Honey Wheat Bread

This week's recipe is relatively simple, it's something that I make once a week, bread. I have been making bread for about a year now, and homemade bread is so much better than store bought. It tastes so much better and there's no icky preservatives. So, on to honey wheat bread.


What you'll need...

2 1/4 teaspoons Dry Active Yeast
2 Cups very warm water
1/4 Cup Oil (vegetable or canola)
2/3 Cup Honey
1 teaspoon Salt
3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2-3 Cups All-Purpose Flour


Start by combining the yeast and 1/2 Cup of very warm water in a medium to large mixing bowl. Allow the yeast to bloom for about five minutes before doing anything else.

Once the yeast has bloomed add the remaining 1 1/2 Cups of water and the rest of the ingredients. At first add only two Cups of All-Purpose Flour, you can always add more but you can't take it out if you have too much. Mix until the dough is combined enough that you can knead it.

Once you have combined the ingredients knead the dough until it all comes together and is smooth. (This can all be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook, but I do it all by hand.) Grease the bowl with either oil or cooking spray and cover with a clean dish or tea towel. Allow the dough to sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen punch it down and divide it into to two. Grease two loaf pans (or you use the same pan twice) and form loaves on a moderately floured surface. At this point the dough most probably won't fill the pan as much as you would like, so turn your oven to 375 and place the pans on the stove top covered with the towel again. The heat from the heating oven will help the dough to rise again. You can skip this step, but it does help the loaves to get larger. If you choose to, allow the dough to rise for an additional 30 minutes.

Once the dough has risen again bake at 375 for 30 minutes, the loaves will be golden brown. Allow the loaves to cool out of the pan on a cooling rack for about an hour. At this point they will be cool enough that you can wrap in foil.

A loaf will be good for about a week in foil on the counter top. They freeze great and can keep for months in the freezer. This bread is delicious and is great for sandwiches and toast.

Enjoy!