Honey Whole-Wheat Bread

I finally tried my hand at making bread. Let's face it, it's just way cheaper than buying it in the stores, plus there's no preservatives. I was surprised how easy it was too. I got the recipe from my favorite baking cookbook, the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking.


Here's what you need:

• 2 packages (5 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 2 cups whole milk, heated to warm
• 1/4 cup mild honey
• 2 large eggs
• 6 cups of whole-wheat flour plus extra for kneading and topping
• 2 teaspoons of sea salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

What to do:

• In the bowl of your stand mixed dissolve the yeast in your warm milk and let stand until foamy (5 minutes)
• Using a wire whisk stir in honey and eggs
• Add flour, salt and butter
• Place the dough hook on your mixer and knead on low speed
• Add more flour as needed for the dough to come away from the sides of the bowl
• Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (5-7 minutes).
• Remove dough from bowl
• Form dough into a ball and transfer into a lightly oiled bowl
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft free spot until it doubles (about 1 1/2-2 hours)
• Butter 2 9x5 inch loaf pans
• Punch down the dough and transfer to a clean work surface
• Cut it in half and for each half evenly flatten the dough with the heel of your hand
• Roll the bottom third up onto itself and seal it by pushing it gently with the heel of your hand
• Continue rolling and sealing the dough until you have an oval log
• Place the log seam side down in the loaf pans
• Press on them to flatten them evenly into the pans
• Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let the loaves rise in a warm, draft free spot until they double (45-60 minutes)
• Position oven rack to the middle and preheat to 375 degrees
• Dust the tops of the loaves with the flour
• Bake until they are honey brown and sound hollow when tapped (35-40 minutes)
• Remove loaves from pans and let completely cool before slicing.

Something important to keep in mind is that this bread will not last as long as store bought bread since there are no preservatives. Don't worry though, this bread is so yummy it won't last that long!

Hope you enjoy!