Cape Cod faced an historic winter storm this week. As I was leaving work at Paraclete Press on Monday night, one of my customers emailed me and said, “Sister, don’t forget to stop and get your bread and water on the way home! Be safe in the storm!” I chuckled to myself because, little did she know, we were planning to bake fresh bread that night!
The recipe here has become one of our staples for the Convent. It’s a lovely light whole wheat bread that we have been making for years. Shortly after it comes out of the oven, I always expect to see one of the Sisters sheepishly cutting a heel off one of the loaves and slathering it with butter and honey. I imagine you might too!
SERVINGS4loavesCHANGE SERVING SIZEloaves |
COOK TIME30-40mins |
PREP TIME15mins |
READY IN1.5hrs |
Ingredients
- 6 cups water very warm, (105 to 115 degrees F)
- 1 3/4 oz yeast active, dry
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3/4 cup oil
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 3 cups flour white
- 7 cups flour whole wheat
Instructions
- Pour water into a large mixing bowl equipped with a dough hook, sprinkle yeast over and add sugar. Wait at least 5 min until bubbles form on the surface and the yeast is active.
- Add the honey and the oil and mix well on low speed.
- Add the white flour and salt and continue mixing
- Add the whole wheat flour, a cup at a time, just until it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. You may not need all the flour listed here, or you may need more depending on the humidity of the day.
- Dough will be barely sticky when it is ready - press your finger into it and see if it springs back
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Knead the dough, shape into an oblong loaf and place in well-greased bread pans.
- Let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 15 min. or until the dough is about 1 ½ to 2 inches above the pans.
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 min. The bread should pull away from the sides of the pan and sound hollow when you tap on it.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool … or slice and slather with fresh butter and jam!
Chilly days here in Vermont’s North East Kingdom….
Been looking for a bread recipe and now it seems I have found
one….thank you SO much…Sisters!
In the instructions it says to add white flour, I don’t see any white flour listed in the ingredients, only wheat. How much should there be? I love how this can be changed to 1+ loaves! Thank you.
Hi Joan,
Please ‘refresh’ your screen and you will see the white flour in the ingredients. We are so happy you are using this recipe – it can easily be multiplied to make several batches at a time! The Sisters usually make anywhere between 16-24 loaves with this recipe. Blessed Holy Week!
Sounds delicious but how much white flour do you use?
Blessings to you all.
Hi All – we are sorry, but the first instructions left out adding the white flour in step 3. Please try “refreshing” your screen and your recipe should update. 3 cups of white flour get added once your yeast is active. This recipe can easily be double, tripled or quadrupled!! Enjoy! The Gourmet Nuns