No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread

By Lulubelle

If you’ve never baked yeast bread, but want to learn how, this is the loaf to start with. Unlike most yeast breads, this one isn’t kneaded; instead, the soft dough is simply beaten in a bowl for several minutes, then scooped into a bread pan. An hour later, it’s ready to pop into the oven. The result: A dense, moist, easy-to-slice loaf, ideal for sandwiches. Or spread thin slices with flavored cream cheese; the extra fiber in the bread will assuage any guilt you feel about the richness of the cheese!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (8 ounces) lukewarm water
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) orange juice
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) melted butter or vegetable oil (1 3/4 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons (2 1/4 ounces) molasses or maple syrup (2 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
• 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) King Arthur whole wheat flour: white whole wheat (organic is especially nice), or traditional
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Details

Servings 16

Preparation

Step 1

Thoroughly grease an 8 ½" x 4 ½" pan. It’s important to grease the pan well, as this bread tends to stick otherwise.

To prepare the dough: Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Beat the mixture vigorously for about 3 minutes; an electric mixer set on high speed works well here. At the very end of the beating time, the dough might begin to clear the sides of the bowl and form a rough clump. Even if it doesn’t, it should be fairly cohesive and dough-like, not batter-like. Scoop it into the prepared pan.

Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes; it won’t fill the pan. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

To bake the bread: Bake the bread for about 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. The bread is done when it’s golden brown on top, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 195°F. Remove it from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out onto a rack. Brush with melted butter, if desired; this will keep the crust soft. Cool the bread completely before cutting it.