honey whole wheat sandwich bread

by Stacy

Are you sick of bread yet? No? Good.

Are you scared to make your own bread? Don’t be. In fact, go make this right now. It’s delicious and easy!

honey whole wheat sandwich bread

For a while now I have been using Peter Reinhart’s light wheat bread recipe as my go-to sandwich loaf. But no more! The light wheat was about 1/3 wheat and 2/3 white bread. I like wheat bread! It wasn’t wheaty enough for me. But his whole wheat recipe is a 2-day project. Meh.

Lucky for us there is King Arthur Flour‘s website. It is chock full of deliciousness waiting to happen! Their blog is also great. But their 100% whole wheat bread is so easy, light, and delicious. I had toast for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch just so I could eat more of this bread!

The key to soft whole wheat bread is adding sugar (honey, molasses, or maple syrup here) and fat (oil). This bread has a robust flavor and pillowy texture. It’s a fairly soft and sticky dough to keep it light. The only change I made was using 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of water because I omitted the dry milk. It worked great, I just recommend warming up the milk to room temperature first. Of the sweetener choices, I used honey.

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast, or 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 1/3 cups (10 1/2 ounces) room temperature water
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) vegetable oil
1/4 cup (3 ounces) honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup (1 ounce) nonfat dried milk
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients and mix with a paddle attachment until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Switch to a dough hook and knead for five minutes until dough becomes soft and supple, or turn the dough out and knead by hand for 6-8 minutes. Shape dough into a ball, transfer to a lightly-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until puffy but not doubled, about 60 minutes.

After an hour or so, flatten dough into a rectangle and roll it into an 8-inch-long log, sealing the seam on the bottom. Place the log in a lightly-greased 8.5×4.5 inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about an hour or until the dough has crowned about an inch over the lip of the pan.

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, tenting the bread with tinfoil after 20 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom, or the middle should read 190F on a thermometer. Remove from pan and allow loaf to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing or storing.

honey whole wheat sandwich bread

Submitted to YeastSpotting, hosted this week at imafoodblog.

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Evie July 15, 2009 at 9:11 am

LUKEWARM WATER!!!! 😉

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Annette July 15, 2009 at 9:20 am

Oh, I am so going to make a loaf as soon as I get home!

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stacy July 15, 2009 at 10:39 am

Yes, Eve, lukewarm water. I have edited it to reflect that. =)

Annette: Do! It’s so good. I think I mentioned it in the post, but it is a little stickier than other doughs I’ve worked with, but that’s what keeps it from getting too dense. Enjoy!

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Herpie July 16, 2009 at 4:31 pm

Where are the kitty pics? I am PISSED

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nick July 17, 2009 at 9:09 am

This does sound: “delicious and easy!”

Its too bad for me that I found out a couple years back that most of my belly aches were from eating whole wheat that I am allergic too. Stupid allergies. Nothing is better on a sandwich than a loaf like you have up there!

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Mimi July 17, 2009 at 10:55 am

The texture of that bread looks so good!

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Stefanie July 17, 2009 at 12:10 pm

Honey and whole wheat – sounds like the perfect recipe for me!

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stacy July 18, 2009 at 7:20 am

Stefanie, the molasses or maple syrup sound good, too, but nostalgia wins – my mom always makes hers with honey.

Mimi, it’s so fluffy and light! I like a nice hearty bread, but this one almost feels like cheating.

Thanks for stopping by! Both of your YeastSpotting submissions looked great, too!

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stacy July 17, 2009 at 10:39 am

Herpie, kitty pics are up, just for you! Ninja helped pick them out.

Nick, that’s terrible! Do you use alternative flours? I suppose it’s better than a tummyache, but still…

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Birch July 21, 2009 at 7:31 am

Looks like Mommy bread.

Which I failed to grab a slice of while we were there.

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stacy July 21, 2009 at 12:11 pm

It’s a little fluffier than Mom’s bread. If I come to visit you this summer should I make her bake you a loaf?

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Alena October 17, 2009 at 12:08 pm

It looks yummy and would like to try it. I have not made bread with any sweeteners thinking it will turn sweet which is what I don’t want, so I am wondering if this will be sweet with the amount of honey stated above or is it just enough to give it the softness it needs?

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stacy October 17, 2009 at 12:38 pm

It is yummy! Mostly the sugar gives the yeast extra food. It does add a touch of sweetness, but not dessert-like or sugary. You could also use molasses, maple syrup, agave nectar… We use it for sandwiches all the time.

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