Everyday Wheat Sandwich Bread

One of the things I do that I think blesses my family the most, even if they don't feel the same way, is the baking of our bread. While I LOVE and regularly bake my large batch of bread weekly, sometimes I feel like changing it up and baking a loaf that isn't 100% whole wheat. This is the loaf I choose when I feel like that.

Whole wheat baking can be a challenge. The results can be disappointing at best and better suited for masonry at worst. I'v baked my fair share of hard, lumpy, dry loaves of bread I assure you. But, after we made the purchase of a large quantity of wheat berries, I was determined to learn to use them- and use them well. No use having the berries if I can't make something edible, right? Exactly.

I didn't bake this loaf with all wheat flour today, but I have done so before and it's turned out just as well. When Enola from Paratus Familia Blog said this was wonderful wheat bread, she wasn't joking. Here is a link to her "simply perfect wheat bread" as well as a link to her more recent Versatile Wheat Berry post, which includes a Survival Cookie recipe you'll be seeing on this blog soon. I made some today and WOW! So good. More on that later, though.

I used white whole wheat flour today, but know that hard red wheat could be used as well. I prefer to grind my own flours now, so that is the first step in this process. Using my WonderMill, I milled up 4 cups of flour. I can say it again and again, but it really is true: freshly ground flours taste so amazingly good. If you ever get the chance to grind your own DO IT! You will be floored (and sometimes, if you aren't careful floured too!).

Everyday Wheat Sandwich Bread

• 3 cups warm water
• 2 Tablespoons yeast
• 1/3 cup honey

Mix and add:

• 5 cups unbleached white flour

Let sit for 30 minutes to sponge. The mixture will get bubbly and increase in volume. 

Mix in:

• 3 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cups honey (in addition to the earlier amount)
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2-4 cups white wheat flour

Knead in enough flour to create a smooth dough without being too dry. Knead for 10 minutes; cover and let raise until double (about an hour). Punch down dough and shape into loaves. Place into greased 8x4 inch loaf pans and let raise until the top of the loaf raises above the edge of the pan by about 1 inch. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Brush tops of loaves with melted butter for a soft, buttery crust. Yield: 3 loaves

Another bread recipe for my files that meets all of my bread criteria: Soft, light and delicious. It's just as delicious for toast or sandwiches as it is for bread pudding and french toast. Truly a wonderful wheat bread recipe, indeed!

This recipe is linked up to Little House Living's Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange