Easy Honey Wheat Bread

Recipe from tammysrecipes.com

Yield: 1 loaf

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see additional notes for a 100% whole wheat version)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Instructions:

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

Additional Notes:

*If you have a bread maker, you can use the dough setting to knead it for you. Just put ingredients in according to order listed.

This recipe also makes very delicious 100% whole wheat bread. The bread in this picture was made with Prairie Gold hard white wheat.

If you would like your whole wheat bread to have a softer and better texture, you can add these dough conditioning ingredients to this recipe:

• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (replace 3 tablespoons of the flour called for in the recipe with this)

• 1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin (we use granules of lecithin, and add it to the water at the beginning)

• a pinch of citric acid (use sparingly!!)

• a sprinkling of ginger

You could also purchase pre-mixed dough conditioners, which contain some of these ingredients but are more costly. We found our citric acid, soy lecithin, and wheat gluten at a bulk foods store. A little goes a long way!