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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Honey Wheat Bread

A light wheat bread, using whole wheat and all purpose flour, wheat germ and a touch of honey, and made with the Kitchen Aid.

Honey Wheat Bread

Time for another bread! Since my forced unemployment, thanks to Hurricane Katrina and this economic tsunami on the heels of her, I have been fortunate to be able to make loads of homemade bread. I guess that is one advantage of being an unemployed career woman now stay at home housewife with no little ones up under my feet all day. I have loads of time to play around in the kitchen. Maybe not so good on my waistline...)

Now, I love making bread. I love the process. Putting it together. Feeding the yeast. Watching the dough come together. Watching it rise. And I really love the smell of it baking. Oh do I love the smell of it baking! And frankly while it takes a bit of the hands-on work away which many people enjoy, the Kitchen Aid sure makes an easy job of it and is certainly less stressful on these older hands.

Sooooo I admit it ... I've gotten a bit spoiled by having homemade bread around. In fact it's truly to the point that I just don't care much for store bought bread anymore, so much so that I'll actually skip a sandwich if I don't have homemade bread on hand. I'm just gettin' rotten like that.

So today ... honey wheat is on the menu and it sure is good. With just a touch of honey this bread has an ever so slightly sweet note and with the mixture of white and wheat flours, it creates a very delicious and lighter wheat bread. Give it a try!


Recipe: Honey Wheat Bread

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Prep/Inactive time: 1 hr 30 min |Cook time: 1 hr | Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients
  • 2 cups of warm water (110 degrees F)
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of rapid rise yeast
  • Pinch of granulated sugar
  • 1 cup of whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup of wheat germ
  • 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup of canola oil
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 4 to 5 cups of all purpose flour, more or less
Instructions

To the warm water add the yeast and a pinch of sugar; whisk together well and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes or until yeast is activated.

In the mixer bowl, combine the wheat flour, wheat germ and salt. When yeast is ready, add the egg, oil, and honey and whisk together. Attach the dough hook, and add the yeast mixture to the mixer bowl. Mix on speed 2 until well combined.

Still on speed 2, begin adding the all purpose flour, adding it in at about 1/2 cup at a time, or until dough gathers around the hook and cleans the bowl. You may use less than 5 cups, you may need slightly more. Once the dough pulls away, continue mixing on speed 2 for about 3 minutes.

Remove bowl and spray the top of the dough and around the bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Pull up the dough and turn it, spraying the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled.

Punch down, divide dough in half and shape each half into loaves, placing into 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick spray and loosely cover each of the loaf pans, placing them in a warm spot for a second rise, approximately 30 minutes or until the bread has risen at least 1 inch above the rim of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove bread from the pans immediately and allow to fully cool on a rack before slicing.

Cook's Notes: I use White Lily all purpose flour and King Arthur whole wheat flour. Not sure if your bread is done? Takes its temperature! If it looks done, remove the bread from the loaf pan and using an instant read thermometer, insert the thermometer into the bottom center of the loaf. The temperature should read somewhere around 190 degrees F when the bread is done.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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Posted by on February 11, 2009
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