Hearty Whole Wheat Molasses Bread- 6 Easy Steps!

After lots of thought as to which bread type I should make.... French bread? White? Rye? .... I fell back into the familiarity of making a bread that I have made dozens of times before.  Whole wheat.  The recipe is supposed to be a 'honey, whole wheat' type, but I omitted the honey and traded it for some Backstrap Molasses (From Trader Joe's, y'all) to try something different.  The results were fantastic, and I love how the molasses doesn't make it too sweet.  It gave the bread a darker, richer color.  Fresh out of the oven, it was hard to keep the extra loaf from being eaten!  I made my own "signature" mark and placed it on the risen loafs of bread prior to baking and dusted the tops with flour.  When the stencil is removed, voila! You have your signature mark! :)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups stone-ground whole wheat flour or graham flour (I used whole wheat)
1/3 cup honey (I used molasses, instead)
1/4 cup shortening
1 Tablespoon salt
2 packages regular or quick active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups very warm water (120 to 130 degrees F)
3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
Buter or margarine, melted, if desired

1. Mix whole wheat flour, honey, shortening, salt and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.

2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until double. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.

3. Grease bottoms and sides of 2 loaf pans, 9x5x3 or 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches.

4. Punch down dough and divide in half. Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin into rectangle, 18x9 inches, on lightly floured surface. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9-inch side, to form a loaf. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Press each end with side of hand to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with butter. Cover and let rise in warm place 35 to 50 minutes or until double.

5. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 375°F.

6. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with butter; cool.

The dough has finished rising...

Putting it in the bread pans for the second rising...