Whole Wheat French Bread

I made this last week to go along with Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. It was really good. It also was pretty easy to make. My bread in the picture appears to be a little flatter than it should be because I deflated the bread a little on accident during the second rise and I didn't have time to let it rise again. Just don't try to separate the two loaves before baking! Next time, I may put them each on their own baking sheet. The great thing about this bread is that it contains some whole wheat flour! I'm always on the lookout for a healthier, but also tasty, alternative! Give it a try.

Whole Wheat French Bread
adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:
5 to 5-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 packages active dry yeast or 2 TBSP jarred yeast
2-1/2 cups water
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP butter
2 TBSP olive oil

Yellow cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
Combine the flours. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups flour mixture and the yeast. Set aside. Heat water, sugar, salt and butter to 115°-120°. Add to flour and yeast. Beat with on low speed for 30 seconds; increase speed to medium and beat 3 additional minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Add olive oil now.I used right at 7 cups total, but you may need more.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes, or use dough hook attachment on mixer to do the kneading for you. Place dough in a greased bowl; cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; divide in half (or fourths if making 4 loaves) and let rest 10 minutes. Roll each piece into a 15-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side. Pinch seal and turn ends under to form a smooth loaf. Sprinkle two baking sheets with cornmeal and place each loaf, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet. Make slashes every 2-1/2 in. in the top of each loaf. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. You can put them on the same baking sheet, but they will rise and end up sticking to each other.

Beat egg white and water; brush some over loaves. Refrigerate remaining egg mixture. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture and bake 15-20 minutes longer or until golden brown. Remove pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 very large loaves or 4 medium-large loaves .