honey wheat bread and fresh churned butter

honey wheat bread

2 pkgs. active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

1/3 cup honey (ours came from a local beekeeper! thanks, chris!)

1 T salt

1/4 cup shortening (i use butter)

1 3/4 cup warm water
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all-purpose flour (up to 4 cups)

in a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. stir in honey, salt, shortening, 1 3/4 warm water, and the wheat flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the all purpose flour to make the dough easy to handle.

turn dough onto lightly floured surface. knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. place in a greased bowl and turn once. cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

punch dough down; divide in half. roll into loaves., place seam sides down in 2 greased loaf pans. brush lightly with butter. cover and let rise another hour.

heat oven to 375*. bake until loaves are golden and sound golden when tapped, about 30 - 40 minutes. remove from the pans immediately and cool on a wire rack.

kneading the dough

didn't it rise beautifully?!

B with her fresh loaves of bread and homemade butter. she did such a great job! (i realize she needs a comb run through her hair, but i like to think that the real laura ingalls was not worried about combing her hair either!)

everyday gift: fresh bread baked by a little prairie girl