Honey Whole Wheat with Seeds and Nuts Recipe

This bread is so tasty that I couldn't wait to share the recipe. I'm listing the ingredients in the order that I used them, and am including the exact brands that I used.

Ingredients:

1 c. warm water   (from tap)

2 Tbs. honey   (Don Victor with comb)

2 1/2 tsp. dry yeast   (Fleischmann's Active Dry)

1 tsp. salt   (Morton's Iodized)

1 cup unsalted nuts and seeds   (Salad Pizazz No Salt Raisin Nut 'N Sunflower)

2 Tbs. Walnut Oil   (Hammon's Roasted Black Walnut Oil)

1 cup whole wheat flour (Montana Wheat Bronze Chief)

2 cups (about) all purpose white flour (Gold Medal Unbleached)

Special Prep:

Empty the packet of seeds and nuts into a bowl and pick out the raisins unless you specifically want them in there. This blend contains unsalted pumpkin and sunflower seeds along with sliced almonds and whole cashews. After removing the raisins, I added chopped walnuts and sesame seeds to make one cup. This is not totally necessary, the packet contains about 7/8 cup.

Method:

1. Pour warm water into bowl and stir in the honey until it dissolves. Sprinkle with yeast and allow to sit until yeast blooms, 10 - 15 minutes.

2. Sprinkle salt and oil over bloom. Pour in the whole wheat flour, mix until smooth with a fork and then let it sit about 10 minutes.

3. Mix in the nuts and seeds and mix well. Add one cup of the all purpose flour and continue mixing with fork until it's all worked in.

4. Knead in the last cup of flour a little bit at a time. You may not need the entire cup, so add slowly and knead until your dough is smooth and elastic. This took me longer than straight up white bread. You should have a ball that is tacky, not sticky, which has pulled all the flour and dough bits from the sides of the bowl. Shape into a ball and oil lightly to coat the dough ball and the bowl.

5. Cover loosely and allow to raise until doubled in size. (About an hour and half to two hours)

6. Punch dough down and shape into a loaf of your choice. Or make mini loaves by dividing in half before shaping. I made mini boules. Once you have your shape, roll in flour to totally coat. (I simply dropped my boules into my flour canister and rolled them around) Place on a flat surface in a warm area and allow them to rise again for 30-45 minutes.

7. Preheat oven and stone to 450F. When bread is ready, score and bake with steam for 20-25 minutes. My internal temp was 185F. Cool on wire rack.