There are a lot of reasons to avoid bread. Lacking much flavor, it’s high in calories, loaded with carbs and, most importantly, chock-full of chemical preservatives your healthy diet doesn’t need. By making bread at home, and combining all-purpose flour with whole wheat, you’ll get a fluffy, hearty loaf free of undesirable ingredients. Without those pesky preservatives, this delicious, honey-sweetened bread may not stay fresh as long as the store-bought kind, but we trust that won’t be a problem.
Honey Wheat Bread
Ingredients
2-¾ cups whole wheat flour
2-¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. salt
2-¼ tsp. active dry yeast (or one 7g packet)
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 cup warm water
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsp. oil
Directions
- In a bowl of stand mixer or other large bowl, sprinkle warm water with yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes, until yeast dissolves.
- Mix in milk, honey and oil. Using a dough hook or mixing by hand, add flours and stir for 1 minute on low until the mixture becomes a dough.
- Add salt and knead dough for about 10 minutes on medium, until it is smooth. Roll dough into a ball.
- In a large, clean bowl, gently cover dough with oil. Cover for 1 hour while dough rises and doubles in size.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.
- On a floured surface, evenly separate dough in half and form ball into a 9 x 9-inch square. Fold the squares into thirds (like you would a letter).
- Pinch down on the seams to close. Place into pan with the seams facing down. Cover again for 40-60 minutes while dough rises.
- On top of each loaf, make three angled slashes with a knife.
- Place pans in oven and immediately reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, until loaves are golden.
- Remove from pans from oven and let loaves cool on a wire rack.