Honey Half-Whole Wheat Bread

I have been searching out a lighter Wheat bread recipe the past couple of weeks. Here is the best one so far. I started with the basic recipe from Tammys Recipes and modified it to mix it with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Time: About 2 hours from start to finish

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients: 

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (plus 1/4 c. extra - see note)

Instructions: 

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add yeast, stir to dissolve.

3. Add flour, one cup at a time and mix low until it is incorporated. Mix on level 2 until dough clings to hook and cleans bowl. (Or knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes if you do not have a mixer.)

Note: If it is still fairly sticky, too sticky to form a ball, add an extra 1/4 of flour to the mixer to help make a ball of dough. I have needed to do this this summer.

 4. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40-60 minutes.

5. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf by patting. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, place foil on top.

7. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

Yogurt Honey Muffins

*I discovered this recipe as an attempt to use up extra yogurt I had.

4 tbsp. butter
5 tbsp. thin honey
1 cup plain yogurt
1 large egg
grated rind of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a saucepan, melt butter and hone. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, lemon rind and juice. Add butter and honey mixture.
4. In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
5. Fold dry into yogurt mixture just to blend. Add to muffin cups.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp.

You can also add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, folded in with the flour.

Wheat Germ Muffins

This is for Olivia. I love these even more than the old Bran Cereal Muffins. (I can post that one, too, if anyone is interested.)

The recipe is from an old, well used copy of the First Baptist Church Centennial Cookbook from Oxford, Kansas. A wonderful old cookbook with typewriter(bc-before computers!) written recipes by the individual contributors in their own hand. It was a gift in the '70s from Vernie May Spray, the dear grandmother of a dear friend. (How can you NOT love a wonderful grandmother named Vernie May Spray?)

1 c wheat germ
1 c flour
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 c sugar (I think I have cut this down to 1/4 c)
1 c milk
1 egg
3 tsp baking powder
little salt (1/4-1/2 tsp)

Mix everything together except put in the egg last. 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Makes 16 muffins.

Julie's Grilled Bread/Pizza

This is actually a pizza crust recipe that I threw on the grill one day and... yum!

1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 c. warm water (105-115)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2-3 1/2 c. flour
 1 Tablespoon cornmeal
Toppings - sauce, cheese, etc for pizza
                  OR garlic salt and parmesan for bread sticks
Extra olive oil

Directions for using a stand mixer to make dough... much easier than by hand!
Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add sat olive oil, and 2 1/2 c. flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 c at a time, and mix about 2 minutes, or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.

Place doung in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down.

To Grill: Pre-heat grill on High.  Divide dough into 3 portions. Roll out each, not too thin, to about 12 inches by 10 inches. Sprinkle with cornmeal to help it not to stick to grill and place on cookie sheets to transport it outside. Take out with you the olive oil, a grill brush, grill tongs and your choice of toppings. BE SURE NOT TO SET DOUGH SHEET TOO NEAR THE HEAT WHILE WAITING TO BE COOKED. (Makes it almost impossible to get it on the grill in one piece.)

   Turn one burner down to Low and leave one burner on High. (See Fine Cooking for a great demo video for how to cook pizza on the grill.) Brush the first piece of dough with olive oil on one side and put the oiled side down on the High burner. Let sit 2-3 minutes, or until nice grill marks appear on oiled side (kind of need to babysit). Remove from grill to cookie sheet. Brush other side with oil and flip over still on cookie sheet. Add toppings to already cooked side (may need to brush with more oil to get the garlic salt and parmesan to stick for bread sticks). Move topped bread onto Low burner and finish cooking for 2-3 minutes, or until nice grill marks on the bottom. Rotate each dough piece through this process until done (a new one on High burner, while one is on the Low finishing). I cut bread into sticks to serve.

To bake Pizza in oven: Sprinkle cookie sheet with cornmeal. Roll out dough into one large pizza. Add toppings as desired. Bake at 450 for 15 to 20 minutes.

French Boule Bread

Since I have recently been dubbed the "official bread maker" of the family, I thought I would share this bread recipe that has been well loved by our family and friends. My grandmother made this bread a few years ago while at our house and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. So, of course, we needed the recipe....

(My family usually doubles this recipe, and so the amount ends up being about 4 loaves)

3 cups of lukewarm water (105 - 115 degrees)

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

6 1/2 cups flour

Mix the yeast with the lukewarm water in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. When mixing the dough, keep it as wet as you can handle. Mix into a semi-rounded ball. My family has found that this bread tastes better if it sits in the refrigerator for a while before baking. But either way, when the dough is mixed form it into loaves, sprinkle the tops with salt, and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes to rise. The bread needs to be baked at 450 for 30 minutes. We bake our bread on circular pizza stones because we found that it turned out better, but the stones are not necessary. Put a shallow pan in the bottom of the oven to heat. After the bread is in the oven ready to bake, put a couple of cups of hot water into the heated pan. It will sizzle, and a cloud of steam will be produced. This will help give the bread a crusty outer. My family has found this extra step to be worth it:)

Enjoy:)

~Olivia G.

Emily's Whole Wheat Bread (Bread Machine)

Place these in your bread machine in the order recommended for your machine.

1 1/2 cups water
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 Tablespoon salt
4 cups whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat)
1 1/2 Tablespoon gluten
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Bake on regular setting.