The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread...

... is this sliced bread.

I'm not a big buyer of commercially-produced sliced bread. I'd much rather eat my grains in the form of oatmeal, pasta, rice, corn or flour tortillas, muffins, cornbread, or bread freshly-baked at a restaurant. But, oh, the joy of a freshly baked piece of bread from my kitchen is something not to be messed with.

And after loaves and loaves of working with this recipe, I think I've perfected it.

Whole Wheat French Bread Loaf

12 ounces of water, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

In a bread maker set to the dough setting and add all ingredients. The dough setting will mix and go through the first rise before the timer goes off (about 1 hour, 30 minutes.) When dough has formed, remove from bread maker, and knead 20 times on a lightly floured counter or cutting board. Place dough in greased, oven-safe loaf pan, cover with a towel, and let rise for 1 hour. I usually let mine rise in front of the window where it's sunny and warm. After 1 hour, remove towel and make slits in the top of the loaf. The dough should have doubled in size. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, or until bread has browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Note: It may seem like a long arduous process, but there's very little actual work, it's just getting the timing right and waiting.

This bread is perfect with an egg on top.

Question of the Day: Do you bake bread?