Nothing better....

...than fresh baked bread
(except for maybe going to a Clemson football game on a crisp autumn day! GO TIGERS! 4-0!!)

This was a long, detailed process, but so worth it!

Delicious Whole Grain Bread
makes: 2 medium loafs

• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt, or buttermilk
• 4-5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 TBSP active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup olive oil, melted butter, or melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 2-3 cups whole grain flour

DAY 1

1. Blend water, yogurt or buttermilk; add flour. lay plastic wrap snuggly on top of dough; cover with cloth; let stand 12-24 hours in warm place

DAY 2

1. Blend warm water, yeast, and honey. Let stand 5-10 minutes until it bubbles up; blend in baking soda

everything mixed together

after 8 minutes - bubbling and risen

2. Blend olive oil, honey, and salt; work into dough; then add proofed yeast until all is well blended

3. Add flour in bowl until dough can be handled easily outside the bowl; turn out of bowl and knead for 20 minutes until smooth and resistant to kneading action, adding more flour, as needed to prevent sticking. (Ok, truth be told, I read this step and thought "heck no! there's no way!" So I used the dough hook on my kitchen aid stand mixer and let it knead the dough for 10 minutes, and then I hand kneaded it for 10 minutes!)

4. 1st rise: place dough in lightly greased bowl and cover with damp cloth; let rise till doubled in size, about 1-1 1/2 hours.

5. 2nd rise: work dough down gently, turn it over; cover and let rise until double, about 45 minutes

6. Work dough down again; place dough on counter with a little flour and knead breifly.

7.  Divide dough into two balls; knead into shape; place in two lightly greased pans

8. 3rd rise: cover with damp cloth and let rise until almost double, about 20-25 minutes

9. Preheat oven to 350. Place a pan of water in bottom of oven to create a steam for better baking

10. Bake 35-45 minutes until done (evenly browned; if pan was well greased, loaf will fall out of pan easily)

11. Turn loaves out and allow to completely cool on a rack

(I'm seriously about to cry! These actually turned out and smell amazing!! I can't believe I made some bread!)

12. Enjoy!

God Bless