Wheat Bread

This is the recipe my Dad taught me that started my love of bread. When I teach people how to make bread I always start them with this. I had a friend who moved out of state so I wrote down these instructions so she could remember how to make it. It's easy but oh so rewarding. This recipe makes 2 loaves. Each loaf costs about $3 to make with all of the ingredients and for the quality of bread you get that's about $2 cheaper than in the stores.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups - Warm Water (125-150 degrees)
3 Tbsp - Honey
1.5 Tbsp - Dry Yeast
3 Cups - Wheat Bread Flour
3 Cups - White Bread Flour
1/4 Cup (Half a Stick) - Butter; Melted
2 Tsp - Salt
3 Tbsp - Brown Sugar

1. Combine water, honey and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve honey. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. There should be no dry yeast left. Yeast will become foamy.

2. Add 1 cup of the wheat flour and 1 cup of the white flour. Mix well.

3. Add melted butter and salt. Mix well.

4. Continue adding flour alternating between wheat and white, scraping the sides as you go. With your last cup of wheat flour, mix in the brown sugar. You probably won't use all of the white flour. This is ok, the most important thing is making sure the wheat is mixed in.

5. Once dough is thoroughly mixed and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, place it on a flat surface with flour sprinkled on it. Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and begin kneading. Continue kneading dough adding flour from the table until dough no longer sticks to your hands, 10-15 minutes.

6. Place dough ball into a bowl covered with a damp towel and let rise until size doubles. About 40 minutes to an hour.

7. Punch down and form into a ball.

8. Separate ball into equal halves and place into greased bread pans. Dough should be flat and fit into the corners.

9. Again let rise with damp towel covering and let size double.

10. Place pans into oven preheated to 375 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes.

11. Remove bread from pans and lightly thump the bottom. There should be a hollow sound. Let cool completely before storage. (Overnight is ok)

NOTE: You can add more nutrition by adding things like ground nuts or seeds to the mix. You can even replace the water with warm milk to add a little flavor and make the bread smoother. Something my Mom discovered is that you can make it fluffier by adding eggs. So, before you add too much flour, put in one or two well beaten eggs into the mixture. Enjoy the experiments.

With bread,

~Chad