HONEY WHEAT BREAD (LACTOSE FREE)

from the internet

2 1/2-3 cups water
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2/3 cup honey
6 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
4 tsp. instant yeast or 2 packets of Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp. and 2 tsp. vital wheat gluten (omit if bread flour used)
1 1/2 tsp. salt

To 5 cups of the flour add yeast, gluten and salt. Mix well. Add oats and mix well. Combine water, oils and honey. Heat until very warm but not hot. Add heated liquid to dry ingredients and mix well, using your hands if you need to. The dough will be more moist than usual but the oats will absorb a lot of moisture.

If I'm making bread with stone ground wheat flour, the next step is letting the dough rest for about 2 hours, in a 2 gallon plastic bag, which is partially unzipped. This is to give the flour time to absorb moisture.

Then knead the dough for 10 minutes, adding about a cup or so of flour as you knead.

Let rise till double. I usually allow about 2 hours for this.

Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, roll out each half of the dough into a rectangle, approximately 6 x 12 inches. Roll up dough starting at narrow end, sealing as you go. Seal ends and seam well. I like to do light "karate chops" from one end of the dough to the other to help the dough to seal better, so it stays together better.

Place in 4 x 8 inch loaf pans, sprayed with vegetable oil. Let rise till dough is doubled or almost doubled; it usually takes 30 minutes to an hour.

Bake in oven preheated to 375 degrees, until loaves are light brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 30-35 minutes in my oven.

Cool on wire racks.

If you're slicing the bread before you store it, letting the bread completely cool first will make the crumb texture better.