Whole Wheat Bread (Bread Machine Recipe-Regular Dough Cycle)

This recipe came from my good buddy, Helen. Tested in the Kitchen of Alice Wootton

My hubby really likes whole wheat bread. He eats a couple of slices of this bread every day along with a glass of red wine. Last week, I made rolls using this recipe and put Egg Salad (recipe on this blog) on them to take with us on a hike with friends at Yellow Birch. I used the local honey from the Lost River Market & Deli to make the bread. I also got the whole wheat flour from the bulk section of the store. I like using the dough cycle on the machine because then you can make the bread into more of a loaf shape (pictured here with Honey Crisp Apple Slices and Curried Cauliflower Soup-recipe on this blog) or you can make rolls. I haven't tried this recipe using the complete cycle where the bread machine bakes the bread, but I imagine it would work fine.

Makes 1 loaf or 24 rolls

Put the following ingredients in the bread machine in this order:
14 ounces water
1 ¾ teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil
3 Tablespoons honey or molasses
2 Tablespoons vital gluten
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 ¾ teaspoons active dry yeast

Set machine on the regular dough cycle.
When the cycle is complete, put dough on a lightly floured board.
If making a loaf, shape the dough into a loaf shape. Place into a bread pan lightly sprayed with Pam. If making rolls, roll out dough so that it’s still thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut rounds of dough and place in round cake pans sprayed with Pam. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with Pam and then a towel. Allow to rise again for about an hour.
Bake in a preheated oven 375º F for about 40 minutes for a loaf and about 30 minutes for rolls. Brush tops with melted butter, if desired. Allow to cool completely before serving.