Honey (almost) Whole Wheat Bread

Directions

I discovered that the raw honey really makes a huge difference in the denseness of this bread. You can use regular, but for best results - use raw.

These are very detailed instructions from recipeezaar.com , but after you make it once, you won't need to read all the steps!

Proof yeast in half a cup of the water, with about a teaspoon of sugar- let it sit, covered, until it becomes bubbly & active.

Combine the rest of the water with the yeast/water in a large bowl, and add the honey. Then, gradually add the flour and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until it's too hard to stir and then get in there with your hands and knead until combined well.

Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, adding flour as nescessary to keep the dough from sticking to the board. The dough should be springy and nice to work with.

Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a clean towel.

Let the dough rise until it springs back when you stick your finger in it, and it is about twice the size as it was before (this takes about 2 hours; longer or shorter depending on the room temperature- I prefer a longer (cooler) rise, because it allows the flavour to develop more... but sometimes you just don't have time for that sort of thing).

Deflate the dough by punching or kneading it a few times, then divide it into and shape it into loaves, buns, etc.

Let the shaped dough rise on a baking sheet or in a loaf-pan for about an hour maybe- it will rise a bit more in the oven.

Slash the top of the bread if you want, so that it doesn't bust open in the oven.

Bake at 400º for 15 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 350º and bake for 15-20 minutes longer, until the loaf is a lovely brown. (Buns and smaller loaves take a shorter time).

Try to let the loaf cool (out side of the loaf pan, or it will get a bit soggy) before you tear into it.