White whole-wheat (also called whole wheat pastry flour) will yield a softer bread and still have the fiber. The vital wheat gluten is a must. Here is David's (Lakeguy) recipe which I have saved but have yet to make (still no oven, but soon!). It looks great. Struan Bread Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves Soaker 3 tablespoons polenta 3 tablespoons rolled oats 2 tablespoons wheat bran 1/4 cup water Dough 3 cups unbleached bread flour 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon instant yeast 3 tablespoons cooked brown rice 1 1/2 tablespoons honey 1/2 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup water topping 1 tablespoon poppy seeds Mix together the ingredients for the soaker. Cover and allow to soak for at least half an hour or as long as overnight. In a larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients and soaker. Add more flour or water until the dough can be formed into a ball that is tacky but not sticky. Place the ball of dough on a clean work surface and knead it for 10 to 12 minutes, then return it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to ferment until doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, degas it gently, and split it for two loaves or shape it as is for one. Place the loaves in greased bread pans, spritz or sprinkle water on top, and sprinkle a handful of poppy seeds on top. Cover the pans loosely with plastic and allow the loaves to rise until doubled in size again, approximately 90 minutes. Bake these loaves at 350 for 40 to 60 minutes, until the internal temperature is around 190 degrees. When ready the loaves will be quite brown on top and will make a hollow thud when tapped on the bottom. Nothing like homemade bread...I love it! David

Yes, white whole wheat flour can be used for cookies. And yes, there is hard and soft white wheat as plllog explained. There are also spring hard/soft white or red wheat and winter hard/soft white or red wheat to get even more complicated than things really need to be. And don't forget durum wheat (the type of wheat best used for pasta/noodles) and all the ancient varieties. Before going gluten free, I used a large number of wheat varieties: durum, hard spring white, hard winter white, soft spring white, hard winter red, hard spring red, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), as well as spelt, kamut, and einkorn (ancient varieties). I saved soft white wheat (because it was so expensive -purchased from Bob's Red Mill) for some (not all) quick breads, biscuits, and pastry, as well as for cakes (especially delicate chiffon and angel food cake). I would use a 3:1 mix of soft white wheat and spelt OR oat groats (milling flour myself) for a low-protein flour similar in protein to cake flour. I also milled rye, barley, sorghum, and many other grains/seeds/beans for flour. I milled the mixture of grains into a very fine flour and made sure to sift it (removing any large pieces of bran) before using it for cake. Since you may not have any soft white wheat flour available for your cookies, just make sure when making cookies (or anything leavened with chemical leavening - soda, baking powder) NOT to over-mix them or you will develop too much gluten and will get tough cookies or baked goods using regular (hard) white whole wheat flour. This is yet another time I suggest using a Danish Dough Whisk (or a wooden spoon) instead of a stand or regular mixer. Keep mixing to a minimum once the flour has been added. If you use white whole wheat flour in a recipe that is designed for bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour, you may find you need to add a little more hydration, OR reduce the amount of whole wheat flour by 1-tablespoon from each cup of flour called for in the recipe, and adjust accordingly, if needed. If you can find recipes that specifically call for whole wheat flour you will find you have better results until you get accustomed to using it. Check your public library for wholegrain cookbooks. The recipe at the link below from the Kansas Wheat Commission is one of my favorites using 100% whole wheat flour :-). This recipe will work with either white or red whole wheat flour, but white whole wheat works best due to the flavor differences. If you want to kick it up a notch, add 1/8-1/4 t. of Fiori di Sicilia (an all-natural citrus and vanilla scented flavoring from King Arthur Flour - but caution, a little goes a long way). You may want to take a look at their recipe collection for a lot of great recipes using whole wheat flour. I've collected the Kansas Wheat Commission Recipe Books for years (free when you attend the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS) and have them going back several decades. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

I do not think I am growing tomatoes this year, but I will look for Sun Gold at the nursery. I used to buy Donna tomatoes years ago, and they were by far the sweetest and best I've had, but I have not seen them since I left Venice. I think you may be right that Challah is better for FT than Brioche - I really do not need all that extra butter, and the Challah is very good for soaking up the batter. The FT had the exact texture that I was going for. I've made FT with Challah that I bought at the store, and it was not nearly as good as this. I used honey in the Challah because I have honey from Texas from clover flowers that I really like. I think it is clover honey - it might be wildflower. I cut the bread exactly one hour after it was out of the oven. Since it had been photographed, there was no need to wait! I had always thought that the braid would be difficult to make, as I could not figure it out from looking at a loaf, but it turns out to be reasonably easy, after watching a couple of videos. Most of my cooking I have learned from TV or videos - I find that more inspiring that a written recipe, although photos can help me get over that.

What kind of bread machine did you get? See if you can locate the user's manual for it on-line. They usually come with a number of recipes which are especially designed to be used with your machine, and they typically are a good place to start. Machines will make different sizes of loaves, so if you won't want to make the wrong size loaf in it. Some of the older machines only make a 1# loaf, while most others make a 1-1/2# and/or 2# size loaves. I'd suggest a copy of "Bread Machines for Dummies" by Glenna Vance and Tom Lacalamita as a good place to start. It's the book I give to students taking my Bread Machine Class. I've never had a recipe fail me from that book, and it has a nice variety of bread choices; along with great bread-making instructions if you are new to bread machines and/or bread-making. Some machines can't make 100% whole wheat bread, and that type of dough can be tough on some machines. So when we know what kind of machine and it's capacity, that will help with the recipe choices. -Grainlady