Wheat Germ–Yogurt Bread

Ingredients
3 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c nonfat dry milk
5 tsp salt
2 pkgs dry yeast
2 3/4 c water
1 c yogurt
1/4 c honey
1/4 c molasses
2 Tsbp oil
3 1/2–4 c bread flour
1 c + 2 Tbsp wheat germ
1 c bran
1 egg, beaten

Method
Combine whole wheat flour, milk powder, salt and yeast. Combine water, yogurt, honey and molasses and heat to 115–120°F (46–49°C). Add to dry mixture and beat vigorously. Add oil and 2 cups bread flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in 1 cup wheat germ and bran. Add additional flour to make soft dough. Knead until smooth. Shape into ball and place in greased bowl, turning to grease dough. Cover and let rise until double. Punch down.
Divide into 4 equal pieces. Divide each into thirds, shaping each portion into a 12-inch (30-cm) long rope. Braid each set of 3 ropes, forming 4 oval loaves. Place on greased baking sheats or into 9×5-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp wheat germ. Bake at 350°F (175°C) 25 to 35 minutes.

Source
Clipped from newspaper sometime in the 1980s.

Comments
Looks okay. This recipe doesn’t hold any particular appeal to me. I wonder if the yogurt makes any difference to the bread or if it would taste the same if you used milk. As for the powdered milk plus water, it seems like an unnecessary complication. You could just as well use milk (but you’d have to scald the wet mixture and let it cool unless using UHT milk). You could just as well make plain loaves instead of braided ones (but they wouldn’t be as pretty.)
When a bread contains bran, you need to knead it less than if it were white bread. If you overknead it, the pieces of bran tend to cut the gluten strands and reduce their formation.