Favorite Honey Wheat Bran Bread

I thought I would share one of my favorite bread recipes for those of you who bake bread at home.   This bread is my old stand-by and always tastes great, and makes good toast and sandwiches.   My husband recently bought me a sack of a very finely ground whole wheat flour that he bought at the Amish Store near here.   I must say that it made for a very nice loaf, and I will be buying more of their flour.

BASIC HONEY WHEAT BRAN BREAD

2 cups of warm liquid (I use half milk and half water)

1/4 cup honey

2 1/2 tsp salt

3 T butter 

1 cup wheat bran (like Miller's Bran)

1 or 2 cups of whole wheat flour (I usually use about a cup and a half)

unbleached bread flour (I usually use somewhere around 3 or 4 cups)

2 T. (or 2 pkgs) yeast 

1/2 cup warm water 

1/2 tsp sugar

In a large (microwaveable) bowl put the 2 c. warm liquid, honey, salt and butter.  Microwave for 3 minutes to scald the milk.  When the liquid is still hot, sprinkle in the bran and let it sit while you proof the yeast.   To proof the yeast:  sprinkle the yeast over the water in a small bowl, add the sugar, and cover the bowl with a cloth to proof until bubbly - takes about 5 minutes.  

     Then add the yeast mix to the milk mix, and start stirring in flour.  When it gets hard to mix in any more flour, turn out onto a floured board and knead in small amounts of additional flour until you have a springy, smooth dough.  I usually knead for about 8 minutes.   Try not to add any more flour than you have to.  Scrape the board often.  Then turn into a greased bowl, turn the dough over, and cover with wax paper and a cloth to rise until double.  When the dough has risen double, punch down and divide into two parts and form into loaves and place in two greased 9 x 5 pans.  Let rise again until almost double.   Bake for 38 minutes in a 400 degree oven, or until the loaves sound hollow when you thump them out of the pan. 

Note:  Sometimes I add about 1/2 cup of potato flakes (packaged, like in a bag) to the warm milk mix.  This makes for a great toasting bread, and the dough rises really high, so I make three 8 x 4 loaves then, instead of two 9 x 5's. 

Nothing better than fresh honey wheat bread!