Third Time's A Charm

Last night, I started to make whole wheat bread. I found a recipe that you put in the fridge overnight once you made the dough. It was one of the most basic whole wheat recipes I had found and it explained the process pretty well, which is important to me.

I think what happened with my last loaves, was that in my rush to get it done, I didn't let it rise enough, leaving it really dense. We did finish both loaves and it was amazing with grilled cheese, but it just seemed heavy.

From the get-go, this recipe was different. I let it rise for the full time required (3 hours once I took it out of the fridge) and the texture was light and airy (not so with the last recipe). Then I cut it, put it in two loaf pans and left for a walk with my sister. I came back to a nice smelling home and HUGE loaves, still unbaked.

Once I put them in the oven they already smelled delicious and I just took them out and everything about them feels light and spongy to the touch. Making bread really is quite the learning process and if nothing else, it's teaching me patience!

Lessons learned:

• Patience
• The texture of the bread (at least white and whole wheat) should be light and spongy to the touch)
• My oven seems to be a little hot and while this recipe said 30 minutes, it was done in 27