Hearth Style Whole Wheat Bread

By mitzzy

Whole wheat goodness - just the thing in a big, flavorful country bread. This is a great slicing and toast bread and as good on day three as it is just out of the oven.

We use organic AND regular whole wheat flour - a nice stone-ground organic and a supermarket whole wheat. If you do not want want to use sweetener, omit the molasses and honey and reduce the salt by 1/2 teaspoon.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups organic whole wheat bread flour
• 2-3 cups regular whole wheat bread flour

Preparation

Step 1

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yeast and water together and let stand a few minutes. Stir in the honey and molasses. Add most of the flour to make a thick batter. In a maxier, attach the dough hook and knead on slow speed for 5 to 8 minutes, adding more whole wheat flour as required to make a soft, elastic, bouncy dough. Insert bowl in a large plastic bag and let dough rise until almost doubled (30 - 45 minutes).

Gently deflate the dough and shape into two free-form loaves or place portions in two 8 by 4 1/2-inch greased loaf pans. Place these on a baking sheet and insert sheet into a large plastic bag. Let rise again until quite puffy and almost doubled, (30-45 minutes).

Bake in a 350 F. oven for 25-35 minutes until nicely browned and firm to the touch.

Unmold and cool well.