Maple Shredded Wheat Bread
By: Jessica Robinson
Get excited everyone! I’ve been busy over the last few months testing recipes and creating new ones for my upcoming book, The New England Kitchen. Last week I made the most amazing bread. This particular recipe is from Mr. Bendza. He was my father’s best friend. Two years ago Mr. Bendza’s cancer returned; he knew the end was near. Mr. Bendza was an outstanding baker. Since he knew I was writing a cookbook and was very passionate about baking and cooking, he gave me his entire recipe book. Every recipe is something he created from scratch. Don’t you just love finding recipe’s uniquely crafted from scratch? He was phenomenal with baking breads. As I started to test the recipes, I realized there were no measurements by the ingredients. Since he had already passed, I did not have the opportunity to approach him about it. I’ve had to test and guess on each recipe. Here’s one I think I’ve found the perfect combination to.
Life Lessons Learned: Life is WAY too short. Live life like today is your last day. Love the ones who are in your life, don’t sweat the small stuff. Really? Smile, love and let go.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup wheat germ
- 4 large shredded wheat biscuits
- 2 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup lukewarm water
- Cook time: 35 - 40 mins.
- Servings: 2 Loaves
- Difficulty: easy
Directions
Cover shredded wheat with boiling water. Add vegetable oil, maple syrup, brown sugar and salt. Stir. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in water. In a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded wheat mixture and the yeast. Add flour to make a firm dough. Knead until smooth on a floured surface. Spray the mixing bowl with cooking spray and return the dough to the bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled. (about 1 hour)
Cut the dough into half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes. Shape into 2 loafs and place in greased loaf pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled (about 1-1 1/2 hours). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for about 35-40 minutes.
Take out of the oven, remove from pans and let cool on a baking rack.
*MAKES 2 LOAVES
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Her creative and innovative floral designs have been featured in Southern New England Weddings, Bride & Bloom, Wedding Style New England, La Bella Bride, Get Married, Florists' Review, Boston Weddings and Well Wed magazines. You can also find her designs featured on Style Me Pretty, Wedding Chicks, Pizzazzerie and Sparkle & Hay blogs.
Jessica is the author of Enchanted Weddings, The New England Kitchen and several other entertaining books. They are all currently under consideration at several publishers.