Whole Wheat Bread

A few months ago my visiting teacher Shauna Essig brought me the most delicious loaf of whole wheat bread ever. My dad wanted to eat the whole loaf!! So, one morning I had my mom watch Ryan so I could go over to her house and have her teach me how to make it. It was so fun!! We ground the wheat(white wheat tastes the best to me) which I had never done before. My mom as always told me she has TONS of wheat and a wheat grinder, but I really never knew what that meant. Sounds stupid, I know. Anyway, it's been so fun to make and it tastes so good.

P.S. I love my mom's Bosch mixer- it's awesome for making bread.

"Foolpoof" Whole Wheat Bread

2 Tablespoons dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

5 cups hot tap water

2 Tablespoons salt

2/3 cup oil(extra virgin olive oil is what I use or canola)

2/3 cup honey

11 cups whole wheat flour

Step 1: Sprinkle yeast into 1/2 cups warm water. Let stand 10-15 minutes. (1 Tbl sugar in yeast will help it work faster)

Step 2: Combine hot tap water and 6 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour. Mix on low speed until blended.

Step 3: Add salt, oil, and honey. Continue to mix until well blended. Add 1 cup flour to mixture. Add prepared yeast to mixture and blend thoroughly.

Step 4: Add 4 cups more flour to mixture. Knead for 10 minutes on low spread-or until dough begins to clean the sides of bowl and is the consistency of cookie dough.

Step 5: Oil hands. Remove dough from mixer 1/4 at a time. Mold into loaves on oiled counter. Place in oiled pans. (I crisco my hands instead of putting it on the counter and just eyeball the 1/4. I also crisco the pans.) Cover loaves with damp cloth. Let rise 1/3 bulk for approximately 35 minutes.

Step 6: Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. (I place a pan of water in the bottom of the oven to make for a soft crust.) Remove from pans. Put on rack to cook. Brush tops with butter.