{Whole Wheat Bread}

There really is nothing like homemade bread…I need to make a bunch of this and just freeze it because it is really good! This would make perfect sandwich bread, and also tastes amazing with butter and jam.

2 1/3 cups warm water

1 ½ Tbs active dry yeast

¼ cup honey

4 Tbs butter, melted

2 ½ tsp. salt

½ cup toasted wheat germ

3 cups whole-wheat flour

2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the water, yeast, and honey, let sit for about 10 minutes, add in the butter and salt with a rubber spatula. Mix in the wheat germ, and 1 cup of each of the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours.

Add the remaining whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, attach the dough hook and knead at low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead just long enough to make sure that the dough is soft and smooth, about 30 seconds.

Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375°. Gently press down the dough and divide it into two equal pieces. Gently press each piece into a rectangle. With a long side of the dough facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing down to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place each cylinder of dough into a greased loaf pan, seam-side down, pressing the dough gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover the shaped dough; let rise until almost doubled in volume, 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake for about 35 minutes. Transfer the bread immediately from the baking pans to a wire rack; cool to room temperature.