HONEY-WHOLE WHEAT BREAD Recipe ~Makes 2 loaves

I’ve had this recipe a long time … but this is the first time I’ve made it 😉

It’s a simple recipe, with few ingredients.

I make my bread on laundry day, and set it to rise atop the warm dryer.

Honey-Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

2 packages active dry Yeast * ½ cup warm Water (105 – 115-degees using a candy thermometer) * 1/3 cup Honey * ¼ cup Shortening * 1 tablesoon Salt * 1¾ cups warm Water * 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour * 3 – 4 cups all-purpose Unbleached Flour * margarine or butter, softened

Ingredients.

Dissolve yeast in ½ cup warm water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in honey, shortening, salt, 1¾ cups warm water, and whole wheat flour: beat until smooth. Mix in enough all-purpose flour to make dough easy to handle.

Yeast, honey & shortening.

Whole wheat flour added ...

Mixing all ingredients.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes.

Kneading the dough ...

Place in a greased bowl, and turn greased side up; cover and let rise in a warm place until double – about 1 hour. (Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched).

Setting dough to 1st Rise.

Rising under a basket atop the dryer, on Laundry Day; covered with towels to keep the warmth ...

There's the indentation; a very nice rise.

Punch dough down, and divide into halves. Flatten each half with hands or a rolling pin into a rectangle: 18” x 9”. Fold crosswise into thirds, overlapping the 2 sides. Roll up tightly, beginning at one of the open ends. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge firmly to seal. Press each end with flat of hand to seal – fold ends under loaf.

Punching the dough down ...

Dividing the dough evenly.

A rough estimation of 18-inches in length.

The tri-fold ...

I'm pretty rough with beating the bubbles out of the dough. LOL

Rolled and sealed loaf; ready for the greased pan.

Place loaves, seam side down, in 2 greased 9” x 5” x 3” or 8½” x 4½” x 2½” baking pans. Brush with margarine or butter – let rise in a warm place until double – about 1 hour.

Placed atop the dryer again, for the 2nd Rise. Recover with towel-shrouded overturned laundry basket.

 A good rise.

Heat oven to 375-degrees. Bake loaves until they are a deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped – 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

Sprayed with butter-flavored cooking oil for a nice crust browning ...

Covered with foil the last 25 minutes so top crust doesn't burn.

Perfect!

Buttered to soften crust - and set on sides, on a wire rack, to cool. Covered while cooling.

Wire rack indentations make for nice, even slices.

It smells SO YUMMY! And it's a balanced moistness, too.

Brooke Ligertwood – ‘Honey In The Rock’ song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4dIoOdLSOA)

8 ct. slices wrapped in plastic wrap & foil, for the freezer. Whole Loaf; halved for my use; recycled wrapper.

BUTTERMILK HONEY BREAD Recipe

Today is laundry/bread making day, and I thought that since Spring is in the air, I would make a Spring type bread ;-)

So I dug around in my recipe collection and found this tasty bread. The texture is excellent, and the sweet smell of honey that greets your nose with the first cut of the knife after the bread cools will have your taste buds screaming for a bite.

I bake my bread on laundry day because after it is kneaded and placed in a bowl to rise, I put it under an overturned laundry basket atop my dryer, covered with a bath sheet towel or a small blanket. Easy-peasy-no-fail way to raise the dough.

Buttermillk Honey Bread is perfect for sandwiches. This bread also make tasty toast ;-) You can also change the flavor of this bread by using different flavored honeys.

BUTTERMILK HONEY BREAD ~Makes 2 oval loaves

1 envelope dry Yeast or 1 cake fresh Yeast * ¾  c. lukewarm Water (105-degrees F to 115-degrees F) * 1 tsp. Honey * 5-1/4 to 6-1/4 c. unbleached Flour or Bread Flour * 1-1/2 c. lukewarm Buttermilk (95-degrees F) * 3 TBS. Honey * 2 TBS. unsalted Butter (1/4 stick), melted & cooled * 1 TBS Salt (I used Pink Himalayan)

Sprinkle dry yeast over warm water in small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon honey & stir to dissolve. If using cake yeast, crumble into small bowl; stir in lukewarm water and 1 teaspoon honey: let stand until foamy – about 10 minutes.

Combine 2 cups flour, buttermilk, 3 tablespoons honey, butter, and salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and beat until smooth – about 3 minutes. Mix in enough remaining flour half a cup at a time until dough is too stiff to mix. Knead on a floured surface until dough is smooth and satiny looking; kneading in more flour if sticky, about 10 minutes.

Grease a large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat entire surface. Cover bowl with plastic and let rise in a warm draft-free area until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.

Grease 2 baking sheets. Gently knead dough on a lightly floured surface until deflated. Cut dough in half. Knead each piece into a round and then pull 2 opposite sides under to form an oval shape. Place on prepared sheets, seam side down. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm draft-free area until doubled in shape – about 45 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375-degrees.

Bake loaves 45 minutes … or until brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottoms. Immediately transfer to racks to cool. Cool completely before slicing.

BEARD’S RAISIN-WHEAT BREAD Recipe

This bread, adapted from Beard on Bread by James Beard comes from my ‘Recipes I Have Known and Loved’ cookbook by Jane Brody. It is delicious, and the dough is easy to handle, while most whole wheat bread doughs are sticky. If you would rather not use alcohol, just soak the raisins in warm water or apple juice.

                                                                                  

I have tweaked the original instructions and added a few personal hints to make the making if the dough process flow easier, but aside from those small tweaks, the basic ingredients and baking instructions are the same.

Cooked in a new oven … obviously the top got a little too browned and I need to cover with foil a little sooner. Live and learn ;-) 

BEARD’S RAISIN-WHEAT BREAD ~ 2 loaves

1/3 cup Raisins * Brandy or Sherry for soaking raisins * 1-1/2 cups warm Water (105 degree to 115 degrees), divided per instructions below * 2 packages active dry Yeast * 2 Tablespoons granulated Sugar * 4 cups Whole Wheat Flour, preferably stone-ground * 1-3/4 to 2 cups White Flour * 2 teaspoons Salt, if desired * 3/4 cup skim or low-fat Milk * 1/2 cup Honey * 2 Tablespoons melted Butter (or margarine or oil)

Assemble ingredients. Place the raisins in a small bowl, add the brandy or sherry just to cover, and soak the raisins until they are soft and swell. Combine the whole-wheat flour, 1-1/2 cups of the white flour, and the salt.

Place 1/2 cup warm water in large bowl, add the yeast and sugar; stir to dissolve, and let the mixture stand until it is bubbly – about 5 minutes.

Combine the remaining 1 cup of water, milk, honey, and butter. Make a well in the flour mixture, add the milk mixture; blending the ingredients well. Add more white flour if necessary to make a manageable dough.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface; drain the soaked raisins and add to the dough, and knead it for about 10 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough to grease the top:

Cover the bowl and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place (either in an oven with just the pilot light on … or under a towel-draped basket on top of the clothes dryer while doing laundry) until it has doubled – about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Rising in the oven with pilot light

Rising on clothes dryer

Risen and ready to shape into loaves

 

Punch the dough down, turn it out, and divide it into 2 pieces, shaping dough into 2 loaves. Place the loaves in greased 9x5x3-inch bread pans, cover, and let rise again until they have doubled in bulk – about 45 minutes.

Bake the loaves in a preheated 425-degree oven for 10 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350-degrees and bake another 30 minutes or so … until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Cool on wire rack. When cold, slice and bag. Because there is just me now since my husband has graduated to our home in glory, and I don’t want the bulk of my kitchen work to spoil, I half each loaf; wrap those halves in foil, and freeze 3 halves … keeping one half in the bread drawer and thawing the others as I want them.