One-rise Honey Wheat Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon fast rising yeast
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 4 tablespoons margarine or 4 tablespoons butter, barely melted
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Recipe

• 1 grease a large loaf pan with butter, margarine, or shortening.
• 2 combine yeast, honey, warm water and melted butter/margarine in mixing bowl with a whisk. (if you grease your measuring cup for the honey, the honey will come out of it more easily).
• 3 stir the three types of flour into the honey/water/yeast mixture with a large spoon.
• 4 knead for ten minutes or until the dough feels soft and elastic. if you have a bread machine with a non-heated knead cycle - on mine it's the pasta dough cycle, you can let your bread machine do the kneading for you.
• 5 apply a little shortening/butter/oil to a large cutting board. after kneading, on the board, apply pressure to roll your dough into a smooth oblong bread shape a little shorter than the loaf pan. place in greased loaf pan. slit the top of the loaf down the middle with a sharp knife, not going quite all the way to the ends of the loaf.
• 6 preheat your oven just long enough to get it slightly warm (on mine this takes three minutes), then turn the oven off, and put the dough in for 40 minutes. after 40 minutes, leave the dough in the oven, turn the oven on, set to 375 f, and set the timer for another 40 minutes.
• 7 when the bread is done the top should be brown. leave the bread in the pan and allow it to cool on a cooling rack. i recommend allowing the bread to cool completely before removing it from the pan. also the loaf will set better and be less crumbly if you freeze it once before using it.
• 8 tips: an alternative to all purpose flour is king arthur whole wheat flour. and if you want a more whole grain taste/texture, experiment with adding some wheat germ or oatmeal to the recipe.