Honey Bran Whole Wheat Bread

Mixing and Fermentation:

In a very large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, oat bran, wheat bran, and yeast. Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the canola oil, the honey, and then the milk. Mix well, then continue to stir vigorously, slowly adding 1 cup of the white whole wheat flour at a time, until you’ve added 4 cups, or until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. This should take a few minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 6 or 7 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands or the work surface.

Place the mixing bowl over the dough, and let it rest for 20 minutes. This rest period is called the autolyse.

Remove the bowl, flatten out the dough with your hands, and sprinkle about half of the salt over it. Begin kneading the salt into the dough. After a few turns, sprinkle on the rest of the salt and continue to knead for 5 to 7 minutes, until the salt is completely incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth.

Place the dough in a large plastic straight sided container with a snap-on lid. With masking tape or a felt tip pen, mark the spot on the container that the dough will reach when it has doubled in volume. Set it somewhere that is preferably between 70F and 78F for about one hour. Ideally, the dough should also be between 70F and 78F. It’s easy to check the temperature of your dough and ingredients with an inexpensive instant read thermometer.

When the dough is ready to be shaped, you should be able to push a floured finger deep into it and leave an indentation that doesn’t spring back. Unless your dough is rising in a straight-sided container, it can be difficult to judge whether it has “doubled in size,” which is the guideline most recipes use. I find the finger poking method to be more reliable.

Shaping and Final Rise:

Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, flattening gently with your hands to break up any large air bubbles. Divide the dough into three equal pieces.

Shape the dough into loaves and dust the tops with flour. Place loaves seam side down in greased loaf pans

If desired, an hour before baking, place baking stone in the oven and heat to 375 degrees.

Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel and let them rise for 45 to 60 minutes. The dough should rise well above the rim of the pans, and when you lightly poke it with a floured finger it should spring back just a little.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow if tapped (you can carefully pop one out of the pan and put it back in if it’s not quite done). Remove immediately from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 40 minutes before cutting into a loaf, as it continues to bake while cooling. Store at room temperature or freeze in zipper freezer bags. Make sure loaves are completely cooled before sealing in bags.