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Ever since I got my bread machine, I’ve been making bread items like crazy. Dinner rolls, hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, even regular bread loaves. My problem with the bread machine, though, is that making a loaf of bread with it means I get a weird-shaped loaf that’s super tall but really skinny; not really sandwich-type bread. And even if I were to just make the dough in the bread machine and transfer it to a loaf pan for the oven, I still get just one loaf because my machine can’t handle anything bigger. So when my friend Katrina introduced me to this recipe that made TWO loaves, AND didn’t need the bread machine, I jumped right on it! It’s a honey whole wheat loaf that’s a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, sweetened a little with honey and is much easier to make than I thought without a bread machine.

Really, the most effort required is the initial mixing of the dough, but I have a KitchenAid mixer that works like magic. Once the dough’s fully combined, you just let it rise, slice it into two pieces, roll them into a loaf form, then let them rise some more before baking. So easy!

I love this bread because it’s so soft and perfect for sandwiches, unlike some of the other wheat loaves I’ve made that were just so dense. Grill it in a pan for a perfect grilled cheese sandwich… I’m drooling just thinking about it. I also calculated the cost to make these loaves, and it comes out to around $1.15 per loaf. I can get similar bread at Aldi for $1.79 a loaf, or more at a different store. But this bread is made with simple ingredients that you may already have at home, so it’s easy to just put it all together in the morning before dinner!

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Honey Whole Wheat Loaf

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Ingredients

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3-4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 2 packets)
• 2 1/4 cups very warm water

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, honey, melted butter, salt, and yeast until well mixed. Add the water, then mix on low speed, scraping the edges of the bowl.
2. Stir in all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, to make the dough easy to handle.
3. Place dough on a light floured surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, then place in a greased bowl and cover for 40-60 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.
4. Set the dough on a floured surface and cut in half, then roll out each one and tightly roll them into a loaf shape, pinching the edge of the dough into the roll to seal. Place each one in a greased 9x5 or 8x4 loaf pan. Cover and let rise for 35 to 50 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then bake on the bottom rack for 40-45 minutes until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from the pans onto a wired rack, then brush with melted butter. Let the loaves cool completely before slicing.