Overnight Whole Wheat Bread/Rolls

This is one of the easiest bread recipes I've ever made. It isn't fast, but you can start it and forget it. It has a very nice sourdough taste without the work of keeping a starter. It can be shaped into loaves or rolls. You mix it up the night before and finish it the next morning. I've even started it early in the morning and finished it that evening for supper.  Hope you enjoy!


For the overnight dough:

2 cups lukewarm water
1 T honey
2 T yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour (my favorite is Golden 86 or Prairie Gold, or just a hard white wheat)
1 1/2 T salt

Dissolve honey in warm water and stir in yeast.
Place flour and salt in a large bowl and stir well. Add the yeast liquid and stir until well combined. (Don't knead the dough at this point.)
Cover and let rise at room temperature overnight.

Morning mixture to add to the dough:

2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 T honey
2 T yeast
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup butter

Dissolve honey in water. Stir in yeast, let stand til frothy. While yeast proofs, melt the butter.
Add three cups of flour, melted butter and yeast mixture to the overnight dough. Stir to mix well.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead til soft and smooth. Use as much of the additional half cup of flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking.

For loaves: Divide dough into two portions. Shape and place in 2 greased loaf pans or on a greased cookie sheet for free form rolls.
For Rolls: Divide dough into 18 pieces and shape into rolls. Place on floured cookie sheets, two inches apart, and let rise til doubled, approx 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light brown and the loaves sound hollow. Note: when you remove the bread/rolls from the oven they may have a very strong yeasty aroma. This will fade when the bread cools.