[MJsLady]

Can I use whole wheat flour instead of or with white to make cookies?
I want to make chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies.
I also want to experiment with the whole wheat flour I have.
I found a recipe for something called peasant bread that calls for the whole wheat so I bought it, but I want to use it for more than 1 thing!

 

[homesteadmamma]

Yes you can use whole wheat flour for any recipe. Just remember, you have to acquire the taste because it is a bit different tasting, but thats all I use for baking anymore.

Also you might want to use a little bit less that what the recipe calls for, but in most cases I use the exact same amount in all my recipes.

 

[MJsLady]

Thanks Sis!
Wow you was fast too! Heehee
Now to learn to cook with a puppy under my feet! And I thought the cats were bad!
He is sweeter by far than a cat though!

 

[Sherryh]

Thanks for asking this, Mel! I have a bag in my cupboard I have been wanting to use up, just waiting till I felt like baking bread again to use it. Now I know I can use it other ways too!
Thanks CJ.

 

[homesteadmamma]

Sherry, you know those applesauce muffins you make, I even use whole wheat flour for those.

We love chocolate chip cookies made with ww flour and even when I made cinnamon buns, I use ww flour. I even make chicken dumplings and noodles with ww flour.

When I first started, I would use 1/2 white and 1/2 ww but now that I grind all my own grain, I use strictly whole wheat!!!

 

[Sherryh]

Oh I can't wait, I think I will bake tomorrow.

 

[homesteadmamma]

Just remember, it is an acquired taste. Also when making muffins, buns or quick breads that the end product will be a little heavier than when using white flour.

 

[MJsLady]

Sis, you use your homemade bread for sanwhiches too right?
How do you keep it soft enough? My crusts are always hard. Which on hot buttered bread is ok, when eating a PBJ, its not so ok!

 

[homesteadmamma]

Sis, I keep my bread tightly wrapped in a plastic bag. With grinding my own grain, we have to eat the bread quickly, so it is usually used up within one, at the most 2 days.

I don't put anything on my bread when it comes out of the oven, such as butter or margarine to cover the crust.

Once the bread is cold, I immediately put it in a plastic bag, tie it tightly and freeze it!!

Here is an old fashioned way to store bread:

http://www.freerecipe.org/Old_Fashioned_Advice/About_Bread-Making/StoringBre_bcghg.htm (Old fashioned way of storing bread)


If you keep your bread in your fridge, it will dry out the bread. You can freeze bread up to 3 months, but once thawed, it needs to be used quickly, because they tend to dry out more quickly.

 

[MJsLady]

Thanks sis! My crust seems hard right from the oven though, even when I take it out a bit early.
I guess I will be experimenting a bit more!

 

[homesteadmamma]

What do you have your oven on. I bake mine at 375 degrees and find it works well. You also need to watch how long you bake it, because if you overbake it, the crust will definitely be hard.

 

[MJsLady]

Yes, I usually set my oven at 350 and cook the bread about 25 minutes.

BTW that site is just fab! I am having a great time going over it! I told dh just yesterday, that from now on the only food we will eat is stuff I make from scratch!
He is very pleased! I want to experiment with new things, well new to me anyway! Perhaps by fall I will be adept enough to attempt caning wiht what I have on hand!

 

[pita1213]

i had been having a problem with hard crusts. i reduced the baking time by a couple of minutes, 5 at the most and it seems to have made a difference.

 

[homesteadmamma]

Sis, I think you need to bake your bread at a little hotter temp and for less time. I bake mine at 375 and for about 20 - 25 minutes, depending on the size of the loaf.