Dough Day

I pretty much spent the afternoon in the kitchen today, which as long as my kids cooperate, I don't mind one bit. I love being in the kitchen trying new things and baking up a storm! Myah sat on the floor and did some of her school stuff at my feet, and she thought it was great doing something out of the norm. I recently got a new recipe (below) for whole wheat dough. It's from "Hopkins Healthy Home Cooking" cookbook available here for $10.95. I don't yet own this, but have used enough recipes out of it that I hope to in the near future!

I knew this recipe made a lot, but I had no idea how much! I ended up getting 2 loaves of bread, 3 pizza crusts, and 2-1/2 dozen dinner rolls out of it! Whew! I baked up 2 pizzas for dinner tonight and kept a loaf of bread on the counter and put the rest in the freezer. I think I would like to have "dough day" once a month! What a way to stock my freezer up with healthy breads!

Whole Wheat Dough

8 cups warm water (105 degrees -- warm but not hot to touch)
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup honey
2 T. salt
2 1/2 T. yeast
10-15 cups mix white/wheat flour (I do half of each)

I did this in halves so I could use my Kitchen Aid to knead, but if you're in the mood to do a lot of kneading by hand, then go ahead and do it all at once! :)

Combine in mixing bowl: warm water, butter and honey
Add salt and 5 (or 3 if doing half) cups flour, stirring to mix. Let sit for 5+ minutes to absorb the water. Add yeast. Continue to add one cup of flour at a time, mixing well between additions and watching carefully after about 10 (or 5) cups have been added.

The ideal bread dough is wet but not sticky. You can test it by pressing your thumb into the dough. If it feels sticky, but does not stick to your thumb, you have the right consistency.

Kneed for 9 minutes by machine or 10-15 minutes by hand. If making into all loaves, a full batch will make 6 loaves. I just divided it up how I wanted to use it.

Put into unheated oven to rise 25 minutes. Then turn oven to 350 and bake for 35 minutes or until nicely browned and hollow sounding when tapped. Remove from pans and cool.

If making pizza crusts, and you want to freeze them, bake at 250 for 10 minutes. You can add toppings or wait till later and freeze until you want to use it. Then bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. If you're going to use it immediately, add sauce and toppings and bake at 450 for 15-18 minutes.

If you try this, let me know what you think! :)