Whole Wheat and Honey Bread

(Sorry for the yellow photo - lighting problems!!)

If there is a nice stage of illness, this is it. William is feeling almost back to normal, but we are still house-bound so as not to share any lingering germs with others. We are forced, every once in a while, to slow down a it, and to enjoy our home and all of the people and things that it contains. It is a great chance to limit our focus to what is around us, and of course to do things like baking bread. I love baking bread but admit that I don't do it too often. The process does not take very much work, but the different steps and stages do take up some time. It is not the kind of thing that you can whip up in a half hour before going out for the day.

This is one of my favourite bread recipes. It is full of honey, and with a nice mix of whole wheat and white flour that the whole family likes.

Whole Wheat and Honey Bread
3 cups warm water
3 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cups honey (divided)
5 cups bread flour (I used all-purpose today and it still turned out fine)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp salt
approx. 4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups of white flour and stir to combine. Let stand for 30 minutes or until big and bubbly. Mix in 3 tbsp melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in an additional 2 cups of whole wheat flour (or more if you need to in order to get the right consistency). Place in a lightly greased bowl and turn the dough once so that all sides are lightly coated. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, divide into 3 loaves, and place each loaf into a 9 x 5 bread pan. Allow to rise until the dough has topped the pans by about 1 inch. Bake at 350 for approx. 25 minutes. Lightly brush tops with the rest of the melted butter so that they won't get too hard.