This is a sponsored post with Red Star Yeast, but all opinions are 100% my own.
I know that it’s late summer and I probably *should* be giving you more last-minute salad recipes and burgers and things of the like.
Luckily, my friend Julia has taken care of that for us. Me? I’m the crazy lady who can’t help but bake bread in the middle of a heat wave.
Someone, commit me.
Actually, you know what? If baking delicious, hearty bread year-round is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
This recipe for Wheat Germ Bread comes straight from Red Star Yeast. To all of my bread-bakers out there – have you tried baking with Red Star Yeast yet? I am kind of a believer in “you get what you pay for” in this world, and I think that’s certainly true of my baking ingredients. Trust me friends – buying high-quality ingredients makes a real difference in your baked goods, and baking with a high-quality yeast really does produce breads that rise more and eliminates a lot of the questioning that can go into baking with yeast.
But back to the bread. There are two ingredients in this recipe that really give it depth and make it different from your average white bread: wheat germ, which gives the bread a subtle nuttiness and great crumb, and molasses, which provides a real depth of flavor (and a lovely color to the finished loaf). This bread is hearty enough to make great toast (perhaps with some homemade Apple Cherry Butter), but still soft enough to use for sandwiches. And to make it even better, there is no kneading involved with this recipe. Yep, that’s right, it is as easy as can be to make.
This may just become your new go-to bread recipe.
Recipe from Red Star Yeast.
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 packages (4½ teaspoons) Red Star Active Dry Yeast
- ½ cup wheat germ
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup warm (~120 degrees) water
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons melted shortening
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- In large mixer bowl, combine 1½ cups of the flour, yeast, wheat germ and salt; mix well. Add water, molasses, shortening and egg. Blend at low speed until combined; increase speed to medium and beat 3 minutes.
- Remove bowl from mixer and, by hand, gradually stir in remaining flour about ½ cup at a time to make a stiff batter. Cover; let rise until light and doubled, about 1 hour.
- Stir down batter. Spoon into greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan or 2-quart casserole. Cover; let rise in warm place until light, about 45 minutes.
- Near the end of the second rise, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until deep golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on a baking rack.
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Erin (@LawStudentsWife) says
Girl, you can bake bread any day, any month you want–delicious homemade bread knows no season in my book! Looks fluffy, hearty, and wonderful, and I’m a Red Star devotee too! Cheers to carbs my friend 🙂
Stephie says
Isn’t RSY great? And really – carbs every day!
DessertForTwo says
Homemade bread is always welcome in my house! 🙂
Julia says
LOL, I read the first line of your post, and was like “meh, I could really use a loaf of bread” and then read the second line. Seriously over burgers and salad…I could really use a break from things that once had legs and things that are green and leafy. You just gave me a much needed early morning giggle 😉 Your bread is goooooooooooooooooooorgeous! I want a thick slice with some of your apple cherry butter! mmmmm!
Stephie says
I do what I can 😉
Julie says
You know I’m making this today so that I can have a piece tomorrow for breakfast before I go to staff meeting. A tummy full of bread makes the world go ’round.
Stephie says
Yum, yum! You’ll need it before staff meeting. *insert emoji frustrated face here*
cookingactress says
There is never a bad time for bread. I looooooove this,
Rachel Cooks says
I <3 RSY. This bread looks fabulous! I need to bake more bread…and this looks like a great place to start.
Stephie says
It’s seriously the easiest bread I’ve baked in a long time. And with such great results! You’ll love it.
Red Star Yeast says
Thanks for baking our recipe, Stephie! The apple cherry butter would be a delicious match for this bread. ~Linda@RSY
Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking says
I have never had wheat germ bread. I think I need to have this. Seriously. Today, I looked in the fridge and I swear Mike took an entire loaf of bread to school for sandwiches. You cannot leave a carb lover home alone without bread!
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough says
Mmmm gimme all that germy bread. It looks scrumdiddlyumptious.
Also, yes. RSY is the BEST for baking. Love it!
acolbus says
Ahh I love no-knead dough, this looks delish and with the addition of molasses it’s a real winner.
Melanie @ Just Some Salt and Pepper says
I love the smell of bread baking any time of year!
chefzakircooking says
soooper bread recipe. I was search such a simple wheat bread. recipe. Thanks
Melissa says
Can I make this in my bread machine?
Stephie says
Hi Melissa – I don’t have and have never used a bread machine, so I really couldn’t tell you. I am fairly certain it would take some adapting to make it work in a bread machine, but you would probably have to read your manufacturer’s instructions to know where to start with that. Let me know if it works out for you!
Chris says
Melissa, you can make pretty much any yeast bread in your machine. Some, like French bread, would taste better baked in the oven, but if it has a dough cycle the machine can get you to that point. Very important to follow the machine instructions for order of ingredients, no need to pre-mix them. I usually hold back about 1/4C of flour and add it if the dough is too wet. Having carpal tunnel syndrome AND being lazy, I really appreciate my machine!
Chris says
Hi I just discovered your site looking for a Wheat Germ Bread recipe. I want to try this; it sounds yummy and I totally agree about the molasses and wheat germ! I want to double check on the yeast. There is twice as much as usual. Is that correct?
Stephie says
Hi Chris – Yep, that is correct!
Chris says
Hi again Stephie, I got a little sidetracked(!) but finally made this read today in my Zo breadmaker. It smelled so good we couldn’t resist cutting it right away. YUUUUMMMMM!! Thank you, that will be a regular for us. I’m going to try it with half white WW flour.
Chris says
Just to add that I made it again with the WWW flour, about 75% as I ran out of AP. I increased everything by half (but only one egg, ran out of those too) for a larger loaf that fits better in the Zojirushi pan. The flavor is the same, but for some reason it’s easier to cut into thin slices for sandwiches. This is now at the top of our recipe list!
Stephie says
Thank you for sharing, Chris! I am so glad you love it and were able to adapt it to what you had around!
Jerry De Courtney Odle says
Great bread thanks for the recipe. I baked a loaf last night and by the end of breakfast this morning there is just 2 slices left. everyone loved it.
Jerry De Courtney Odle says
Stephie, could you confirm please what the ingredients would be if I wanted to make 2 loaves at the same time.
Amanda says
This looks great! I think I’ll try it out but minus the molasses. I can never find it in a small size, hate to buy that giant jar then have it go to waste.
Stephie says
Molasses lasts foreeeeeever. I’ve actually never had a jar go bad, and I don’t use it particularly frequently.
Pam says
Hi there I just found this recipe. Can you use honey instead of molasses? Thank you.
Stephie says
I have not but you could certainly try it. It would definitely give the bread a different flavor profile.
Olga says
Stephie, thank you very much! I like this bread! Wonderful combination of ingredients. It look so yummy!