I'm not sure when or how it happened, but sometime during moving to New Hampshire, the decision was made that I would try making our bread instead of buying it. I've tried a few recipes, both white bread and whole wheat, along with the rye bread and oatmeal bread that I made in England. The white bread didn't taste as good as I would have liked, the whole wheat was too hard, and the rye and oat didn't necessarily have the right texture for sandwiches either.
Then I found a recipe for a wheat bread using both white and wheat flour that came out amazing! It was theoretically supposed to make three loaves of bread, but it really only makes two. Still, it's a fairly easy recipe that produces a good flavor and texture to use for sandwiches. I'm starting to play with variations on it as well, and I'll post those as I find them.
Easy Wheat Bread
3 cups warm water
2 packets active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp from the bulk yeast jar)
2/3 cup honey (divided)
5 cups bread flour (or all purpose white flour)
5 Tbsp butter (divided)
approximately 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
cooking oil
In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, 1/3 cup honey, and 5 cups bread flour. Mix well, and set in a warm place for 1/2 hour or "until big and bubbly".
Stir in 3 Tbsp butter, melted, salt, 1/3 cup honey, and 2 cups whole wheat flour. Turn the mix out onto a flour tabletop or counter. Knead in more wheat flour until the dough is a little sticky, but pulls up from the counter. You might need more than the 1 1/2 cups that is listed, but a total of 3 1/2 cups is about what I've used in mine.
Grease a large bowl with oil. Put the dough in the bowl, turning to coat the surface with oil. Cover with a towel and put in a warm place to rise until it doubles in size, generally about an hour.
Punch down the dough (yes, really do punch it in several places to let the air out.) Divide into 2 loaves, and put into greased (9"x5") loaf pans. Cover with a towel and let rise again in a warm place until it is about 1" over the top of the pans. It should look "loaf shaped".
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, until it sounds hollow if you knock on it. Do not overbake. As soon as it comes out of the oven, lightly brush the top of the loaves with melted butter (to keep the crust soft). Remove from loaf pans and cool completely on a rack. Don't slice until cool.
Once the bread is cool, it can be wrapped in foil and frozen. I'm working on making this every day or two, freezing the loaf that we're not actively using. Theoretically, the dough can be frozen after the first rising, then thawed in the refrigerator before being allowed to rise.
This can also be made into rolls instead of loaves.
Variation Possibilities:
I'm working on a batch made with molasses instead of honey. It should give a slightly darker sweet flavor. Maple Syrup might work, too, and depending on how the molasses works, I'll try maple soon.
Other possibilities include adding seeds or nuts to the dough, or varying the grains. I'll probably play with using oat flour, or maybe rye, as part of the mix.
Then I found a recipe for a wheat bread using both white and wheat flour that came out amazing! It was theoretically supposed to make three loaves of bread, but it really only makes two. Still, it's a fairly easy recipe that produces a good flavor and texture to use for sandwiches. I'm starting to play with variations on it as well, and I'll post those as I find them.
Easy Wheat Bread
3 cups warm water
2 packets active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp from the bulk yeast jar)
2/3 cup honey (divided)
5 cups bread flour (or all purpose white flour)
5 Tbsp butter (divided)
approximately 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
cooking oil
In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, 1/3 cup honey, and 5 cups bread flour. Mix well, and set in a warm place for 1/2 hour or "until big and bubbly".
Stir in 3 Tbsp butter, melted, salt, 1/3 cup honey, and 2 cups whole wheat flour. Turn the mix out onto a flour tabletop or counter. Knead in more wheat flour until the dough is a little sticky, but pulls up from the counter. You might need more than the 1 1/2 cups that is listed, but a total of 3 1/2 cups is about what I've used in mine.
Grease a large bowl with oil. Put the dough in the bowl, turning to coat the surface with oil. Cover with a towel and put in a warm place to rise until it doubles in size, generally about an hour.
Punch down the dough (yes, really do punch it in several places to let the air out.) Divide into 2 loaves, and put into greased (9"x5") loaf pans. Cover with a towel and let rise again in a warm place until it is about 1" over the top of the pans. It should look "loaf shaped".
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, until it sounds hollow if you knock on it. Do not overbake. As soon as it comes out of the oven, lightly brush the top of the loaves with melted butter (to keep the crust soft). Remove from loaf pans and cool completely on a rack. Don't slice until cool.
Once the bread is cool, it can be wrapped in foil and frozen. I'm working on making this every day or two, freezing the loaf that we're not actively using. Theoretically, the dough can be frozen after the first rising, then thawed in the refrigerator before being allowed to rise.
This can also be made into rolls instead of loaves.
Variation Possibilities:
I'm working on a batch made with molasses instead of honey. It should give a slightly darker sweet flavor. Maple Syrup might work, too, and depending on how the molasses works, I'll try maple soon.
Other possibilities include adding seeds or nuts to the dough, or varying the grains. I'll probably play with using oat flour, or maybe rye, as part of the mix.
I took your recipe and changed it. :)
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