Whole Wheat Bread

One of my favorite things to make is whole wheat bread! Not because I love the hours of work it takes me to get the final result, but because of the end results. Here are my top reasons for spending the time to bake my own bread:
1. It is a super yummy recipe that I got from my friend, Laura. Although it is whole wheat, it turns out light and fluffy, similar to white bread.
2. The joyful smell of it baking. Could life get any better when my house smells like that?
3. The nutrition it adds to my family's diet.
4. For the memories it builds for my children. In this day and age, very few people actually make bread, and those that do, rarely do it outside of a bread machine. I am sure that my children are probably the only kids in the school district that come to school with sandwhiches made from home made bread.
6. My family loves the bread. (and fankley; anything that my family will willingly eat and want more of, that is healthy, well it's for me.)

So, any of you the would like to endevor on the path to homemade wheat bread, here is a great recipe for you to try:
3 3/4 cups water (warm)
1 cup oil
1 cup honey
8 cups whole wheat flour
Mix together and let set for 1 hour or as long as overnight.

Add :
1 cup hot water & 4 T yeast (if you add a drop of honey, this will help speed up the yeast proffing process. Let set for 10 min to soak in and for yeast to double in size)
4-6 cups whole wheat flour (depending on how moist your dough is. You don't want it to be too sticky when you go to roll it out or punch it down. My wheat tends to take the full 6 cups)
1 T egg substitute
4 tsp salt

Knead dough about 8-10 min. Let rise till doubled (approximately 30, but my first rise usually takes more like 40 or more. To help the rising process, I let my dough rise in the oven and add a pan of boiling water to the bottom of the oven to allow the steam to heat the oven slightly and to add the humidity it takes for the dough to rise better.)

Punch dough down and repeat the process letting dough double once again.(30 min. I also add a fresh pan of boiling water)

Punch down again and separtate into five loaves. Let the loaves rise one last time. (anywhere from 10 -30 min. depending on how heavy the dough is)

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 min.

A thumbs up to Laura who gave me this recipe. It is a family favorite and our family is healthier because of it! I hope you will enjoy the smell of bread in the oven, soon!