As I mentioned previously, this year I'm working to curb my expensive bread habit by baking bread at home. My mentors and guides in this process is the King Arthur website and Peter Reinhart's magnificent book The Break Baker's Apprentice. This experiment is additionally prompted by the fact that 1. non-expensive store-bought bread - the kind from the bread aisle that I grew up on - now tastes fake and chemically to me, and 2. a house that smells like fresh-baked bread is a house I want to live in forever.

So, a recap: For my last go-around, I went straight for the back of the book and the whole wheat bread recipe. I decided I didn't want to use a starter for my "everyday bread," so I turned to a recipe from King Arthur Flour instead. I found the final product mostly ok, but a little chewy and dense for everyday eating.

Six weeks later, I've realized: every time I sit down to read Reinhart's 300-page behemoth of a bread cookbook, I never make it past ciabatta. The book is packed with information, and before I reach English Muffins, my brain is full and I'm off to the kitchen to have a snack - preferably one high in starch and gluten. So even having owned the book for a few months, I had never made it to the letter L - the letter where Reinhart filed the exact recipe I'd been looking for. Fortunately for me, one day the book just happened to fall open in the right place, where I found...

Light Wheat Bread.

That's right, it's alphabetized under "light" rather than "wheat."

This was everything I was seeking: a one-day bread with a good amount of whole wheat that's not too dense or chewy. In short, it's perfect for eggs and toast (morning) or toast and jam (evening). It's a breeze to make and highly forgiving, as yeasted breads go - I've pushed the rise time by fermenting the dough in a turned-off warm oven, I've forgotten ingredients, and I've generally been Ms. Impatient-Pants, and still the bread comes out great. I'm starting to call it weeknight bread, because I can make it in an evening and have fresh bread for breakfast.

So how about you? Any things you're trying to make at home instead of purchase -  for health, wealth or something else?

(Partly) Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice
First of all, let me say thanks to those who commented on my first sandwich bread post. You all had pointers - or at least commiseration about cats who lick plastic - that were informative, and helped me make long-term bread decisions. Sounds like bread and I need to sign a Power of Attorney or something - we're here to stay.

2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour (11.25 ounces)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (6.75 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons powdered milk
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast or one packet active dry yeast
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups water, at room temperature

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, powdered milk and yeast on low speed. Add the butter and let mix for a few moments, then add the honey. Stream in the water until the ingredients form a sticky ball.

Change to the dough hook and knead 6-8 minutes. At this point, the dough should pass the windowpane test, but mine never has.* Use vegetable oil to lightly grease a large bowl. Transfer the dough ball to the bowl, turning to coat the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.**

Lightly oil a 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan. Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangle about 3/4 inches thick, 6 inches wide and 8-10 inches long. Working from a short edge, roll it into a loaf, pinching together the layers every 3/4 rotation or so. The loaf will expand as you roll it, and if it grows to big, gently force the ends back inside on themselves so that the loaf just fits in the loaf pan, with each end of the roll touching the sides. Lightly mist the top of the loaf with spray oil and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Proof at room temperature for another 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough crests above the lip of the pan by 1 inch.***

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack on the middle shelf. Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for an additional 15 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Remove the bread immediately from the loaf pan and cool on a rack. Resist the urge to cut the bread until it has cooled completely to preserve the best possible texture.

*It's close, though, and comes out just fine - I think you need to use a super-high-gluten flour and knead by hand for a day to get a real windowpane.
**If you are Ms. or Mr. Impatient Pants, or you truly are trying to make this bread on a weeknight, you can force the fermentation by preheating your oven on the lowest possible setting for 2 minutes, turning it off, and putting the bowl inside. Particularly if you are using instant yeast, this will jump-start the action.
***Don't let it get too far beyond one inch, or you will have a big, tall, hard to cut, spongy loaf on your hands, in my experience.