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. Step-by-step photos illustrating how to make this bread are available at Bakers’ Banter, our King Arthur blog.
1/2 cup (4 ounces) lukewarm milk
1/2 cup (4 ounces) lukewarm water
1/3 cup (2 3/4 ounces) orange juice
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup (1 3/8 ounces) Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup (1 5/8 ounces) potato flour or 3/4 cup (1 5/8 ounces) dried potato flakes
3 3/4 cups (15 ounces) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour* or Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
*What IS white wheat flour, anyway? This is the #1 question our customers ask. First of all, it’s 100% whole wheat. It’s not "white" flour; it’s not bleached. It’s wheat berries ground into flour–nothing added, nothing removed. Period.
That said, white wheat is a different strain of wheat than traditional red wheat. Introduced to the market about 20 years ago, it’s milder flavored and lighter colored, and produces baked goods that reflect those attributes. Here at King Arthur, we substitute white whole wheat in many of our baked goods without anyone being the wiser; thus it’s great for those who say they don’t like whole wheat.
Combine all of the ingredients, and mix and knead–by hand, mixer, or bread machine–until you’ve made a smooth, fairly stiff (but not dry) dough. the dough won't feel particularly supple; it'll feel more clay-like. Don't worry, this is characteristic of 100% whole wheat yeast dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it’s expanded a bit. It won’t have doubled in size, but should feel puffy when you squeeze it. 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.a
Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan. Gently shape the dough into a smooth log. Place it in the pan, smooth side up, cover the pan, and allow the loaf to rise for about 60 to 90 minutes, till it crowns over the rim of the pan by 1" to 1 1/2" or so. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the bread for 10 minutes. Lightly tent it with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 25 to 30 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. 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.
Yield: 1 loaf.
Note: Increase the water by 2 tablespoons if you live in a very dry place; or if you’re making this bread during the winter, when flour tends to be drier.
Reviews
03/14/2010
I am an experienced bread maker, and I cannot fathom what went wrong with this. I followed the recipe to the dot (using KA flour), it rose beautifully and smelled great. When I took it out of the pan it just fell apart. I now have bread chunks for stuffing or whole wheat croutons, I guess. What a waste of an afternoon and a lot of ingredients! Will not try again - I have made too many other delicious wh. wheat breads to waste my time/ingredients on this one again.
03/13/2010
Ok, the bread is out of the oven now. OMG!! It smells wonderful!! Even the grandkids smell it and are saying how good it smells. High compliments indeed! I am going to wait to cut into it because I must. We will have to enjoy the smell all night. Darn ;)
03/13/2010
I just want to say that if this turns out as well as I pray it will, this could be the answer to my prayers. I am the grateful recipient of 60 lbs. of beautiful WW flour from Montana. I am a novice baker with extremely high hopes of my endeavors! But how does one use up that much WW flour before it goes rancid, I ask you folks?! Will let you know how this goes and if it will help me get going. The dough was so nice to handle, smelled Heavenly, and now, the second rise has taken only 30 minutes to do so. (I just put it in the oven and actually had to tap it down a little so it wasn't so high!) I can't wait. I will let you know how it all turned out tomorrow. (Am trying another recipe from America's Test Kitchens.) We'll see how each comes out. Cross your fingers, will you?
02/12/2010
LOVE this recipe, not only ridiculously easy but absolutely DELICIOUS!! I have found my new whole wheat recipe, no more buying bread at the store. I love your flour, I have been using it for about five years, I know how my baked goods are going to turn out, always consistent. Thank you, King Arthur!
02/03/2010
I was so looking forward to baking this bread after I read the other reviews, but my loaf barely rose at all and so didn't bake well. I used a mixer, and I'm at 3000 ft., so I added the extra water. Oh, and I used KAF instant yeast. My dough was very clay like and didn't look right - resembled cookie dough, actually. I will try again and substitute the KAF bread flour for 1/2 the flour, as recommended by another reviewer.
We are disappointed in the results as well. It may be best to call our baker's hotline directly at 802-649-3717 and we will problem solve with you. Irene @
01/26/2010
I purchased a Zoji a few weeks ago and tried this bread. The interior and top crust were wonderful using whole wheat white flour on the Whole Wheat Light Crust mode. But--- the sides and bottom had a very dark thick crust. I tried again using the Basic Light Crust mode with a only mildly improved crust. I could prepare it on Dough mode and do the final rise and bake in my oven, but it would be nice to get it right in the machine, then I would give it a 5+* rating.
11/11/2009
We were on vacation traveling from Quebec City to Woodstock, VT and found the KAF Center on the Vermont map. Knowing of KAF from your sponsorship of cooking shows on PBS made a stop. My wife and I were blown away. Bought several flours including your whole wheat. Made my first loaf exactly according to the recipe on the bag and voila, a perfect loaf of bread the first time. I have had commercially made whole wheat loaves that were not nearly as good. French baguettes are my next challenge.
10/29/2009
OK, so the first time I made this one I was a little unhappy with how dense it seemed. Still, it sliced well and was a good sandwich bread (my kids liked it - and they usually HATE whole wheat bread). I tinkered with it a little by exchanging 1 cup of whole wheat with 1 cup of KAF white bread flour. That one little cup made the end product just that much silkier. So I'm happy, although frankly, my kids couldn't tell the difference!
Thanks for sharing your journey with this recipe. Some bakers use recipes as a guide and tinker with them to suit their needs - no permission from the recipe police required! We're glad this worked for you and your family. Irene @ KAF
05/15/2009
This is a wonderful wheat loaf! My loaf had a fine, rich, yet dense texture and taste - like a cross between white and wheat. Great for toasting in the morning.
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