Sprouted Wheat Bread

From "Better than Store Bought"
A 'new' bread, that would not be familiar to older generations.

Begin sprouting wheat berries 2.5 days in advance.

Makes 2 loaves:

Ingredients For Sprouting:
1/3 cup wheat berries (grains) picked over
1 cup water

Ingredients for dough:
1.5 cups water at 110 degrees F
2 tbps + 1/2 tsp packed brown sugar
2.25 tsp dry yeast
2 tbsp safflower or other tasteless vegetable oil
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbps cider vinegar
1 tbps molasses
4.5 cups whole wheat flour (or as needed)
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tbps melted unsalted butter (for brushing the loaves)

1. Sprout Wheat: Soak berries in water overnight (12 hours), drain and set in sprouting jar in a dark cupboard. Rinse 3-4 times daily. Sprout for 2 days, until sprouts are .5 to .75 inches long. Yields 1.25 cups sprouts.

2. Combine .5 cup warm water with 1/2 tsp brown sugar and all of yeast. Let stand 10 minutes until foamy.

3. In large mixing bowl, stir together remaining warm water, brown sugar, oil, salt, vinegar and molasses. Beat in thouroughly 1.5 cups whole-wheat flour, then yeast mixture. Beat in wheat germ, sesame seeds, and thorughly drained wheat sprouts. Work in enough flour (abour 3 cups) to make a stiff dough. Knead thoroughly on a floured board until dough is elastic and not sticky.

4. Form dough into a ball, turn in a large buttered bowl, place buttered side up. Cover with towel and allow to rise until doubled, 1 hour or more.

5. Punch down dough and divide in half, rest 10 minutes covered in a towel. Form each into a pan loaf as follows: roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick and as wide as the length of the pan. Beginning with the short side, roll the dough up jelly-roll fashion, pinching the rolled portion to the flat portion every half turn or so. Pinch the ends closed. Fit each loaf snugly into a buttered 8x4" pan shaping it higher at the center than at the sides and ends. Cover with towel, and let rise until doubled.

6. While loaves are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

7. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes in the center of the oven. When the bread shrinks slightly away from the sides of the pans, turn out a loaf and rap it on the bottom. If the sound is hollow, the bread is done. If the sound is dull, place both loaves, out of the pans, on the oven shelf and bake them a few minutes longer.

8. Brush the tops of the loaves with butter and cool them, covered with a towel, on a rack.


Notes:
We didn't have enough wheat flour, so we substituted 1 cup bread flour.