Buttermilk Honey Wheat Bread

Here is my rambling story about making bread for the very first time. Enjoy.

I'm a little dubious about this. Making bread. A new experience. All kinds of things can go wrong.

8:00 p.m.

At this moment in time I'm worried that the dough will not rise. It's been an hour since I first kneaded the dough and it appears to have not changed in size. Maybe I should start again. The original recipe called for regular flour. I thought I'd spice things up with wheat flour. Maybe this changed the chemistry in the mixture too much. Humm. I think I'll need to do a little research into this whole bread making thing. I'd like to make French bread a la Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French cooking, but I need a pizza stone to bake it on. Time to check the dough again.

8:30 p.m.

Well I guess that the dough did rise. I'd just forgotten how big it was to begin with. I kneaded it a second time then placed it in the buttered pan. Time to rise for a second time after Alex decide to slash the top. I'm fairly sure that you do that after it rises, oh well.

9:30 p.m.

Miracle of miracles it rose again, not as much as I thought it would, but oh well. Into the oven it goes. Timer set for 30 minutes. Here we go, the final step. My mouth is watering in anticipation. I cannot wait to taste my newest creation.

10:00 p.m.

Warm bread out of the oven. Yum. Melt a little butter and some honey on the top. So good. I think I might eat the whole thing by myself.

Buttermilk Honey Bread
Adapted From
The Pioneer Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast


• 3 cups wheat flour


• 1½ teaspoons salt


• ½ teaspoon sugar


• 1½ tablespoons honey


• 1 tablespoon butter (soft)


• ¾ cup barely warm buttermilk


• 3 ounces warm water

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk and water.


• Then stir in the yeast until it is dissolved.


• Sprinkle the flour over the liquid.


• Make a well in the center of the flour and place the remaining ingredients in the well.


• With your hands, knead the mixture until it forms a dough.


• Cover it with a towel and let rise until it doubles in size (about 1 to 1½ hours).


• Lightly coat a bread pan with butter.


• Knead dough again, then form into a loaf.


• Place the dough into the prepared pan and cover with a towel.


• Let rise for 1 more hour.


• Then bake at 375ºF for 30 to35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and cooked throughout.