Today I decided to make some bread, rather than brave the elements, so I turned to a quick recipe that has become a favorite of mine. It's an easy one hour bread recipe that I've tweaked to include wheat flour. I love adding whole wheat flour to my bread recipes, because then I can tell myself I've eaten "healthy" when I down a whole loaf in 2 1/2 hours. {just kidding}
Simple One Hour Homemade Wheat Bread
Makes 1 to 2 loaves.
3 1/4 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. (rounded) instant yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. oil
2 cups warm water (about 100 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
1. Combine dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add oil and water and mix for one minute. (I use an electric mixer with a hook.) The dough should be very sticky. If it's too dry, add a little more warm water.
2. Knead with the hook in your electric mixer (or by hand) for about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Spray kneading surface with cooking spray and turn dough out onto surface. Knead dough briefly until it has a smooth even consistency. This will only take a few turns of the dough to accomplish.
4. This recipe makes one large loaf or two smaller loaves of bread. (I prefer to shape my dough into one large loaf and put it in a pan that is 12" long x 4.5" wide x 3" tall. If you have smaller pans, shape the dough into two loaves.) Shape into loaf and place into greased loaf pan. Lightly spray the top of the loaf with cooking spray. Cover with a large dish towel and let rise for 25 minutes.
5. While loaf is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan onto wire rack to cool. While the loaf is still warm run a tablespoon or two of butter over the top of the
loaf. The butter will melt as you're doing this and it will give the loaf a beautiful shiny glaze and add a yummy
buttery flavor to the crust.
I love this quick and easy bread recipe because it literally takes a little over an hour from start to finish. I'm going to use this loaf for BLTs that I'll make for dinner. Who doesn't love a good bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich? Here's a recipe that we've grown to love that's a little different than the regular BLT version.
***UPDATE: I just wanted to show you the beautiful texture of this yummy bread...
