Whole Wheat Bread

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Oven Temperature: 375° Bake Time: 45 to 50 minutes
Three Large Loaf Pans

1 cup very warm water
¼ cup honey
4 tbs yeast

Mix honey, water and yeast together and set aside until it has double in volume.

2 cups evaporated milk
2 cups of hot water
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup honey
2 tbs salt
7 cups of whole wheat flour

Mix the above together in a heavy duty mixer with kneading hook or by hand. Add yeast mixture. Add 3 more cups of whole wheat flour or until the dough can be handled by hand.

Knead briskly on heavily floured surface and banging dough a few times. ( I use all purpose flour for this step. It makes for a lighter bread. If you want even a lighter bread you can use all purpose or bread flour for part of the whole wheat flour in the step before this one).

Divide dough in half and form into balls. Place in two greased bowls... turning to coat tops. Cover bowl with tea towels and let rise in a warm place until double (about an hour).

Punch dough down and form into 3 loaves. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Bake in oven for about ten minutes or until lightly browned and then cover loaf tops with foil to prevent burning. Oven's vary so you may need to check at 40 minutes to make sure the loaves aren't burning.

A member of the church we went to while we were stationed at Ft. Sill Oklahoma showed me how to make this whole wheat bread. I wish I could remember her name, but it is just too far back to remember to the mid 1970s.

This bread is not small nor light. It is a heavy (each loaf probably weighs in at 2 or more pounds) whole wheat delight to go with any meal.... especially when sliced thick, warmed and slathered with butter or your favorite buttery spread. We grind our own wheat, but store-bought whole wheat flour works. Dough Enhancer can be used to make a lighter bread texture and the bread is suppose to have a longer shelf life. I like heavy bread, so doubt I will ever try a dough enhancer.

For more pictures and hints on making this bread see the post Making Whole Wheat Bread.