour (if not using freshly ground flour, make sure to fluff up the flour before measuring and then level off your measuring cup with a knife in order to avoid getting too much flour)
  • 1½ T instant yeast
  • 4 cups warm water
When making the bread:
  • 1⅛ cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup water
  • -
  • 2 T oat flour (I've also used oat fiber with success)
  • 1 T baking soda
  • 1 T instant yeast*
  • 2½ tsp. salt
  • 3 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
  • ¼ cup low-fat Greek yogurt
  • ½ T apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp. honey**
  • 1 cup egg whites (the carton variety works great)
Instructions
  1. (For the starter) In a plastic bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and warm water. Knead the ingredients together with your hands. The dough will be fairly stiff, but your object is to just get all the flour wet with the yeast water. Set the lid on the bowl but do not seal; let it sit out for two hours at least, and more doesn't hurt. Cover your dough (I just use a Tupperware bowl with lid, and yes, I seal the lid when refrigerating) and refrigerate for 7 days.
  2. The day that you want to make your bread, get your fermented dough out at least 4 hours in advance, preferably more. I usually get mine out early in the morning and make bread in the afternoon. This allows the dough to warm to room temperature. After your dough is room temperature, you are ready to make your bread.
  3. First, add the oats and water (please note that this is not the normal oat:water ratio for oatmeal) to a nonstick saucepan, cover, and cook until soft.
  4. Pull your starter into fist-sized pieces and put into your mixer equipped with a dough hook (I use a Bosch mixer which works great). Add the oatmeal, oat flour, baking soda, yeast, salt, stevia, Greek yogurt, vinegar, and honey to the mixer as well and mix until combined and smooth. This can take a little bit since the starter is pretty stiff. Increasing the mixer speed can help things assimilate, and periodically scraping down the sides of the mixer with a spatula can help too. (If your mixer is really struggling with the stiff dough, add a small amount of the egg whites to help it mix. Don't add all the egg whites until the dough/oatmeal mixture is mixed or you will have a mess. Trust me.)
  5. Add the egg whites and knead the dough in the mixer until everything is completely mixed.
  6. Divide the dough among three greased bread pans (I just spray my bread pans with a good coat of cooking spray). Use a wet hand to pat the tops of the loaves smooth.
  7. Bake on the middle oven rack at 325 degrees F (I use metal pans) for 50 minutes. The first time you make the bread, you might want to cut a loaf through right away and check it to make sure it's done. If it's gummy inside, return it to the oven in 5 minute intervals until you're satisfied.
  8. Turn the bread out onto wire cooling racks and let cool *completely* before cutting so your bread will not crumble.
  9. For best results, divide the bread into portions that you will be able to eat within 5 days. Keep some in the refrigerator to eat on and store the rest in the freezer, thawing more as needed. The bread has no added fat, so it won't last as long as some breads you may have made before. Yields 3 loaves. Serving size: 2 slices (I cut my loaves into 14 slices each).
Notes
*You can use standard yeast for the cold fermentation portion of this recipe, but I recommend using instant yeast when making the actual bread dough. The bread relies on baking soda as well as yeast for its rising capabilities (because cold fermentation eats up most of the sugars in the flour), so it isn't given a rising time. Therefore, instant yeast is best because it works quickly.
**Honey is usually frowned upon for weight loss on the THM plan, but this is a small amount spread out over many servings and the yeast eats up some of the sugars.
This recipe was last updated on July 12th, 2016.
Recipe by Briana Thomas at https://www.briana-thomas.com/homemade-bread-e/