Caraway-Rye Bread

I just bought the Better Homes and Garden cookbook and this was the first recipe I decided to try. It came out so good. I think this may be my best loaf yet. I think I may have finally found a perfect sandwich bread. The texture was perfect and the crust was just right, not too hard. I added 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten.

Ingredients:

4 - 4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 package active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (120-130 degrees)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups rye flour

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Cornmeal

2 teaspoons milk

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 3/4 cup of the bread flour and yeast. Add the warm water, brown sugar, oil and salt. Mix well. Stir in the rye flour, caraway seeds and as much bread flour as you can.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining bread flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. About 6-8 minutes) Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Turn once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until dough has doubled in size (about one hour.)

Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Shape each dough half into an slightly flattened 8 inch log and place on baking sheets. Score the tops of each load with a sharp knife. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until nearly doubled (about 30 -45 minutes.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush each loaf with the milk. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the bread sounds hollow with tapped. Cool completely on wire racks.