Simple Honey Wheat Bread

Sorry to post another bread recipe so soon, but I am in love with this recipe. I can't help but agree with the 353 reviewers on allrecipes.com who gave this recipe 5 stars. It's fabulous!

Beware: This makes a lot of bread. Three loafs, to be exact. My kitchen aid mixer was full to the brim with dough, but it all worked out in the end. My friend Amber and I had a bread-baking day, and we each went home with one BIG loaf and a mini loaf, thanks to my cute mini loaf pans.

This bread's texture is fantastic—moist and tender—and the hint of sweetness is exactly what I look for in a homemade wheat bread. And don't forget to try it as toast!

3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast (equal to two 2-oz. packages)
2/3 cup honey, divided into two
5 cups bread flour
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 Tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 3 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead in additional wheat flour (1/2 cup to 1 cup) until the dough just pulls away from the counter, but is still sticky to the touch. Place in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

• If you're mixing in an electric mixer, you can skip adding the flour by kneading on a floured surface and instead add the flour directly to the bowl as the mixer does the mixing. The point of this step, by the way, isn't kneading; it's incorporating the remaining flour. Just make sure the dough pulls together.
  

3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Remove from pan to cool loaves on a wire rack. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard.

If you're timid when it comes to making bread, read this fabulous tutorial on breadmaking: "For Beaming, Bewitching Breads."

Enjoy the bread and be proud of your domesticity!