Making Bread

Ever since entering graduate school I have attempted to find new hobbies to break the routine of study and classes. I typically feel as though I am letting myself down and somehow failing as a student by not working on something every waking hour. There's always an article to read for a class, a score to study, or homework to do. In addition, our status as students makes it difficult to have hobbies that cost money. To quote Michael Scott from The Office: "good luck doing that on your zero dollars per month salary." As a result, the hobbies that I've taken up are relatively cheap.

Examples: running (free) and making bread (inexpensive).

Last weekend I made a couple of loaves of bread and Kaia documented the process. I will share the recipe (given to us by our friend Nicole - thanks!) and some tips for making your own tasty bread.

Mix 3 cups warm water, 4 1/2 tsp yeast, and 1/3 cup honey in a large bowl. Add 3 cups white flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour, and stir to combine. Let sit for 30-60 minutes or until the dough rises above the rim of the bowl:

Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Then add 1 cup white flour and 1 cup wheat flour.

Dump out onto a lightly floured surface:

Making sure to spill some on the floor for good measure:


Knead dough and add a bit more flour as you go along:


Then place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for another hour.

Divide the dough into three normal sized portions (or if you are me, two gigantic portions), roll out, shape into a loaves and then place in greased loaf pans. Let rise for another 40 minutes.


Place loaves onto the middle rack of a 375 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove immediately and place on wire racks to cool. Your bread will look something like this:

But maybe less deformed. I like to call this Lumpy Honey Wheat Loaf. It still tastes good and during a good week we can fit the slices into Ziploc baggies to bring for lunch. What's a bad week you ask? We have to cut our sandwiches in half and place them in two separate bags because the bread is so big. That's right, this bread is off the hook.