delicious wheat bread

My friend Kelly recently shared a recipe for wheat bread that she makes. I made it for the first time two weeks ago and love it! It is officially my favorite wheat bread recipe, because it tastes wonderful and is very easy to make. It requires one quick kneading, rises in the oven, and then cooks directly after it is done with the first rise-you don't even have to wait for the oven to preheat! Kelly grinds her own wheat (how neat is that?!?! Maybe one day, folks...), and uses two different types of wheat. If you are using store bought flour, King Arthur's White Whole Wheat flour is a wonderful option because it's whole wheat but lighter in texture. Like I said, I was extremely happy with the results of this bread, and as I type this I'm making a double batch so I'll have 4 loaves-one for now, and three to freeze. This bread is so delicious!

Also, you can also make dinner rolls, pizza crust, and cinnamon rolls all with this dough. The only one you need to have more ingredients for is the cinnamon rolls. For the dinner rolls, just break the dough into pieces and put them next to each other in bread pans. For the pizza dough, divide it in half and roll it out.

Wheat bread
recipe originally from Sue Gregg
Makes 2 loaves

I N G R E D I E N T S :

6 c flour (If you mill your own flour, a good combination is to use even amounts of hard red wheat, hard white wheat, and soft white wheat...otherwise, King Arthur White Whole Wheat is a good store bought option).
2 1/4 c water (temp 110-115 degrees)
1/3 c oil
1/3 c honey
1 T yeast
2 tsp salt

D I R E C T I O N S :

If you have a good mixer and won't knead it by hand, combine the water, oil, honey, and salt into the mixer. Mix until well blended.

Next, add half of the flour. Mix until just blended.

Add the yeast, mix again until just blended.

Add remaining flour and mix until just blended. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Knead by machine for 6 minutes.

Put it into greased loaf pans (greasing with butter works best) and let it rise in a warm oven (I do 170 degrees), covered, for 45 minutes or so.

Remove covers. Turn oven up to 350, and bake for 25 minutes or so (until the bottom is golden brown).
The internal temperature should be 95-105 F.

To cool, loosen with a butter knife and place on cooling rack on their sides.

Use a pastry brush to brush a little butter over the tops for a nice soft crust.

If you are making pizza dough, simply follow the instructions up until letting it rise. Simply combine the ingredients, let it rest, knead it, and roll it out. It makes enough for 2 thick crust pizzas or 3 thinner crust pizzas. You can also freeze the dough balls (I wrap each one in saran wrap and then put them in a freezer ziploc bag) and let one thaw in the fridge the day you want to make it.
To bake the pizza, roll out the dough, add toppings, and bake for 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees.