This recipe makes 4 medium loaves of bread – you may want to slice & freeze the extra loaves to be sure they stay fresh.
4 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 Tbsp salt (a little more, if you use kosher salt)
~ 5 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
~ 2 3/4 cups white unbleached flour
Place water, honey, sugar, and yeast in your Bosch or large mixer. Cover and let it develop 10-15 minutes – it will become foamy. Add oil and stir slightly.
Add wheat flour and two cups white flour and mix well using dough hook. Gradually add the rest of the flour until the dough just pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead with mixer 10 minutes (or 20 minutes by hand). Place dough in large bowl in the oven with a pan of boiling water on the rack below; allow to seam rise one hour.
Split dough into 4 portions. If you want to add a swirl of cinnamon, sugar, and raisins to your loaf, roll out the dough and sprinkle heavily, then roll up and place in pans. Shape dough and place in 4 oiled loaf pans and allow to steam rise one more hour.
Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes, or until top is browned and sounds slightly hollow when tapped. For a softer crust, spread a little melted butter over the tops of the loaves right out of the oven.
Yield: 4 medium loaves
Time to make: about 4 hours total, but much of that is rise time, during which you’re free to be busy elsewhere.
Source: Patti Whiting, who taught wheat bread-making to our ward Relief Society (submitted by Angela Peterson Hoffman)
Tips:
*Steam rising helps the dough to rise in a warm, moist environment.
*Always use warm (not hot) ingredients. Heat or cold can kill your yeast when it’s waking up, and the dough won’t rise. Just a little above body temperature is good.
*Rapid rise yeasts are fine, but don’t expect them to rise much faster.
*Give yourself plenty of time. All doughs and yeasts are different. Every batch will vary depending on the temperature and humidity of the environment.
*Most bread doughs can be adapted to rolls, cinnamon breads, etc.
*The flour amounts in a recipe are not exact. The moisture content of your wheat and four can vary. Watch your dough and stop adding flour as soon as you see it start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. You can always add more flour during kneading if the dough is too sticky. A softer dough will make a tender loaf.
*There are endless recipes for awesome bread. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Some of our greatest successes were born of failure!