How To Make Homemade Bread

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I love having easy recipes up my sleeve for when we run out of a traditionally store-bought item, like bread. My favorite homemade bread recipe is certainly not as quick as picking it up from the store, but is easy to make, delicious, and much healthier. This bread is great sliced for sandwiches (leftover turkey, anyone?), but I also use it for Overnight Peach French Toast and 10-minute Homemade Stuffing. Master this recipe, and you’ll have one more trick up your sleeve.

• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• Around 6 cups white whole wheat flour (see note below)

Step One: Combine water, yeast, salt & honey in a bowl. Add in 2 cups of the flour and mix. Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place for 45 minutes.

Step Two:  Add the oil and milk to the mix. Add more flour, a little at a time, until it gets to the consistency that will allow you to knead the bread.This takes about 2 1/2 cups of flour. Knead the dough for roughly ten minutes, until it feels smooth and pliant. Keep adding flour during the kneading process; you may add up to 1 extra cup of flour during this step.Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 1 hour.

Step Three:  After an hour, punch down and then let the dough rise for another hour.

Step Four:  Punch down dough and divide into 2 equal parts. Roll these into 2 shaped loaves. Place into 2 greased bread pans and let them rise for 30 – 45 minutes.   Bake at 375 for 35 – 40 minutes. Let bread cool in pans for about 5 minutes and then place on a cooling rack.

A note about White Whole Wheat Flour: I use white whole wheat flour because it contains all the benefits of 100% whole wheat with a milder taste that my family prefers. For this recipe, I usually use King Arthur Brand, because it’s the only white whole wheat flour I could find. However, Wegmans just started carrying store brand white whole wheat flour for $1.99. I’m planning on picking some up on my next trip.