TWD: Whole Wheat Loaves

I have a few friends who bake ALL their bread from scratch, every week.  Amazing, eh?  Well, with a recipe this simple, I have vowed to bake bread for my family way more frequently.

The recipe for this week of Tuesday With Dorie is Whole Wheat Loaves.  Our hosts are Michele of Veggie Num Nums and Teresa of The Family That Bakes Together.  Please go visit their lovely blogs!  You'll find the recipe there.


The recipe for Whole Wheat Loaves began with a dough of whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, yeast, honey, salt, and water.  It called for malt extract, but my pantry lacks that ingredient, so I omitted it.   With the help of my awesome Kitchenaid, the dough was kneaded for 10 minutes.

The dough was placed in a greased bowl and covered in plastic wrap for an hour or two of rising. 

Before:



After:

Then the dough was punched down and divided in two and flattened by hand into a rough rectangle.

For one of my loaves, I topped the dough with cheddar, parmesan, garlic and herbs, then rolled it up.  (It was a perfect accompaniment to our pasta fagioli soup last night!)

The dough was placed in buttered loaf pans, and then covered with plastic wrap for the second rise.

After the second rise, the dough was plump and ready for some time in a hot oven.

Look at the gorgeous color of the loaves after baking!

The texture of this bread is soft yet slightly chewy, and it is so delicious.  There's a hint of sweetness from the wheat and honey. 

We gobbled up the cheesy loaf last night (no picture---sorry!!) and this morning we enjoyed a slice with butter and jelly.   This recipe is surely a keeper!!!