My humming house, and a bread recipe

Don't you love it when your house is humming? It makes me feel so industrious, even if I'm not really. :) Today I had the dishwasher, dryer, and oven all going at the same time--well, the oven doesn't hum, but it does make the house smell good to have bread and granola baking in there!

At long last, I'm going to share my bread recipe. I keep forgetting to do so; sorry about that! Actually I must give full credit for this recipe to my sister-in-law Joanne! She told me the changes she had made to the original recipe to get it to turn out well, and now that's the way I always make it. The original recipe is from The New Best Recipe cookbook. This recipe works wonderfully with a stand mixer (I have a Kitchen Aid brand), but you can also knead it by hand. Here's the way I make it:

Wheat Bread

2 1/3 c. warm water (about 110º)
1 1/2 T. instant yeast
1/4 c. honey
4 T. unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 t. salt
3 c. whole wheat flour (I like the King Arthur brand)
3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey, butter, and salt with a rubber spatula. Mix in one cup each of the whole wheat and all-purpose flours.

2. Add the remaining whole wheat and all-purpose flours, attach the dough hook, and knead at low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead just long enough to make sure that the dough is soft and smooth, about 30 seconds.

3. Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl; cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour. (I like to boil some water in the microwave, then stick the dough in there to rise, but a using a warm oven after turning off the heat works well, too.)

4. After dough has risen, gently press it down and divide it into two equal pieces. Gently press each piece into a rectangle about 1 inch thick and no longer than 9 inches. With a long side of the dough facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing down to make sure that the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place each cylinder of dough seam-side down in a greased 9x5" loaf pan, pressing the dough gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, 20-30 minutes. I cover the pans with a length of lightly greased plastic wrap, and stick them in the microwave again. Joanne lets hers rise on the counter for about 15 minutes or so. You want the dough to have risen enough so it almost looks like it will after it's baked (height-wise). Mine seems to need a little more warmth than the counter-top, but do whatever works best for you. :)

5. Turn the oven on to 375º, then pop the pans in the oven. Bake for about 30-35 minutes (I usually bake mine for about 32). Transfer bread immediately from the baking pans to wire racks; cool to room temperature.

**A couple tricks that Joanne shared with me: Keep the yeast in the cupboard rather than the fridge, as it will rise better. I just took out a half-cup or so from my big bag, and keep that in an airtight container on the shelf, so the rest of the yeast stays fresh in the fridge. (I don't go through it fast enough to want to keep the whole bag on the shelf.) Also, you can try adding an egg or two to the dough if you can't get it to rise well. You will probably need to compensate with a little extra flour if you do this, though, to get the dough smooth and elastic.

***And here are the hand-kneaded directions: Follow the above recipe, mixing the water, yeast, honey, butter, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix 2 3/4 c. of the whole wheat flour and the all-purpose flour in a separate bowl, reserving the 1/4 c. of the whole wheat flour. Add 4 c. of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients; beat with a wooden spoon 5 minutes. Beat in another 1 1/2 c. of the flour mixture to make a thick dough. Turn the dough onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved flour. Knead, adding only as much of the remaining flour as necessary to form a soft, elastic dough, about 5 minutes. Continue with step 3 and following, as described above.



I hope some of you will get to try this, and will enjoy it as much as we do! :)