Grandmother Bread

This recipe is based on the one I found on Suzanne McMinn's awesome website. (She's living the dream, y'all. My dream, anyway.) I use the whey left over from cheesemaking for this bread, but you can use water or milk if you're not feeling super-industrious.

3 cups water (a mixture of equal parts milk and water), warmed to about 112°F

1 envelope dry yeast

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1/4 cup light brown sugar or mildly-flavored honey

4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

2 to 4 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, stir together the liquid, yeast, sugar, and salt. Let it stand 5 minutes.

Stir in 2 cups of the AP flour and 1 cup WW flour with a heavy spoon. Add the next cup of WW flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff to continue stirring easily. Add a little more AP flour and begin kneading. Continue adding both kinds of flour and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cowl with a towel and let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled. (Usually about an hour.) Sprinkle in a little more WW flour and knead again, then divide the dough in half. Shape the dough into boules (round loaves) or regular oblong loaves and place into greased round or loaf pans. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let rise about an hour, until the dough fills the pan and is nearly doubled again.

Heat the oven to 350°F and bake until golden and the loaves sound kind of hollow when you tap them.

Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pans, then turn out and let cool on a rack. (Or do what I do and cut a slice and eat it with butter right away.)