Whole Wheat Bread - Eggless

A very healthy and a simple bake.  Eggless  and  you can use any cooking oil and make this.

Makes two 9x5 loaves

Time taken: approx. 4 hrs in all

Ingredients

1 cup  warm  water
¼  cup  honey
2 tbsp  oil
2  ¾  cups  all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
2 ¾  cups  whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup  milk
1 tbsp salt

 Method

Pour the water into the bowl  and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let this stand for a few minutes until the yeast has dissolved. Stir in the milk, honey, and oil.

Add two cups of all-purpose flour and the salt, and stir to combine the ingredients. Add the rest of the all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Stir to form a loose dough. Rest the dough for  20 minutes.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes,  add extra flour a tablespoon at a time until it is no longer sticky. The dough should be  kneaded  smooth and springs back when poked.

Make the dough into a ball and turn it in the bowl to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot  to rise (approx  1 or 2 hours) depending on the level of heat in your  work area. This dough won't double quite  unlike the  other recipes, but the dough should look visibly puffed.

Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and turn the dough out on top. Divide the dough in two and shape each half into a loose ball. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes.

Grease two loaf pans, shape each ball of dough into a loaf. Let the loaves rise a second time  for 30-40 minutes.

Heat the oven to 425°F

Before putting this in the oven slash the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife. Turn down the heat to 375°F and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

Finished loaves will be golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove the loaves from the pans and let them cool completely before slicing.

Latha