A pretty easy recipe that tastes wonderful.
This is fairly easy if you are used to making your own bread. I’ve combined several recipes for my own take on this.
This makes two loaves.
Ingredients:
The wet:
2 1/4 Cups water, warm ~110 degrees
1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil
The dry:
2 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups bread flour Updated This works much better than AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons toasted wheat germ – I toast it in a small skillet. Be careful to not burn it!
Combine the water and the yeast in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes to “bloom” the yeast.
Open one beer and have couple of drinks.
Add the honey and mix well. Add the vegetable oil.
Mix the dry and add to the wet stuff and mix well.
Put the mixture into your mixer with the dough hook and let it knead on low speed for about ten minutes.
Or, turn it onto a floured board and knead it for 15 to 20 minutes. Sip your beer as kneaded. (Nyuk nyuk nyuk)
It is done when you can stretch out a piece and see through it; this is known as the windowpane test.
When I use the dough hook, I usually need to knead it by hand for another 5 minutes or so.
Roll the dough into a ball and put it into a lightly oiled bowl; turn it over and around to coat the ball and cover it with a clean dishtowel. Let it sit in a warm spot until it doubles in size, 45 minutes to an hour. Have another beer.
Dump the dough back onto your board, punch it down, and cut it in half. Put each half into a well greased pan and let them rise until they’re and inch or so over the top of the pan, usually another 45 minutes or so. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Bake for 20-30 minutes; the internal temperature should be 195 – 205 degrees.
Turn the loaves out of the pan immediately and let cool for a couple of hours.
I usually bag and freeze one of them. Deeeelicious!