Honey whole-wheat bread

For the ultimate whole-wheat sandwich bread, this loaf relies on 100 percent whole-grain flour and equal amounts of honey and butter to keep it soft.

Credit: Martha Bakes / Yossy Arefi

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) honey
• 1¾ cups warm water (about 43˚C / 110˚F)
• 1 envelope (10 g / ¼ oz / 2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 4½ cups freshly milled wholemeal (whole-wheat) bread flour, plus more for dusting
• 3 tsp coarse salt
• 42 g unsalted butter, melted, plus more for bowl and pan
  

Rising time: 45 minutes + 30-45 minutes.

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, stir honey into water, then sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In a bowl, stir together flour and salt, then stir in yeast mixture and melted butter just until a dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large, buttered bowl, drape with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot until dough doubles in bulk, about 45 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).. Butter a 23 cm x 13 cm (9 inch x -5 inch) loaf pan. Punch down dough. Shape into an 20cm (8 inch) square, about 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick. Fold in two opposite sides to meet in the middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Place dough seam side down in prepared pan. Sprinkle with flour. Drape with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot to ¾ inch above top of pan, 30 to 45 minutes.
4. Transfer pan to oven and immediately reduce heat to 180°C (350°F). Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until top is golden brown and bottom sounds hollow when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack 20 minutes, then turn out bread onto rack and let cool completely.

Note

Bread can be tightly wrapped and kept at room temperature up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.