Wheat Bread

I've been asked for my wheat bread recipe by a couple friends, and I can never remember to e-mail it out, so I'm posting it here.I love this recipe because of two things:
1) No dairy in the dough, so it stays fresh-tasting for several days, even if just kept in the cupboard. If frozen, it lasts for much longer. (But we eat it quickly, so I don't know just how long it would last.
2) My sister-in-law told me about just kneading it in the mixer for 10 minutes instead of having it rise the first time in the bowl like most bread recipes. That was always the most irritating part of making bread for me because it dirtied another bowl, and it meant I had to keep track of it for just that one more step. If you don't have a bread machine, Bosch, or KitchenAid, you can use this recipe, and just let it rise once in a bowl before shaping it into loaves.

I have given the quantity that I make because it's as much as fits in my small KitchenAid. If you have a Bosch or larger KitchenAid, you can make a double batch and shape it into three loaves.

Annette's Wheat Bread (Makes 1 large and 1 small loaf)
2 cups hot water
4-1/2 -- 5-1/2 cups wheat flour*
2 tbsp. oil (canola)
1/4 - 1/2 cup honey or brown sugar**
1/4 cup wheat gluten***
1/2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp yeast, I use instant****

Put all ingredients (but only 3 cups of the flour) into the mixer. (Tip: Put the oil into the measuring cup where you will measure your honey, and swirl it around before measuring the honey. Then the honey just slides into the bowl. Much less scraping.) Mix well. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough cleans off the sides of the bowl. Then mix, on a relatively low speed, for 10 more minutes. Shape immediately into loaves and let rise. (I let them rise on top of the oven while it preheats since the warmth helps them to rise faster.) Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

*If homeground, use all wheat flour. If storebought, use half-wheat, half-white.
**Use brown sugar if a baby under 12 months old will be eating this bread. I don't think the spores that are possibly found in honey are killed by 350 degree oven heat, so err on the side of caution.
***Gluten makes the dough stretchy so it rises better, and it adds protein. You can usually find it in the baking aisle of the grocery store.
****If you don't use instant yeast, you will have to bloom it in part of the water before adding it to the bread.