Lo Gung's Favorite Bread

This recipe is originally from Blue Yonder. The bread went through a lot of changes to get to where it is now for her. She uses whole wheat flour, organic shortening, fancy honey...and she loves it.

I adapted the recipe to what I've got in my cupboards. This only gets better with each tweak, but Lo Gung has declared this to be the best bread I've made thus far in our marriage. (For a man who prefers rice to cinnamon rolls, that's saying something!)

Here's my version, adapted from Blue Yonder's "Like Country Line Bread"

In a small bowl, combine:
2 T. warm water
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar

Let this proof for about ten minutes.

Combine, in the large bowl of a mixer:
Yeast Mixture
1 c. warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

That can either knead in the mixer for about 5 minutes, or you can dump this out on the counter and knead it by hand. Either way, knead the dough until it loses its sticky quality and gets stretchy and smooth.

Put the smooth, stretchy dough ball into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it rise until doubled in size.

Punch this down, form it into a loaf, and let it rise again in a greased loaf pan. When it has risen to double its original size, bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped.

My bread always comes out a little on the doughy/moist side...but Lo Gung says that's his favorite part, so I'll just leave it how it is.