The Sisters Cafe: Freshly Baked Wheat Bread

We were out of bread so I thought I would give this recipe a shot. WONDERFUL! I just made myself a delicious sandwich using a couple slices of this bread. DIVINE :) A couple quick notes... I only used 4 c. flour and it was perfect. Our house is always pretty chilly so for a warm place I turned the oven on broil for 1 minute and then turned it off and stuck the dough (covered with a towel) in there to rise both times. It worked out perfect. After baking both loaves I popped one right out of the oven into foil and stuck it in the freezer. Once it was frozen I wrapped it all in plastic wrap. Wrapping it in foil immediately and sticking it in the freezer helps lock in the moisture. Enjoy!

2 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
4 to 5 cups bread flour, sifted
2 Tbs granulated sugar
1½ tsp salt
1 Tbs yeast (a rounded Tablespoon)
2 ounces honey (1/4 cup)
1 2/3 cups water
2/3 cup milk
½ stick butter (1/4 cup)

1. In a large mixer bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, salt and yeast.
2. In a medium bowl, combine honey, milk, water and butter, and heat to 105 degrees in the microwave. (About 60 seconds - I used a candy thermometer. It worked great.)
3. Stir liquids to melt the butter and add, all at once, to the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl.
4. With the dough hook installed on your stand mixer, mix dough. Add more flour by the Tablespoon, as needed, until the dough comes together and clears the bowl. Mix for 8-10 minutes with the dough hook until no longer sticky, adding flour as necessary.
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from bowl and divide dough in half. Make each half into a 10 x 12 rectangle and roll each up from short end. Pinch the seams. Roll on the countertop to make a uniform log and place in an oiled breadpan seam-side up. Shake the roll to oil the bottom, turn the pan over, catch the dough and reinsert it into the pan, seam-side-down. (or just spray your plastic wrap with oil before covering so it doesn't stick. I don't like to use a towel to cover because it can dry out the dough.)
7. Return to warm place and let rise an additional 30 minutes or until at least 1 inch above the pan top. Bake in a preheated 400°F. oven for 25 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on rack.

Yield: 2 loaves