Breads and Pizza

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

With all of the focus on artisan breads, Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread might sound boring.  But there is nothing boring about this soft, pillowy, golden brown, yummy bread! My goal is to give you a recipe for a wholesome, nutritious, great tasting sandwich bread that (I promise) everyone can bake, even if you have never baked bread before. 

The bread is 25% whole wheat flour, so it is not a heavy, dense loaf.  I find it to be just “wheaty” enough.  You can, of course, change the ratio of all-purpose to whole-wheat if you prefer a heartier, denser loaf.  But I would not use more than 50% whole wheat flour without making other recipe adjustments.  This makes a large loaf, but you don’t have to worry about it getting stale!  It won’t last long!  If you don’t have a 10×5” loaf pan, I encourage you to buy one with the money you will save by baking your own sandwich bread!       

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Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread

The perfect loaf of everyday bread, ideal for sandwiches and toast. Soft and pillowy inside, just wheaty enough with a beautifully browned crust, and heavenly to eat!
Servings 1 10x5x3 Loaf
Author Rosalie D’Amico

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3½ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 cups lukewarm water
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • Shortening or butter for greasing pan
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter for brushing finished loaf

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, whisk flours, salt, sugar and instant yeast together.
  • Add the water and oil. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the liquid is absorbed, and a sticky dough ball is formed.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 to 1½ hours, until the dough has doubled in bulk.
  • Grease a 10” loaf pan generously with shortening or butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
  • Pre-heat oven to 400° convection.
  • Deflate the dough using an oiled spatula by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it toward the center. Rotate the bowl quarter turns as you deflate, turning the dough until you have a rough ball.
  • Turn the dough into the prepared pan and gently shape to fit the pan using the spatula or your fingers. The dough is very sticky so it might be helpful to sprinkle with a very small amount of flour over the top to keep fingers from sticking. Don’t overwork the dough. It doesn’t have to fit the pan perfectly.
  • Let the dough rise, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until it just crowns the top of the pan.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and the internal temperature is 190°.
  • Brush the finished loaf with melted butter. Cool at least 15 minutes before cutting.