100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Moist, easy to slice, and 100% whole wheat?no, these are NOT contradictory phrases! This whole-wheat loaf is the ideal everyday bread, perfect for sandwiches, toast, and French toast or grilled cheese sandwiches. Read our blog about this bread, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Our guarantee: This bread will rise 3 1/2" to 4" tall at its center, and will have a moderately fine, even texture inside. It'll taste strongly of whole wheat...
- 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water*
- 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 5 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
- 3/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes
- 3 3/4 cups King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
- *Use 2 tablespoons less water in summer (or in a humid environment), 2 tablespoons more in winter (or in a dry climate).
Directions
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1) Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes, till it becomes puffy. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step. |
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3) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise till it's expanded and looks somewhat puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Note that dough kneaded in a bread machine will rise faster and higher than bread kneaded in a mixer, which in turn will rise faster and higher than one kneaded by hand. So if you're kneading by hand, you may want to let the dough rise longer than 90 minutes. |
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6) Bake the bread for 10 minutes. Lightly tent it with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove it from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack. |
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7) Run a stick of butter over the top of the hot loaf, if desired, for a softer crust. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 20 mins.
- Baking time:
- 40 mins. to 45 mins.
- Total time:
- 4 hrs
- Yield:
- one 9" x 5" loaf, 18 servings
- Recipe comments (57) »
Tips from our bakers
- Don't bother heating the orange juice to lukewarm; you can use it straight out of the fridge. The orange juice won't add its own flavor to the bread, but will mellow any potential bitterness in the whole wheat.
- If you're kneading bread by hand, it's tempting to keep adding flour till the dough is no longer sticky. Resist the temptation! The more flour you add while you're kneading, the heavier and drier your final loaf will be.
- The amount of liquid you use to make the "perfect" dough will vary with the seasons. Flour is like a sponge; it absorbs water during the humid days of summer, and dries out during the winter. Your goal should be making the dough as it's described (e.g., cohesive, soft but not sticky), rather than sticking religiously to the amount of liquid.
- When making yeast bread, let the dough rise to the point the recipe says it should, e.g., "Let the dough rise till it's doubled in bulk." Rising times are only a guide; there are so many variables in yeast baking (how you kneaded the dough; what kind of yeast you used) that it's impossible to say that bread dough will ALWAYS double in bulk in a specific amount of time.
| Nutrition Facts | |
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| Serving Size 1 slice (55g)
Servings Per Batch 18 |
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| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 140 | Calories from Fat 35 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 4g |
| Saturated Fat | 2g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 10mg |
| Sodium | 230mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 23g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4g |
| Sugars | 4g |
| Protein | 5g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
11/08/2009
Absolutely LOVE this bread. Wonderful flavor and texture. I do substitute Canola Oil for the butter, and it works fine. I have never used the potato flakes in the recipe, because I don't keep them on hand and keep forgetting to buy them. Since the bread is perfect as is, I don't plan to add the flakes. I plan to buy the bread thermometer, as I underbaked it recently by mistake (even though I have been making bread for many years). I "discovered" King Arthur Flour within the past year and it is the only flour I use now.
11/05/2009
I just finished making this recipe. The bread is wonderful, soft & moist, with a lovely whole wheat flavor. I kneaded the dough in my Zojirushi bread machine and used 2-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour with 1 cup regular whole wheat flour. I had to add about 6 tablespoons extra water, so next time I will start with 1/4 cup less flour. I also added about 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten when measuring the flour. My only problem was letting it proof a little too long after shaping. Next time I'll put it in the oven when the dough has just barely risen over the top of the pan. The oven rise is quite strong, and the bread overinflated and fell in on itself a bit. Not a major problem but one I want to correct in the future. All in all, I'm very happy with this recipe. The slices are comparable to the soft 100% whole wheat bread you find in grocery stores but without the laundry list of strange ingredients.
10/09/2009
texture is wonderful and the flavor. I leave the orange juice out and replace it with milk sometimes. I happen to like the flavor of whole wheat. Having a bit of trouble with the loaf while rising. The top of the dough starts to split like it's blowing out - it reminds me of a stretch mark during pregnancy. How can i prevent this from happening? It doesn't happen when i make white bread.
This split on the top is usually an indication of too much flour during kneading or shaping. Use only pinches or enough flour to handle the dough. Be sure to heat the milk to disable the protease, which will inhibit yeast growth. If these tips don't help, call the Baker's Hotline at 800-827-6836 and we'll problem solve with you! Irene @ KAF
10/07/2009
Bread looks just like the picture. Taste is remarkable. I'm going to try the recipe again to see if using oil, instead of butter, will make a difference.
10/01/2009
I'm new at making bread, and I am very bad at multitasking, which is what I was doing while the bread was rising. I let it rise for about 90 min the second rise and the bread tastes great, except that the only way I can eat it is to scoup up the crumbles. Once sliced, it completely fell apart! What did I do wrong?
It rose too much before it was baked. It also may have had too much flour in it. Make sure you fluff up the flour in the container, sprinkle it into your measuring cup until over full, then level it off with a straight edge.Practice makes perfect. I've found a timer that I can keep with me to be invaluable when my multitasking includes baking. Mary @KAf < /strong>
09/30/2009
Oh my goodness!!! So yummy!! Very easy to make. I am first time bread maker and I was incredibly surprised how well this turned out!! Very healthy!! I felt like a real wife:) Thank you so much!!
09/23/2009
I made this bread in my bread machine, but baked it in the oven in a 1 1/2 lb. loaf pan. It made a smaller slice, more manageable and a better serving size. It is a fabulous recipe. I made it a week ago, a have a few slices left and it's still moist. I don't feel the need to try any other whole wheat bread recipe, I've found the best!
09/12/2009
I've been making this bread weekly for the past several months. I've tried it with Traditional Whole Wheat Flour, White Whole Wheat Flour, a mix of the two. Prefer the heartier taste of the traditional, even though it rises less than the white. Still, searching for a slightly lighter loaf I tried 2/3 Traditional Whole Wheat Flour, and 1/3 King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour. We love it! Added 1/2 cup Harvest Grains Blend for interest. And after some practice have concluded that without stand mixer or bread machine (no space in small city kitchen), my hand kneading has to go for 10 long minutes. After 8 I'm bored, but I know the extra couple minutes will improve texture and rise, so I stick with it. Our sandwiches have never been better. Even my 80-year-old lifelong bread-baking aunt thinks this is better than any whole (or mostly whole!) wheat sandwich loaf she's ever made!
09/12/2009
This is the second time I have tried to make this bread and failed. This time I proofed the active yeast, I used an instant thermometer to make certain the fluids were in the correct range. It was a very rainy day and so I decreased the water as directed. The dough NEVER came together so during the kneading I added the 2 TABL of water and still nothing happened. I turned it out anyway and tried to gather it together by hand. The dough just stayed a lump for 90 minutes and I gave up and threw it out. Frustration!!
Jane, I am sorry to hear of your difficulty. Please call us: 800-827-6836. We will be happy to assist you with this. Frank @ KAF.
09/03/2009
Although I would recommend the bread, it is almost sweet and cake like. If someone was looking for a hearty, whole wheat bread, this isn't it. I think the butter, potato flakes and all the milk made it like a quick bread. The only thing different I did was to ad 4 teas of gluten. The dough was crumbly and had to be mixed in the bowl for awhile before it could be kneaded on the counter. I tented it as called for it the recipe, and it didn't brown well so I brushed it with milk and put it back in the oven. It would go good with grill cheese. I won't make it again because I like whole wheat bread to taste like bread and not like a quick bread.
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