Second try at baking bread

I baked more bread a couple days ago and while the results were okay, I was not overly impressed with the recipe. It is a recipe from the new version of the Bread Beckers book that I just received. I used this one because it is a favorite of my friend Melissa's. Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp lecithin
1 tsp gluten (plus I added 1 tsp dough enhancer)
4-4 1/2 cups freshly milled flour
1/2 cup flax seed
1 tbsp yeast

Combine water, oil, honey,salt. Add lecithn, gluten, half of flour, and flax seed. Mix thoroughly. Add yeast and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5-6 minutes). Let rise until double, shape and let rise again until double. For 2 1lb loaves bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

So that is the recipe I used. Here are the problems I had.

Flour
I think I used closer to 5 cups, and maybe a bit more than that. I am wondering if the flour I have is part of the problem and that I simply will have to use more than asked for, even in the recipes written for fresh milled flour. This time I did mill some extra just to be sure.

Kneading
I kept adding flour in small amounts and it seemed like it was getting close to the point that it would clean the sides of the bowl. However, I felt that the mixer was being over worked because the dough seemed to be so heavy. So I pulled it out and kneaded it by hand, adding a bit more flour and then it seemed to be good. It wasn't nearly as sticky as the last recipe.

Rising
The dough did rise, so I think that the yeast was ok, but it certainly did not rise to double in the bowl. The dough rose some more while in the pans, I did put the pans in the oven that was slightly warm. But again it did not rise to double. So I ended up with some pretty flat looking loaves.

Bread
This bread was alot denser and heavier than the last loaves. It was still tasty but not as good as the last batch. But DH said that he preferred this batch and that it made better sandwiches. Gofigure!

Here is what they looked like. The cookies are the peanut butter ones I made with the left over flour.



What's next
I think I will go back to the first recipe and try to perfect that one before moving on to something different. That way I can compare any changes that I make to a standard recipe.