Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread
With the Bosch mixer you have the capability to bake large batches of bread, and you want to make sure your family will eat it and enjoy it.
Instead of jumping into 100% whole wheat right away, consider taking the gradual approach. It’s easier on the baker – and the eaters!
I am sharing a family treasure, my recipe for Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Bread. It’s soft, slices easily, and makes great toast and sandwiches. And we are making it in the Bosch Universal mixer.
Watch the video to learn all of my special tips and techniques for baking Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread. All of these tips work with any other yeast bread recipe!
This is the recipe I have baked for my family for over 25 years and the one that I used to help my kids, and my husband, adapt to whole wheat.
A gradual approach to switching to whole grains makes a much easier transition for everyone, including the baker as well as the eaters.
Ps. The quilt in the picture above is made from a pattern called French Roses by Heather French. You can see the full quilt here.
Sliding Scale for Whole Wheat Flour
We are going to use a sliding scale to decide how much whole wheat flour to use. This gives your family time to adapt to whole grains. We want them to LOVE the bread you are baking! Have I mentioned how soft Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread is?
When making the transition to whole wheat flour one-third whole wheat to two-thirds white flour is a good place to begin.
| Total cups of flour in recipe | Proportion of whole wheat | Whole wheat flour | White flour | |
| Hesitant to eat whole grain bread | 15 cups | 1/3 or 33% | 5 cups | 4 – 5 1/3 cups |
| Willing to eat whole grain bread | 15 cups | 2/3 or 66% | 7 1/2 cups | 3 – 3 ½ cups |
| Confident about eating whole grains | 5 cups | all – 100% | 13-14 cups | none |
You can use whole wheat flour from the grocery store, or if you have a grain mill, use your own freshly ground whole wheat flour.
For white flour, unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour are both suitable. Organic is best, if available and affordable to you.
As your and your family’s tastes adapt to appreciate the nutty flavor of whole wheat, you can increase the proportion incrementally until you reach your nutritional goal. You will find that you need to slightly increase the amount of water as you increase the ratio of whole grain flour as the bran is absorbent. An extra 2 tablespoons of water per additional cup of whole wheat flour is usually about right.
Checkpoints in Breadmaking
- Dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl and forms a ball. Enough flour has been added.
- Windowpane test ~ to check gluten development
- Poke Test ~ tells you when the dough is done rising
- Touch Test ~ tells you when the loaves are ready to bake
- Thump Test ~ along with color of crust tells you when the bread is fully baked
Each of the Checkpoints listed above are explained in detail in the video. Mastering these timeless skills will help you develop your baker’s intuition and can be applied to any bread recipe you want to bake!
By the way, I have created separate videos and recipes specific to the Ankarsrum mixer and the KitchenAid Artisan mixer, and those are being uploaded at a rate of one video a week. So, if you own one of those, you can go right to the video and see how it’s done using the same mixer that you have in your kitchen.
If you haven’t yet purchased a heavy duty stand mixer for bread making, be sure to check out my video: KitchenAid vs. Bosch vs. Ankarsrum, Best Mixer for Bread Dough, to help you make the best decision.
Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread with Your Bosch Mixer
Are you trying to get your family used to whole wheat bread and encountering some…resistance?
Taking the gradual approach with whole wheat might be the answer. Today we are making Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Bread. It’s soft, slices easily, and makes great toast and sandwiches. And we are making it in the Bosch Universal mixer!
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 70 min
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 5 loaves 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: mixer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
2 1/2 (2T + 1/4 tsp) tablespoons yeast dissolved in 2 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/4 cups melted butter
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs (10 T) honey
5 cups buttermilk
5 cups whole wheat flour
scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 T + 2 tsp salt
About 10 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
Instructions
Proof yeast in lukewarm water directly in the mixing bowl. Activate the mixer briefly to combine. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Shake or stir the buttermilk and pour it into the saucepan; stir. Test temperature with a finger, it should just feel warm, if you use a thermometer, 110 degrees. Add to the mixing bowl with the honey.
Add the splash ring; turn the mixer on low speed, 1. Add whole wheat flour 2 cups at a time, then the baking soda and salt. Once it is nicely incorporated, add the white flour a cup at a time until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Hold back some of the flour, you may not need it all!
Cover the bowl with lid. Let rest for 5 – 10 minutes. This gives the bran in the whole wheat flour time to hydrate which softens the edges making the dough easy to handle.
Set the mixer on low speed let it knead for 5 minutes. Touch the dough. It should feel smooth and resilient. Bread dough made with whole grain flour will retain a certain amount of stickiness, like the sticky side of a Post It note. This is okay and does not need to be eliminated.
When you think you are done kneading, let the dough rest 5 minutes and then perform the windowpane test. Use clean scissors to cut off a walnut-size piece of dough. Slowly pull and stretch the dough to see if it will hold a thin membrane. Hold it up to a window; if you can see light through it, you are done kneading; if not, knead another minute or two, rest 5 minutes, and re-check.
Give the dough a few turns by hand on a lightly greased counter and shape it into a smooth ball. You will need an extra-large mixing bowl because this amount of dough will climb out of the Bosch bowl. If you have a scale, weigh the bowl and mark the weight on a piece of tape on the bowl. Grease it well and place dough in the bowl, smooth side up. Now weigh the bowl again. Subtract the first number, the weight of the bowl, from the second, to determine the actual weight of the dough. Cover with a clean cotton towel. Allow it to rise in a protected spot until almost doubled, 1 hour. Meanwhile, grease 5 loaf pans and set aside.
To check if it’s done rising, do the poke test: take 2 fingers and gently press the dough. When you withdraw them, the indentation should remain, but the dough should not “sigh” or deflate.
Turn the dough onto the work surface and gently but firmly flatten the entire surface with oiled palms to remove large air bubbles. Use a bench knife or a chef’s knife to divide the dough into 5 equal portions. This is where your scale comes in handy. By weighing the portions, you will have an easier time making even-sized loaves. If you don’t have a scale, that’s fine. You can eyeball it.
Shaping: pat a piece of dough into an 8×12-inch rectangle. Roll it up from one narrow side. Pinch bottom seam to seal. Place seam side down in prepared loaf pan.
Cover the bread pans and let rise until dough curves nicely over the top of the pan, about 35-45 minutes. Most ovens will fit 3 to 4 loaves at one time. Cover the extra loaves with oiled plastic wrap and set them in the fridge to slowly rise and wait their turn in the oven. Set the oven to 350°F (175°C) to preheat. The touch test will help you determine if your bread is ready to bake. Instead of poking your fingers into the dough, this time simply touch the dough. It should barely show your fingerprint.
Bake 35-40 minutes, until each loaf is well-browned and done. To test for doneness, carefully tip the loaf out of the pan and inspect the bottom. The crust should be evenly browned and sound hollow when thumped with a finger. A food thermometer will read 195-200°F (90-93°C). You will want to check each loaf individually to be sure it is baked completely. And if your oven heat doesn’t circulate properly, you may need to rotate the loaves on the rack about 15 minutes before the end of baking time.Cool baked loaf on a wire rack for a crisp crust or on a wooden breadboard for a softer crust. If desired, brush warm loaf with melted butter. Wait at least an hour before slicing to allow the crumb to set.
Notes
When making the transition to whole wheat flour one-third whole wheat to two-thirds white flour is a good place to begin. As your and your family’s tastes adapt to appreciate the nutty flavor, you can increase the proportion incrementally until you reach your nutritional goal. You will find that you need to slightly increase the amount of water as you increase the ratio of whole grain flour as the bran is absorbent.
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5 Comments
I own both the Bosch and the Ankersrum. Love them both.
I am confused on the amount of water and buttermilk and ratio to flour.
Seems like too much liquid. I just made 4 loaves of bread and 6 dinner rolls and only used 4 cups of water and all fresh milled flour.
I make bread – 5 loaves- (Bosch mixer) with half whole wheat flour (freshly ground) and half white flour. I start with 5 1/2 cups of warm water (not hot! ) and one can evaporated milk. Want to substitute the evaporated milk with 2 or 3 cups of buttermilk and see the results!
You own both – lovely! About the liquid to flour ratio…this is the recipe I have used and taught in classes for years. But don’t worry too much about the ratio; pay attention to how the dough feels. ~Michele
Hello, just want to say love watching your video all 15 times ;-). I watched it seriously many times before making the bread. I am using Bosch universal mixer. Made the whole wheat for beginners. I hope all is well. The instructions were easy to follow. While preparing the oven based on the instructions set oven to 350 degrees. My brain kept saying is this temp too low, but the instructions prevailed. Oven set dough has risen, touch small indent noticed. Just as described. I am so excited. About 7 minutes into the baking time looked through the door. Rising, but my brain kept thinking about the video, saying 375 degrees. Of course, it is still up on my computer. Listen one more time. Sure enough, it said 375. The written instruction says 350. Well, I am going with it, did not want to change the oven settings at this point, and now about 15-17 minutes into the baking process. Anxiously waiting, it looks good. Waiting for the bread to cool is the worst. The bread looks great, the house smells wonderful, and the loaf feels light. Still too warm to slice, so tomorrow morning will be the test. I don’t think it going to have a negative effect. It seems to have taken a bit longer to cook to the doneness temperature, and desired crust color in the instructions.
Hello, just want to say love watching your video all 15 times ;-). I watched it seriously many times before making the bread. I am using Bosch universal mixer. Made the whole wheat for beginners. I hope all is well. The instructions were easy to follow. While preparing the oven based on the instructions set oven to 350 degrees. My brain kept saying is this temp too low, but the instructions prevailed. Oven set dough has risen, touch small indent noticed. Just as described. I am so excited. About 7 minutes into the baking time looked through the door. Rising, but my brain kept thinking about the video, saying 375 degrees. Of course, it is still up on my computer. Listen one more time. Sure enough, it said 375. The written instruction says 350. Well, I am going with it, did not want to change the oven settings at this point, and now about 15-17 minutes into the baking process. Anxiously waiting, it looks good. Waiting for the bread to cool is the worst. The bread looks great, the house smells wonderful, and the loaf feels light. Still too warm to slice, so tomorrow morning will be the test. I don’t think it going to have a negative effect. It seems to have taken a bit longer to cook to the doneness temperature, and desired crust color in the instructions.
Since writing this, my bread turned out fabulous. I am making it again today.