Strictly speaking, only flour, water, yeast and salt are required to make bread. Most people like a little sweetener to round out the wheat flavor. The following recipe has a clear wheat flavor; if you like your bread sweeter, that may be because you don't really care for the taste of whole wheat. Try using King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour. It is much milder in flavor and lighter in color, but as nutritious as other whole grain flours.

Start with the one loaf recipe if you are new to kneading. It will take about 10 minutes to knead whereas the two-loaf version will take twice as long.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in the center. In a glass measure or small bowl, mix the honey and very warm water; pour into the flour mixture. Stir to moisten all the flour. Mix in the oil. Mix the dough, in the bowl, with your hand until it is evenly mixed. It will be sticky.

Feel the dough in your hands. Is it dry or difficult to squeeze? Add more water. If it is runny or does not hold its shape, add a little more flour.

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured board and knead until it is smooth and elastic (about 20 minutes for the two loaf version, 10 minutes for one loaf.) Remember that kneading is the key to developing the dough's stretchy gluten, so the dough will expand with the yeast created gas bubbles, producing a high, light loaf.

Shape the dough into a ball; place in a bowl (the one you mixed in is fine, no need to wash it.) Wet a cloth with warm water and wring it out. Use this to cover the bowl to keep the dough from drying out but allowing it to breathe. If you cover the bowl with plastic wrap, the bread will develop more of a "Wonder Bread" character.

Set the dough in a warm place, free of cooling draughts (an unheated oven with pilot light may be perfect.) Let the dough rise for about an hour. Poke the dough in the center with two fingers about 1/2 inch deep. If the depressions quickly begin to fill in, more rising is needed. If the depressions remain, the dough has risen enough. This is called "doubled" as a term of art. It may be more or less than actually double, don't bother measuring the volume.

Redistribute the yeast within the dough by flattening it out and briefly kneading it. You may correct slightly underkneaded dough at this time by longer, more vigorous kneading. Return the dough to its unwashed bowl, recover and let it rise until doubled again. The second rise will take about half the time of the first rise. The second rise is not absolutely necessary, but produces finer texture.

Deflate the dough again; divide in two (unless you're only making one loaf); shape into two balls and let them rest, covered, for about 10 minutes to relax the gluten. If the gluten is not relaxed, your attempts to shape the dough will be futile; it will spring back from any shape you try to impose. Oil your small (not mini) metal loaf pans and begin heating the oven to 350 degrees.

Shape into loaves by pressing the balls, one at a time, into flattish circles with diameters slightly longer than the length of your pans. Roll the circle up like a jelly roll, but tightly, digging your fingers in as you go. Scrunch the ends with your palms and snugly fit the dough (seam side down) into the pan. It should be touching each end of the pan but probably won't fill in to the sides. Cover and let rise until a gentle poke at a corner shows you the dough is very soft and spongy, hardly springing back at all. This will take less time than the last rise. Quickly put the pans in the oven and bake about 50-60 minutes.

To test for doneness, remove a loaf from its pan and tap on the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it is done. If not, return it to the oven and retest at 5 minute intervals. Cool, out of pans, on racks at least until lukewarm before cutting. Cut with a sharp serrated knife using a sawing motion. If you just can't wait and want to cut into a hot loaf, be very careful not to mash down the bread with heavy pressure.

[Note from author (and typist): There it's finally done. My other recipes are not as detailed.]