Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread

About three years ago, my friend Jenny Hardy taught me how to make bread. For reals. You know, the kind you feel good about feeding your kids? No preservative-filled, store-bought white trash. Plus, it's soft, smooth, and sweet. Nothing like what most people think of when they imagine whole wheat bread. I make a batch of bread at least once a week for my family. I can count on one hand the loaves of store-bought bread my family has eaten in the last three years. It's that good.

A little teaser:

Can you smell that goodness? Aaaaaaah.

Now to introduce you to the cast of characters:

Bosch mixer (a must - worth every penny); dough enhancer; vital wheat gluten (gluten flour);
freshly ground wheat (hard white wheat in my case); yeast; honey; canola oil; two eggs; salt;
small loaf pans (Norpro shown).
And yes, that's my creepy son peeking out behind the canola oil.
I didn't know he was there until I had the picture downloaded and on the computer. Sorry. 

To begin, put 4 cups of wheat flour in your mixer. Add 2 T. yeast and 2 T. dough enhancer. Add 1/3 c. gluten flour and mix a bit. (If you do use white flour for at least 1/3 of the flour in this recipe, you can leave out the gluten flour.)

Add 4 1/2 cups of warm water. Let yeast activate for a few minutes until it looks something like this foamy stuff:

Now add your two eggs, 2/3 cup of canola oil, and 2/3 cup of honey. (tip: use the same measuring cup for the honey and oil, but use it for the oil first. It'll allow the honey to slide right out with no sticky mess to clean up.)

Mix this together, and while it is mixing, add your 1 1/2 T. salt. (I think kosher salt makes a completely different flavor to the bread. Almost a sweet bread.)

Now add the rest of your flour (about 6-8 cups) slowly until the dough begins to clear the sides of the bowl. Keep it mixing/kneading on speed 1 or 2 for 10 minutes.

See how it's just beginning to clear the sides of the bowl? That's perfect.  Don't add more flour.
I promise it'll look better in a few minutes.

This is how it'll look about 4 minutes in.

This is how it'll look at the end of the 10 minutes.
Oh, the aroma!

While your mixer is doing all the hard work, preheat your oven to 175. This will help your bread rise quicker. I also use this time to put the ingredients away and psychologically tie the smell that is wafting to some quality mom time with my kids. I'm so evil.

Prep your loaf pans with cooking spray and set them out.
Put about 1/4 cup of canola oil right on your counter top. Spread it around and leave your hands oil-y. This will help you get the dough out of the mixer more easily.

Dump the dough onto your counter and divide it into the number of loaves you'll make (5 smaller loaves in my case).

 Shape into loaves and put them into your prepared pans. (Isn't that just pretty?)

Place all five loaves into your preheated oven, and then turn it off. Yes, off. Set your timer for 25 minutes. This will let your loaves rise in a warm oven.

Wait until they double in size (about 25 minutes).

Keep your bread in the oven. Set your oven to 350, and set your timer again, this time for 20 minutes. (My oven beeps to say it's heated to 350 about ten minutes into my new timer setting.)

Have a food thermometer ready at the end of your 20 minute baking time. Stick it into your largest loaf and wait until it reads 180-185 degrees. Watch closely. Pull loaves out when it reads 180 degrees.

 Wait about 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto a clean towel. Grab a good bread knife, and watch it disappear! Enjoy!

Want a printable recipe? Email me at kristiaskew@gmail.com

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

My friend Lindsay Stobbe sent me this recipe, and of course I don't remember the cook book it came out of, but oh my. It's divine. Our new favorite!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. lime juice (I used the juice from 3 limes)
1 T. chili powder (I only used about 1 t.)
1/2 t. garlic powder (ick. I used real garlic.)
1 1/2 lbs. chicken, cooked and shredded (To cook and shred my chicken, I put them in my Crock Pot and cooked on low with some chicken broth.)

Mix first 4 ingredients and marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes

2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce
1 c. half and half (but why not just use heavy whipping cream? Mmm. . . )
flour tortillas
colby jack cheese

Mix enchilada sauce with half and half. Put a bit in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Wrap tortillas with marinated chicken and some cheese. Roll and place seam side down in pan. Pour remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

I promise you'll love these.