Everyone’s suddenly busy baking bread! I went for more flour and the stores are seriously depleted. I couldn’t find white flour, so I bought whole wheat instead. Then the search for a recipe! This milk and honey whole wheat bread recipe is adapted from King Arthur flour.
For once, I didn’t have to reduce the amounts (since the original was for a single loaf – hooray!). However, it called for dry milk. I never have dry milk. And I expect that any in the stores is long gone. Plus, I’ve never liked the idea of buying a large package of something just to use a small quantity of it (1/4 C in this case) So, I had to figure out what to do instead. The answer turned out to be to replace some of the water in the original recipe with standard liquid milk.
It turned out soft, flavorful, and slightly nutty. I’m definitely going to make this more often. Adding milk softens the crust, and aids in browning. The honey adds extra moisture, so the bread turns out tender, even though it’s whole wheat.
I did say one loaf right? And you’ve undoubtedly noticed that the photo has two loaves of bread, not one. Turns out I realized mid-baking that my standard loaf pan was in the fridge with an apple quick bread in it. Oops. Luckily, I’d just gotten these mini-pans. So two mini-loaves it is.
If you have a standard pan, use that and make one loaf of bread. If you have the mini-pans, use those. Just cut the dough in half with a bench scraper, roll out each half, and shape it.
Milk and Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Notes
*Dough results will vary depending on the humidity where you are. If it’s dry, or if the dough is too hard, add a bit more water.
Ingredients
- 1/4 C milk
- 3/4 C to 7/8 C water*
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast, or 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tablespoons of the water in the recipe
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir it all around until forms a dough and sticks together.
- Cover the bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes to half an hour. This will make it easier to knead. Since this is entirely whole wheat, it is considerably denser than a white bread would be. Letting it sit helps it hydrate.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place it in your Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook attachment. Set the mixer to speed 2 and knead for 6 to 8 minutes. If the dough is too stiff, add a little of the extra water.
- Wipe out the bowl you used to make the dough. Grease it lightly (about a capful of oil should do it) and put the dough in the bowl. Cover and let rest for 1 to 2 hours. I put the dough in my oven to proof, since it was chilly. To do this, turn the oven on the lowest setting for a minute. Then place the covered bowl inside, along with a pan of very warm water. Shut the oven and let the dough rise.
- Flour a board or counter and roll out the ball of dough (it helps to flour your rolling pin too). Shape the dough into a rectangle. Then roll it up the long way (so you get a long, skinny roll), pinch the ends, and place in the bread pan.
- Repeat the oven procedure, cover the pan, and let it rise for another hour or so. It should clear the top of the pan by about an inch.
- If you used the oven to proof the bread, remove the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the bread back in the oven, and bake for 35-40 minutes. If your oven runs hot, you might want to put a foil tent over the pan halfway through.
Tools and Ingredients for this Recipe
Norpro Stainless Steel Bread Pan
This pan should have its own superhero comic. It’s not coated, but somehow the food comes right out and it’s a breeze to clean up. And looks brand-spanking new, despite being about six years old.
If you want to make mini breads (on purpose), try these half-size loaf pans. They’re nonstick, and clean up easily. And, by making two little breads, you can freeze one and save it for later. Much better for single person eating.
The perfect tool for cutting dough in half (especially dense whole-wheat dough). Much easier than trying to use a knife (which just sticks and doesn’t cut through very well). You can also use it for measuring equal parts of challah or cutting pastry (there’s a ruler right on the side). Great for scooping up cut veggies and transferring them to a pot too.
Saf Instant Yeast, 1 Pound Pouch
I love this stuff. I don’t have to keep running to the store for yeast, and it’s a lot less expensive per bread than the little packages. Not to mention, some of those packets have cornstarch in them!? What? Works faster than the packages too.
J.K. Adams FRP-1 Maple French Rolling Pin
When I first started baking bread, I was using a carved rolling pin my grandma gave me. It was quite pretty too. But it was also small, and the carving was really hard to clean. This is much better. It’s longer, easier to hold (and oddly, I find it easier to work with than the models with handles) and even fits perfectly in my kitchen cart.
More Kitchenaid Bread Recipes
Single Loaf Easy White Bread Recipe
A basic, simple bread that you don’t have to shape. This only requires five ingredients to make.
Kitchenaid Potato Bread Recipe
Great for sandwiches, or toast, or just smeared with butter. Putting potatoes in the dough increases the starch, which then boosts the moisture. You end up with soft, tender bread that is also easier to form into a loaf.
One Loaf Kitchenaid Sandwich White Bread
Just think of how good this will smell wafting through your kitchen. Baking milk and butter right into the bread yields a soft, flavorful loaf that’s richer in flavor. It browns better too.
The beaters on a Kitchenaid use “planetary motion.” That means they move around the bowl, while at the same time spinning in the reverse direction on their own axis (sort of like the earth spins and moves around the sun).
