honey wheat bread

In this loaf:

white flour

wheat flour

salt

sugar

active dry yeast

warm water

vegetable oil

honey

Happy Labor Day weekend and (informal) end of summer!

This is perhaps my very favorite time of year. As the air cools, the heat from the sun shifts from stifling and at times oppressive to oh-so-pleasantly warming. It’s refreshing, after months of chasing shade, to seek out patches of sunlight to linger and lounge in.

This time of year also marks the start of baking season. This is the season of my people (er, my mom and sister and me)—the season that beckons us into our kitchens, urging us to turn on our ovens, mix up thick doughs, and fill the air with browned butter, caramelized sugar, and cinnamon.

Here at the cusp of baking season, I'm excited to share with you my recipe for honey wheat bread. I’ve been mixing up a loaf of this stuff every few weeks to give us a break from the store-bought loaves we’ve been mowing through to assemble our lunchtime sandwiches (So. Many. Sandwiches.). The rise time is two hours total, which means you can decide you want this bread at three in the afternoon and it can be out of the oven by six (a welcome contrast to the beloved pizza dough that needs nearly 20 hours to reach its final form).

This soft, chewy, slightly sweetened bread has transformed our lunchtime sandwiches. But my favorite part of these loaves will always be the first slice—usually an extra-chewy end piece—warm from the oven and swiped with butter. As the weather gets chillier, I envision meals of these warm, buttered slices alongside big pots of soup.

Okay, I’m officially ready: bring on the fall.

Ingredients:

2 cups white flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

½ tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra for bowls and pans

1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

1. Whisk together the flours and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, yeast, and warm water. Let sit until foamy bubbles form (about 10 minutes).

3. Whisk the oil and honey into the liquid mixture.

4. With a wooden spoon, gradually stir the flour mixture into the liquid mixture. By the time you add the last portion of flour, it'll be difficult to mix with the spoon. Use your hand to form a ragged mass of dough before dumping it onto a clean surface. There will still be some loose flour; that's okay.

5. Knead the dough for about 8 minutes. All the loose flour will slowly incorporate during this time, but if your dough is looking really dry, work in a tablespoon of warm water, and a teaspoon at a time after that as needed.

6. After about 8 minutes of kneading, your dough ball should spring back after you push it (gluten elasticity ftw!). Shape your dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl (rub some oil over the dough ball too). Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise for about 75 minutes.

7. Dump the risen dough onto a clean surface. The dough probably won't be overly sticky, but if it is, dust with some flour before pushing all the air out of it. Then roll the deflated dough into a loaf shape and place it into an oiled 5 x 7" bread pan. Cover the pan with a damp towel and let rise for about 45 minutes.

8. Use a serrated knife to slash the top of the risen loaf before sending it into a 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

9. Out of the oven, flip the bread out of its pan (you made need to loosen it with a knife first) and let it cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

10. Whatever you intend to do with the rest of the loaf, slice off an end piece, butter it up, take a bite, close your eyes, let out a sigh, and if moved to do so, weep.