My mother made this often when we were growing up, and we all got to be involved, punching down the dough when we were very young, kneading as we got older, and finally making and baking it ourselves. I still make it quite a lot, and bring it in to work where it is always a hit.

Mom made an all-white version, and this version, which she called "half-wheat". It uses no flour other than wheat flour, so the name might be a little confusing: she had tried a whole-wheat version and was unsatisfied, so she cut back to half white flour and half whole-wheat flour.

This also works well as pan-rolls: with buttered hands, tear the dough into small buttery balls and set them loosely in a cake pan. When they have risen, bake for 30 minutes or so.

The ginger is not for flavor. Somewhere she found a reference to using ground ginger as a yeast improver. Now it is part of the lore, so I keep doing it although I have no evidence that it makes any difference.