Some of the best things in life are the simple things. Take, for instance, this whole wheat bread. It's a pretty simple recipe, but one that yields a beautiful loaf of bread perfect for toast, sandwiches, and just enjoying with butter and jam. We chose to use a combination of half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour for a bread that is wonderfully chewy, but not overly dense. Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread, and we hope you enjoy this loaf as much as we do. Happy baking!
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm Water
- 2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (one 7 g packet)
- 1 cup Milk room temperature
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 2 Tbsp Oil
- 2 3/4 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- 2 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 Tbsp Salt
Instructions
- Pour water into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle yeast over top. Let sit until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in milk, honey, and oil. Add all purpose flour and whole wheat flour and stir by hand or with a dough hook until a dough forms, about 1 minute on low.
- Add the salt and knead dough until it is smooth and springy, about 10 minutes on medium speed.
- Form dough into a ball and place in a large bowl lightly coated with oil. Turn dough to coat with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Transfer dough to floured surface. Divide dough in half and form into two balls. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Gently press and shape each ball into a 9 x 9-inch square. Fold into thirds, like folding a letter. Pinch the seam closed and place loaf seam-side down in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 40-60 minutes.
- During this final rise, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Make three angled slashes on top of each loaf with a knife and place in oven preheated oven. Immediately reduce heat to 375°F and bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on wire rack.
While the shaped loaves are rising at room temperature, preheat the oven to 425. Ensuring that you have a very hot oven is key to great loaves here, the initial high temperature encourages a great oven spring which results in proper texture and height. Enjoy!