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Sunday, October 28, 2007

Wholesome Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread



Wholesome Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread

3¾ hours 3 hours prep
2 envelopes yeast
4 cups water
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups whole-wheat flour
4 cups white flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. In a large bowl, combine butter, molasses, honey and salt and mix well.
3. Add yeast mixture and then gradually add flours.
4. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth.
5. Place in buttered bowl and let rise until double.
6. Punch down and let rest for a few minutes.
7. Divide dough into 4 parts and shape into loaves.
8. Place in greased pans and let rise for about an hour.
9. Bake at 375* for 35 to 40 minutes.

Okay this bread is delicious! This is the one I have been making since I got the grain mill. There is one other recipe I use but I have to find my hand made recipe book. I haven been on a break with my baking and it must of gotten tossed in a box some where. Anyways. This is a great recipe!

I use just whole wheat so mine is a little grainier but I have tried it both ways. I do admit the white flour taste better, softer. I am thinking of trying a dough enhancer. Some women add that to their recipes.

I do have one more recipe, the one my mom taught me how to bake when I was growing up but I haven't used that one in a few years.

Anyhow here are some pics. I left it in the oven a bit too long though. :( We made 4 loaves and there is only 1/2 a loaf left so it wasn't too bad. lol I think I will make more tomorrow.

Oh and by the way do not buy yeast from the store. They charge a fortune. I think I pay $3.50 or so to get a 2 lb bag of yeast from Smart N Final. At the store they charge like $2.00 for 3/4 of an ounce!

2 comments:

Zsuzsanna said...

So how do you like your grain mill? What brand did you buy? I have been toying with the idea of getting one for several years, but am not sure if I should. A bakery just down the street sells freshly milled flour (milled that day), but it's too coarse for pastry flour, and it's $1/lb. I have also not been baking as much bread as I would like to, so I'm not sure it's worth the investment.

Thank you for all the nice comments. I am glad to hear that you enjoy listening to my husband's sermons. I really love our church, it's one of the greatest things in life (after our family). We do get very busy at times, and sometimes I start feeling sorry for myself when I feel like nobody realizes how much work I do, but then I realize how dumb it is to be like that.

I can only imagine how many comments you get for your "large" family. I agree with you and think that being pregnant is healthy for a woman, and not a detriment. As a matter of fact, I just read about a study last week that showed that the more children women had, the less likely they were to get any type of cancer. The researchers had no explanation but speculated that it had to do with stem cells of the baby passing into the mother during pregnancy, which then in turn "attack" potential cancer cells in the Mom. The marvels of evolution - yeah right! I hope that God blesses you with many more wonderful children!

Jasmine's Journey said...

I actually love it. We bought The Nutrimill Grain Mill

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/index.aspx#Nutrimill

That is great about the local bakery. Our mill does have a pastry flour setting. From what I have learned, hard red wheat is supposed to be for baking anything with yeast.

The soft white wheat is supposed to be like pastry flour, bake anything that calls for baking soda/baking powder. I will be the first to admit though, either one, has a wheaty taste. It has a different texture than "white flour". Some women mix half and half.

I do notice the soft white wheat is not so rough tasting. So I just use that for yeast and soda baking. I have also heard to use one less tbs of flour and one place I seen it said to use more water.

I know some ladies use a dough enhancer I may look into that. Maybe eventually I will be a master at this. haha

For now we do really enjoy it. As far as is it economically feasible? In a perfect world kids and hubby's would not want junk food and would be happy with the veggies, fruit, yogurt, cheese and nuts that you serve them. hahahahahah

But they want more. I always hate it when my dh and I are at the store and he sees hostess this or that and trys to put it in the cart. Or worse, calls from work and says he got cookies out of the machine! lol

My biggest concern with commercial goodies is trans fat. Not to mention a whole slew of other unhealthy ingredients that are hard to even pronounce. I really think it is appalling what is in processed food.

So for us we decided to get the mill. That way I could make them their snack foods and at least it would be healthier than 99% of what is available at the store. Even if you don't bake alot of bread, what about cookies, muffins, pizza, biscuits, tortillas?

Now I will admit everyone doesn't need goodies like that all the time. I stopped baking months ago when it warmed up and we survived just fine. They had the usual healthy stuff, plus popcorn and once a month they get some chips.

But I knew it was time to start baking again when my dh started bringing home 12 packs of mammoth muffins from costco. They were really good too!

When we make muffins I put cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts, bananas and blueberries in them with a few choc. chips. I use a little less sugar than the recipe calls for. Some recipes I substitute honey.

Yes the sermons are really awesome. I am pretty picky with what I want to and don't want to listen to. Most preachers fall into the "Don't want to" category. lol

Being the woman behind the man can be hard at times. Just remember the woman is the heart of the home. You two are a team. He couldn't do all he does so well without you, and vice versa. You complete each other. That is the way marriage should be.

Thanx so much for your words about the kids. I remember when I was pregnant with my 2nd a guy at work thought that was crazy and made a comment about being a human pez machine! When sending out baby shower invites you almost feel guilty like everyone is rolling their eyes saying she is having ANOTHER one? hahahaha

It helps prevent cancer? Wheeee!!! I am all about that!