Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Wonderful homemade bread recipe that can be made healthier with freshly ground wheat flours, honey instead of sugar, and butter instead of shortening.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 heaping tablespoons sugar
- 1/3 cup Crisco shortening
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1/3 cup honey the original recipe called for molasses, we substituted honey instead
- 1 1/2 cups very warm water (115 is awful hot. I probably dissolve the yeast in water about 105 degrees) 105 to 115°
- 2 pkg. yeast
- 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 3/4 cups bread flour
- 4 tsp. vital wheat gluten
- unsalted butter melted, to brush top and sides of bread with after it comes out of the oven
Instructions
- Scald milk; stir milk into sugar, salt, shortening, and honey.
- Cool to lukewarm.
- Measure warm water into large bowl.
- Dissolve yeast.
- Stir into lukewarm milk mixture adding 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups bread flour.
- Beat until smooth.
- Sprinkle with vital wheat gluten.
- Add enough remaining flours to make a soft dough.
- Turn out onto lightly floured board.
- Knead until smooth and elastic adding more flour to surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking, about 8-10 minutes.
- Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease top.
- Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft until double in bulk, about 1 hour.
- Punch down and let rest 20 minutes.
- Divide dough into 2 pieces.
- Roll and shape into loaf.
- Place in well greased 9x5” loaf pan.
- Brush with shortening on the top.
- Cover and let rise again about another hour.
- Bake in preheated 300° oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven promptly and tap on bottom to remove loaf from pan.
- Allow to cool on wire rack.
- Brush with melted butter immediately after placing on wire rack to keep tops from hardening. Makes 2 loaves.
Notes
NOTE: Preparation time does not include time needed to raise bread twice.
NOTE: I have also used 3 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups bread flour for this recipe with equally great results.
NOTE: Since I made this in the winter (and didn't have a really warm place to raise the dough), I turned my oven on for exactly one minute. Then I shut off the oven and placed the covered bowl of dough in the oven to raise. I did the same thing once the dough was separated into loaf pans.
NOTE: all-purpose flour does not contain the necessary gluten to bond the ingredients together as well as bread flour. The bread may turn out crumbly. For best results use bread flour.
NOTE: I recommend using Fleischmann's yeast or bread machine yeast in any yeast bread recipe. Red Star yeast just doesn't work as well.
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