Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, we've been out of town for a week and I just got back late this afternoon and am playing catch-up. Glad you had good results with the recipe. I give credit to my friend Mildred in Missouri for sharing the recipe with me. 1. I would add the coarser flour to the sponge. Either will work (as you have discovered), but the sponge gives the sharp bits of bran time to soak up the liquid and soften in the coarse flour. Those sharp bits can cut gluten strands. 2. Bread Machine Yeast is a type of fast-acting yeast like SAF-Instant is. You made a good substitute. SAF-Instant is a "super" yeast, and somewhat different from the other brands of fast-acting yeast products (Bread Machine, Rapid-Rise and Quick-Rise). I consider SAF-Instant a superior choice over the other fast-rising yeast products, but that's a personal choice. I've used all of them at one time or another over the years. 3. Pan sizes... A 9x5-inch pan is actually designed for quick breads and holds about 2-pounds of dough. For over two pounds of dough you would need a Jumbo Pan - 10x4-1/2-inch. I personally don't like these over-size loaves, especially when trying to cut thin slices. Small loaves are easier to cut thin than large loaves. Another personal preference. Standard 8-1/2x4-1/2-inch pan holds up to around 1-1/2-pounds of dough. I have a pair of Norpro pans that are just slightly smaller at 7-3/4x4-1/4-inches that works very well for 2 loaves. 7-1/2x3-1/2-inch pans - up to 1-pound of dough. I often divide the dough equally into three of these small loaves. I will also divide the dough into one 1-1/2-pound loaf and the rest for something like an 8-inch pan of dinner rolls, 6 jumbo pecan cinnamon rolls, 6 hamburger or hot dog buns. The cultured milk products (dried or liquid buttermilk, kefir, yogurt) seem to aid in the sponge. My friend, Mildred, often uses up to 24-hours, with half the time in the refrigerator, similar to what you did. A very forgiving recipe, as you've just proven. I also like to add 1/2-cup of coarsely-ground multi-grain mixture, similar to multi-grain cereal (5-grain, 7-grain, 11-grain, etc.), except I mill my own. I add it towards the end of kneading to keep the sharp bits from cutting the gluten strands. I like the "tooth" it adds to the bread. -Grainlady

jasdip: You can leave the milk powder out. According to my research the milk powder is for "fragrance" and most of the recipe translated from Japanese and Chinese say "optional". I buy small tin of whole milk powder from Wallyworld for about $1.50 (brand NIDO) - I keep in freezer. We use the NIDO to make DIY evaporated milk because we can not use carageenan (sp??) which is in canned evap milk. I've become addicted to using this water roux/tang zhong method. I think the folks who make the Challah at our local grocer must use this method because the bread has about the same texture. Cheers, DL

Down home cooking..... Texas Down Home Biscuits & sausage gravy Note: You can use canned biscuits or make your own. Ingredients 1/2 lb bulk breakfast sausage, like Jimmy Dean 3/4 c all purpose flour 3 c milk....I use water with coffee creamer 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground black pepper dash of onion powder/optional Cook/ brown off sausage, break it up so it crumbles. Remove from pan leaving any drippings. Add milk, salt & pepper, then start whisking while adding flour, over medium heat burner. After it thickens, add the sausage back into the gravy. Serve over biscuits of your choice. Here is a link that might be useful: Same recipe made with a roux...more flavorful...

Yes, white whole wheat flour can be used for cookies. And yes, there is hard and soft white wheat as plllog explained. There are also spring hard/soft white or red wheat and winter hard/soft white or red wheat to get even more complicated than things really need to be. And don't forget durum wheat (the type of wheat best used for pasta/noodles) and all the ancient varieties. Before going gluten free, I used a large number of wheat varieties: durum, hard spring white, hard winter white, soft spring white, hard winter red, hard spring red, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), as well as spelt, kamut, and einkorn (ancient varieties). I saved soft white wheat (because it was so expensive -purchased from Bob's Red Mill) for some (not all) quick breads, biscuits, and pastry, as well as for cakes (especially delicate chiffon and angel food cake). I would use a 3:1 mix of soft white wheat and spelt OR oat groats (milling flour myself) for a low-protein flour similar in protein to cake flour. I also milled rye, barley, sorghum, and many other grains/seeds/beans for flour. I milled the mixture of grains into a very fine flour and made sure to sift it (removing any large pieces of bran) before using it for cake. Since you may not have any soft white wheat flour available for your cookies, just make sure when making cookies (or anything leavened with chemical leavening - soda, baking powder) NOT to over-mix them or you will develop too much gluten and will get tough cookies or baked goods using regular (hard) white whole wheat flour. This is yet another time I suggest using a Danish Dough Whisk (or a wooden spoon) instead of a stand or regular mixer. Keep mixing to a minimum once the flour has been added. If you use white whole wheat flour in a recipe that is designed for bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour, you may find you need to add a little more hydration, OR reduce the amount of whole wheat flour by 1-tablespoon from each cup of flour called for in the recipe, and adjust accordingly, if needed. If you can find recipes that specifically call for whole wheat flour you will find you have better results until you get accustomed to using it. Check your public library for wholegrain cookbooks. The recipe at the link below from the Kansas Wheat Commission is one of my favorites using 100% whole wheat flour :-). This recipe will work with either white or red whole wheat flour, but white whole wheat works best due to the flavor differences. If you want to kick it up a notch, add 1/8-1/4 t. of Fiori di Sicilia (an all-natural citrus and vanilla scented flavoring from King Arthur Flour - but caution, a little goes a long way). You may want to take a look at their recipe collection for a lot of great recipes using whole wheat flour. I've collected the Kansas Wheat Commission Recipe Books for years (free when you attend the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS) and have them going back several decades. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies