Friday, February 20, 2009

Recipe: Vita-Mix Bread Doubled in a KitchenAid


My dad was the Director of Marketing for Vita-Mix after years of making countless loaves of bread as a pitchman at fairs and other conventions. He's baked more bread than I can count. I love the taste of Vita-Mix bread, so I set out to create a recipe with a similar taste and texture that can be made in a KitchenAid or other stand mixer.

I love this bread recipe, especially if I just want white bread. I usually substitute about 2/3 of the bread flour with whole wheat for a healthy version. (See Cook's Note.)

Vita-Mix Bread Doubled in a KitchenAid

by Alana Lee


Ingredients: 

2 T. active dry yeast (1 pkg.)  

2-1/2 c. warm water

2 T. oil

1/4 c. gluten flour (can be omitted)

5-6 c. bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

2-3 T. sugar

2 t. salt



Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch bread pans; set aside.

2. Place yeast and water in kitchen aid bowl. Proof 2-5 minutes. Once yeast mixture gets bubbly, add oil.

3. Add 4 c. flour, the salt, and the sugar. Mix using dough hook. Add more flour 1/2 c. at a time, as needed until dough reaches desired consistency. Knead just until dough forms a ball around dough hook and cleans the sides of the mixing bowl (the very bottom of the dough should still stick to bottom of bowl).

4. Shape dough into two equal loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise in a warm place (like on a heating pad or warm oven) until the sides of the dough come to the top of the pan, about 20-30 minutes. The dough should nearly double in size.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes. The top of the loaf should be a medium golden brown. If you knock on the top of the loaf once removed from the pan, it should sound more hollow than dense.

Cook's Note: The gluten flour makes your bread stay spongy for many days longer, like store-bought bread. It doesn't change the taste, it just keeps it from getting hard as fast. It also increases the protein content of your bread. For whole wheat, I use about 4 cups of whole wheat flour and 1-2 cups of bread flour. The ratio can be adapted according to your preferences. 



  
 





Loaves in pan and ready for 2nd rise.





Tiny Clarification

Here is the original recipe, which is owned by Vita-Mix and appeared in the 1993 cookbook The Versatile Vita-Mix


As you can see, my recipe is my own and is therefore not owned by Vita-Mix or their historical owners. Vita-Mix bread dough includes egg and is much more moist so that it can be easily flattened and pressed into a bread pan using a spatula, which gives it a slightly different texture than my recipe. This "doubled for a KitchenAid" recipe kneads well with a dough hook and has a better moisture content to knead by hand to form loaves for bread pans.

Recipe: Farmer's Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Farm Bread--I use this recipe most of the time to make my bread.
by Alana Lee

For 80% Whole Wheat
3-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1-1/2 T. salt
1/3 c. gluten flour
1-1/2 c. bread flour
3-1/2 c. whole wheat flour

Directions:
  1. In a large bowl combine water and yeast and wheat flour. Let sit five minutes (whole wheat flour absorbs more water.) Add oil, honey, salt, gluten flour and bread flour.
  2. Add whole wheat flour. Stir as much as you can and then begin kneading in bowl. Once most of flour is incorporated, transfer dough to counter and knead until fairly smooth. Clean the bowl, spray it with Pam, and return dough to bowl. Turn once to coat dough. Cover and let rise until doubled*.
  3. Punch down and divide dough into thirds. Knead each and form into loaves; place in greased bread pans. Let raise until doubled. Bake for 24-27 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes three loaves.
Cook’s Note: I got this 80% recipe from the farmer’s wife from whom we buy our hard red wheat. Can be doubled. Also, if your whole wheat flour is warm from being freshly ground, the water you start with should be cold.

*I like to raise my dough on a heating pad. I place the bowl or pans directly on the heating pad, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on a medium setting.

Variations
For 65% Whole Wheat
3-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1-1/2 T. salt
1/3 c. gluten flour
3-1/4 c. bread flour
1-3/4 c. whole wheat flour

For 50% Whole Wheat
3-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
3 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. honey
1-1/2 T. salt
1/3 c. gluten flour
4-1/2 c. bread flour
1-1/2 c. whole wheat flour

*The Farmer's wife usually made 80% whole wheat. She noticed that her son's asthma would worsen if she increased the percentage of whole wheat in her bread. Some people's tolerance for wheat is altered because of medical conditions. I suggest starting with 50% and then working your way up gradually. That's what I had to do after my appendix surgery. I actually had to start with white bread and then work my way up.