Bread Day

Sundays and Wednesdays are my bread making days. I have a tried and true recipe that works great for us, it's a Honey Wheat Bread. It uses two cups of whole wheat flour, and three cups of white flour. My family absolutely loves this recipe. I used to use my bread machine for all my bread making, but this one is super easy, and there is no better taste than fresh bread that you've kneaded yourself:) I find it's very therapeutic! I've tweaked the recipe to our tasting, and I also find that lard makes the bread taste better than shortening, but you can certainly use the shortening. I have also done half and half with the flour, and it was just as good.

Honey Wheat Bread
1 (.25 ounce) pkg rapid rise yeast
1 tsp. white sugar
½ cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
¼ cup water
¼ cup melted lard (can use shortening)
¼ cup honey- I actually use a little less than 1/4 c
2 tsp. salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups bread flour
2 TBL. Butter
Directions
Dissolve yeast and sugar in ½ cup warm water.
Combine milk, ¼ cup water, shortening, honey, salt and wheat flour in bowl. Mix in yeast mixture, and let rest for 15 minutes. Add white flour, and mix until dough forms a ball. Knead dough by hand for 10 minutes. Place dough in a buttered bowl, and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise for about 45 minutes, or until almost doubled in size. (I usually let it rise for an hour)
Punch dough down, and divide in half. Roll out each half, and form into loaves. Place in buttered bread pans. Butter the tops of the dough, cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm area until doubled, around 30 minutes or so.
Place a small pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Preheat 375 degrees. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.