Ingredients
Creating delicious wheat bread is easy using this 100 Percent Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe made from a refrigerated bread dough technique.
100 Percent Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe
Whole wheat flour has a nutty, slightly bitter flavor, and it caramelizes easily, yielding a rich, brown loaf. Milk and honey are tenderizers, and their sweetness complements the bitter notes. Although we’ve showcased a loaf-pan method here, this dough also makes lovely free-form loaves on a baking stone.
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
5 tbsp neutral-flavored oil, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
6 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
Directions
- • Mix the yeast, salt, honey, oil, milk and water in a 5-quart bowl or other container.
• Mix in the flour using a spoon, high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook.
• Cover loosely, and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top); about 2 to 3 hours.
• The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next several days.
• On baking day, lightly grease a 9-by-4-by-3-inch loaf pan. Using wet hands, scoop out a 1 1/2 pound (cantaloupe-sized) hunk of dough. Keeping your hands wet (it’ll be sticky!), quickly shape it into a ball following the method in Step 5 of The Master Recipe (see above).
• Drop the loaf into the prepared pan. You’ll want enough dough to fill the pan slightly more than half-full.
• Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Flour the top of the loaf and slash, using the tip of a serrated bread knife.
• 5 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with an empty broiler tray on another shelf.
• Place the loaf in the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and quickly close the door. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm.
• Allow to cool completely before slicing in order to cut reasonable sandwich slices.
Makes 3 1 1/2 pound loaves.
Highly Recommended by the MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors:
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, LLC, Copyright 2007). The MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors whole-heartedly offer a big fat stamp of approval to this incredible cookbook, which proves hands-down that there is enough time in life for baking, and that baking at home can save you hundreds every year. The recipes reprinted here give you just a taste of the numerous treats you’ll be able to create — deftly! — by mastering one simple technique. Check it out for all kinds of troubleshooting tips and many more mouthwatering recipes (Almond Cream Pastry, Chocolate-Raisin Babka or Homemade Beignets, anyone?).
Find the Master Boule Bread Recipe used in this recipe here: Master Boule Bread Recipe.
Read about the five minute homemade bread recipe here: Five Minutes a Day for Fresh-Baked Bread.
This 100 Percent Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Recipe uses an easy no-kneed refrigerated bread dough that can be used for a variety of different recipes.
