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Learning how to make 100% whole wheat bread, especially when living at 9,000 feet, has not been easy. I’ve tried everything from adding vital wheat gluten to orange juice to adding potato flakes but I’d have to say nothing has come so close to perfection as the loaves I made from this very simple recipe.
Honey Whole-Wheat Bread
2 pkg yeast
2 c. milk (heated 105 – 115 degrees F)
1/4 c. honey
2 large eggs
6 c. whole wheat flour (freshly ground if possible)
2 t. sea salt
6 T butter, softened
Dissolve yeast in milk and let sit for 5 minutes. Combine milk mixture, honey, and eggs in stand mixer. Add flour, salt, and butter and mix using a dough hook until dough begins to come together. Place on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5 to 7 minutes. Use only enough flour on surface to prevent dough from sticking. I like to have a spay bottle with water handy to keep the dough moist as I knead. Place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, put in a warm place, and let rise until double in bulk. This usually takes less than an hour at 9,000 ft.
When the dough has doubled, divide in two. Shape, and place in greased loaf pans. Allow to rise covered again to double while oven is preheating to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until crust is browned and a thump on the top of the loaf makes a hollow sound. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove from pans and brush tops with melted butter.
An interesting note is that when I made the loaves of bread featured in the photos, I realized after the fact that I had left all of the butter out of the recipe. The loaves still rose considerably further than other recipes had done. I made two new loaves the following weekend and this time did put in the butter and the loaves rose considerably higher than the time before.
I was recently waiting for a flight at an airport where CNN was being broadcast on a television in the seating area for all to see. I am usually pretty annoyed at perpetual involuntary exposure to audial and visual stimuli but after watching for a couple of minutes I instead nearly felt compelled to stand up on one of the benches and shout out to the concourse world that everyone needed to partake of the news report at hand.
I’ve really enjoyed spending the past couple of years discovering the variety of foods that are grown and raised locally to the Buena Vista area. The higher the percentage of a meal that incorporates local foods seems to add tremendously to the level of satisfaction both in creating and consuming it. In addition to that, actually having met or even befriending the farmer who raised the food makes it that much more real.
Yesterday, my husband and I cooked a meal where almost all of the ingredients came from within a 90 mile range of Buena Vista. Here is what we had:
- Hashbrowns made from potatoes which came from White Mountain Farm in Mosca – San Luis Valley (available at the Mosca Pit Stop gas station on the west side of Highway 17. They are also one of the only organic Quinoa growers in North America)
- Eggs from Weathervane Farm in Buena Vista (available at Guidestone Farm co-op)
- Pork sausage, also from Weathervane Farm
- Biscuits made from home ground white spring wheat berries from Gosar Ranch in the San Luis Valley (look for their organic flour in grocery stores in the San Luis Valley)
