Whole Honey Wheat Bread
(from fearama’s recipe box)
Prep time: 180 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Serves 2 people
Categories: Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 cup honey
- 5 tablespoons light olive oil
- 6 2/3 cups whole wheat flour, I used freshly ground hard white wheat
Directions
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Dissolve yeast in warm water.
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In a large bowl, combine butter, molasses, honey and salt and mix well.
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Add yeast mixture and then gradually add flours.
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Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth.
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Place in buttered bowl and let rise until double.
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Punch down and let rest for a few minutes.
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Day One: Mix all ingredients except the flour in a large bowl or a lidded (not airtight) storage container. I use a plastic shoebox size container with a lid that simply clicks on and off. If you do not have a lid that is NOT airtight, you can drill or cut a small hole in the lid and vent it that way.
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Next, add in the flour and stir until combined. Let this rest on the counter, covered, in the non-airtight container, for approximately 2-3 hours. The dough should rise and then collapse (flatten on top). Store this dough in the refrigerator for 2-5 days.
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On Baking Day: Lightly flour a baking sheet or pizza stone and set aside. Wet your hands first and then remove a 1/3 portion of your dough. It will be very sticky and wetting your hands makes it much easier to handle. Keeping your hands wet, quickly shape the dough into a ball and stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotate the ball as you go around it shaping the dough.
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Place the dough (folded ends tucked underneath) on a pizza peel (or directly on your baking sheet if you do not have one). Allow it to rise for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Flour the top of the loaf and slash, using the tip of a serrated knife.
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Twenty minutes before it’s time to make the bread, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place an empty broiler tray on the lowest shelf of the oven. I keep a baking pan in the oven that I use just for this purpose. If your dough is rising on a pizza peel, put the stoneware in the oven now to heat.
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Transfer your dough from the peel to the stone that is now hot in the oven. If your bread is rising on a baking sheet already, simply place the baking sheet in the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray (or pan) in the bottom of the water. Quickly close the oven door. This is essential for breads with a cracked crust. The steam from the water creates the lovely crust.
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Bake for 50-60 minutes or until deeply browned and firm. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.