Honey Whole Wheat Bread.

Alright! About an hour has elapsed since my last post, but I decided to not put it off and start this blog off right. This, of course, involved me putting off homework and some work stuff but I'm okay with that... Anyway, this recipe is my absolute FAVORITE for making bread. I took an old recipe of my mom's, which was likely passed down by my grandmother, and I altered it a bit so there was more honey, but trust me... there is just as much love in it as the original. Lets get started!

Wait! First let me start of by saying that baking bread has always intimated me. Maybe it was the yeast, or perhaps the kneading, but I just have never tried it until recently. This is the second type of bread I've ever made and I am really happy with how it turned out. I hope you enjoy and make some bread of your own soon . It's easy and you weed out all the preservatives they put in store-bought pre-packaged bread.

Approx time:
Prep: about 10minutes w/ kneading
Rising: 1hour 30Minutes
Baking: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110˚-115˚)

• 2 1/4 tsp Dry active yeast

• 1/4 cup honey (X2)
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

You'll need a flat clean work surface and a large loaf pan (9x5), and, of course, an oven!

All the ingredients laid out :)

Measure out 1.5 cups of water and heat it up to 110˚-115˚. I heated mine in the microwave for about 25 seconds. This can take time to get the temperature right, but it's really important.

Next, measure out the yeast and put it in a large bowl.

Perfect! ... now, pour it into the yeast waiting patiently in the bowl.

Add 1/4th cup of honey...

Now, give it a stir!


Let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until it starts to bubble a bit.

Measure out your other ingredients in the mean time... I find it odd that they make 1/2 tbsp measuring spoons, don't you?

Pour the other 1/4 cup of honey into the mixture and stir.

Add the 2tbsp of melted butter and stir, again.


Add the salt and stir, yet again.

Okay, now it's time to add the flour. You should do this 1 cup at a time and not add the next cup until it's at least moistened.

1 cup...

2 cups....
3 cups...

3.5 cups....
It should look like this. If it's sticking to the side of the bowl, add flour until it can easily form a ball. I had to add about an additional 1/2 cup.
Form into a ball....
Mmmm look at that dough!
Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 1 hour.


Flour a surface with a good amount of flour. You don't want it to stick to the counter!


After the hour has passed, the dough should have doubled in size, like so.


Time to knead! You can use your own method, but I found that the fold over, punch down, then rotate 90˚ works best.

BAM!


Do this for 3 minutes. It will become increasingly harder to fold. After 3 minutes is up, form into a loaf shape to place into the pan.

Put some pam on the pan...(hey that rhymes, wait does it? Just kidding!)

Place the dough in the pan and "punch" the dough down so it touches all four sides.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 30 minutes. During some point during these 30 minutes, turn your oven on and pre-heat to 350˚.

It should look like this right before you put it in the oven.

After 30-35 minutes, it should be done!



Take it out of the pan, and let it cool on a wire rack...

Slice it up!

(I've heard it's best to slice it after it cools, but I had guests who convinced me to cut it before. Just wait... it's hard to cut when it's warm.)