4 tablespoonsbutter (plus extra for greasing the bowl and bread pans), softened
1/4cuphoney or molasses or brown sugar or combination
2 tsptable salt
2 - 3cupswhite flour, all purpose or bread (I use bread)
3cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cupwheat germ, such as Bob's Red Mill
Equipment
2 8-inch loaf pans
Standard mixer with a dough hook
Large bowl for rising
4 cup glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl.
Method
Use some of the extra butter, grease a large bowl to get it ready for the first rise.
The amount of white flour you need is based on the humidity in your area. For me, I always use 3 full cups of white bread flour. In a large bowl, place the flours, wheat germ, yeast and salt. Whisk all the ingredeints together.
Measure the water and milk into a 4 cup glass measuring cup or glass bowl. Microwave for about 35 seconds. The temperature of this mixture should be about 59 degrees. Add the honey+molasses to the milk+water and stir to mix. Note that the honey+molasses will sink to the bottom of the milk+water, so make sure you mix well. Add the milk+water+honey+molasses liquid to your mixer bowl. Insert the dough hook.
Add the whisked dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (on top of the liquid). Top with the softened 4 Tablespoons of butter. The image here does NOT show the butter, which I nearly fogot to add!
Mix the dough on the lowest setting until the dough starts to come together. This might take a couple of minutes or more. In this image you can see the butter floating around. The butter will eventually get mixed into the remaining ingredients.
Turn the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for 8 minutes. DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON YOUR MIXER! Mixers have a tendency to walk off the counter! After 8 minutes, the dough should start clearing the sides of the bowl, but not "snap".
Scrape the dough from the bowl onto a floured surface. The dough will still be a bit sticky at this point.
Knead the dough for about a minute, adding more flour as necessary so that the dough becomes smooth and not sticky. I use additional white bread flour for this step.
Place the dough into the greased bowl. Cover with platic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours. If using a proofer, set the proofer to about 72 to 75 degrees.
After the dough has finished rising, punch down the dough and scrape onto a floured surface. Knead for a minute.
Grease 2 8-inch loaf pans with softened butter.
Divide the dough in half. If you have a scale, each half will weigh about 27 ounces. Shape the dough into loaves and place in the greased loaf pans.
Cover the loaves with a towel and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes. The dough should swell up over the tops of the pans by about 1 inch. Before the rise is finished, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees with the oven rack on the lower portion of the oven.
Bake the loaves for 10 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes longer, until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. The internal temperature of the loaves will be about 190 degrees.
Leave in pans for about 5 minutes and then cool on racks.
