Wheat Bread

After making those awesome lemon meringue cupcakes, I had leftover egg yolks and didn't know what to do with them. For some reason, in my mind, the best idea was bread. Challah is the obvious choice, but I wanted something I could use for toast AND sandwiches so I finally found two wheat bread recipes that I was able to adapt and make work.

Makes 1 loaf
-1 c wheat flour
-2 c bread flour
-6 tbspns butter, softened
-1/2 c milk, scalded
-1 c water
-2 tsp dry active yeast
-1 1/4 tsp salt
-1 egg yolk
-3 tbspns honey or sugar (I did half and half)

-Scald the milk: In a small saucepan, bring milk nearly to a boil, (little bubbles will begin to form around the edges of pan). Remove immediately from heat and allow to sit without stirring or moving for about 20 minutes. A film will form on the surface of the milk. Skim this protein layer off carefully with an upside-down spoon, removing as much as possible.

-Meanwhile, dissolve yeast in water (in a large bowl), waiting until it gets bubbly
-Combine it with half of the flours, the butter, sugar/homey, and salt
-Add the egg
-Add more of the flours and the milk
-Keep mixing until the mixture is too difficult to stir, adding more flour as needed
-Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 min, adding flour as needed to make it less sticky
-Knead until it is elastic and smooth
-Let rise in a greased bowl for an hour or two until doubled in size (or so when you poke your finger into it, the indentation stays) in a warm, draft-free room
-deflate the dough and put into a greased loaf pan (9x5)
-let rise for another hour or so
-Preheat the oven to 425
-Reduce the heat to 375 and bake for half an hour or until the crust is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

*Keeps for about a week wrapped in foil on a counter top (although perhaps I should mention that our apartment is usually fairly chilly)