Honey Wheat Bread
April 24, 2009 by Marci
Honey Wheat Bread
1 cup warm water
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 stick butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups all purpose or bread flour, plus extra for kneading
Dissolve yeast and sugar in half cup warm water. Let sit about 15 minutes to proof. You are checking to see if the yeast is alive. It should make a lot of bubbles. If nothing happens get new yeast.
Put milk, 1/2 cup water, salt, butter and honey in a pot and heat until it is warm but not hot. You can do this in microwave, too. Stir in the wheat flour and beat until smooth. Add the white flour one cup at a time until it is thick enough to knead.
Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place the dough into a large buttered bowl to rise. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled. Will take anywhere from an hour to several hours depending on how cold your house is.
Punch down the loaf and shape into 2 loaves. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. I brush the loaf with butter while it is still warm. Let it cool a bit before you slice or it will be to soft to slice.
Notes:
*If you have never made bread before go here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/yourfirstloaf and read through at least lesson 1 before trying to make bread.
*If you own a bread machine you can let your machine do the work for you. Make sure that your machine can handle 2 cups of liquid, if like mine it uses only 1 1/2 cups liquid, do a little math and continue. Just toss all the ingredients in the machine, set it to the dough only cycle and let it run. It will beep when the dough is done rising. Take the dough out and shape your loaves, let rise and bake.
*If you you think it needs to be sweeter add more sugar NOT more honey. Honey is a natural antifungal and will kill the yeast if you use too much.
