I make it whenever I am out of sandwich bread. The swirls are a mistake, the result of me inadvertantly incorporating a tiny bit too much flour. I prefer shortening to butter because it seems to impart a softer crumb and slightly longer keeping quality.

This looks delicious!

Just made this and am eating it now. Wonderful bread; it turned out great! Now off to give some to my friends.

Eureka!!  Thank you AW for this recipe.  I have been trying for a long time to improve my (partial) whole wheat sandwich bread.  Since discovering this site, I have tried other recipes, baking with stone and steam, pre-fermenting, autolyse, adding salt at the end, adding more yeast, adding less yeast.  You name it, I've done it. Nothing worked satisfactory for me until I tried your recipe.  PERFECT.  A simple method, mixing and kneading by hand, just like I've always done.  No more feeding the birds and squirrels with rejects.  Now I've perfected my sandwich bread (I'll try increasing the WW flour until I have eventually have all WW) I will be more interested in expanding my horizon and taking full advantage of this wonderful site.

Just made this, and it is great. I was worried that the yeast amount may not be enough, but no worries. Everything turned out right.

I used bread flour, instead of ap.  And Kitchen Aid to do the mixing.

Hi,   I was looking around for a whole wheat sandwich bread and I found this post.   So I started with your recipe and modified it and made maybe the most delicious bread I have ever managed to make.    Here is what I did.   I used the ingredients as above with the following changes:  I used 302g whole wheat starter instead of yeast, I cut the honey to 1/4 cup, I used vegetable oil instead of shortening, and I threw in 2 oz of powdered milk.   The final change was an accident.   I meant to put in the required 374 g of whole wheat flour, but instead I poured in rye.   When I figured out what I had done, I was only able to remove some of the rye, so I ended up with 135g whole wheat and 239g rye.   Then since I have been making Hamelman's various sourdough breads, I automatically went into his methods.   So I mixed for a couple of minutes, then let rise with two stretch and folds for 2 hours then shaped as two batards, and let rise for almost 2.5 hours, then cooked for 1/2 hour in my WFO (that last part is not Hamelman).   Anyhow, usually when I just mess around with bread, instead of following very specific instructions, it ends out getting thrown into the woods for the coyotes to enjoy.   But surprise, surprise, this came out both very delicious and pretty too.   Anyhow, thanks for getting me started.   I still want to make a whole wheat sandwich bread, so maybe next time I'll just follow your recipe to the letter and see how it goes.  -Varda

Varda,

Thanks so much for sharing your variation on the original loaf! I'm so happy you had success and the will to play around. Thanks for sharing!

-Arlene

Dear friends, I wanted to let you know that my Facebook page was hacked so the step-by-step instructions are no longer there.

Thanks so much for the recipe. I made two loaves today and am extremely pleased with the results. One loaf is in the freezer, the other we'll use for sandwiches this week. First time I've made whole wheat bread !

Hi all, please try refriending me on FB if you like. Had to take the page down and bring it back up again. I just reposted the pix on how to make this bread.

Hi, I'm a total newbie at bread baking. I have only made the "Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day" whole wheat bread recipe until last weekend when I decided to try and make bread that required kneading. The 5 minute bread recipe was OK but a little dense and not in a sandwich loaf form. So I made this recipe. It was a lot more dense than that 5 minute recipe. I think the problem could be any number of things-

1) the type of wheat flour I'm using

2) the amount of time I'm letting the bread rise (sometimes I don't think I let it sit long enough to rise the 1st or second time, because I am not experienced enough to eyeball it and know for sure that it has "doubled" in size etc.)

3) I didn't knead it enough (I used the kitchen aid to knead, how do I know when it's done?)

4) my house is too cold. It's winter here in WI and sometimes the house is a chilly 62 degrees F (but not always)

5) ?????

Anyone patient enough to address these issues? I'd love to know what the most likely reason is for a dense loaf. It feels so heavy. It tastes good though!

Thanks in advance.

Measuring

Measuring is the most likely culprit. Stir your flour in the container where you store it and then lightly put it in the cup. Take a flat knife and level it off.

• Don't dump it from the bag
• Don't plunge the measuring cup into the flour and level it off
• Don't shake the flour down once it's in the cup
• Do use a measuring cup for solids not liquids

I'm sorry I haven't yet converted this recipe to weights.

Flour type

I use King Arthur Flour, which is the best I've found over the years. I also like Old Mill.

Doubling

You'll see for sure that it has doubled. If you have a glass bowl, use that so you can clearly see. Some people use plastic containers and put a rubber band where they started so they can see how far the dough has risen. There are containers you can buy too that have markings along the side. Your kitchen might be too cold. I sometimes turn the oven on for just a couple minutes, boil a cup of hot water in the microwave. Then I turn it off the oven, set the water in the oven and put my bread in there. (You do this while you are letting your dough rise.)

Kneading

You'll know when you are done kneading because the dough will be silky-looking. It will mostly pull away from the sides of the bowl. I have step-by-step instructions if you want to friend me on FB.

Stay with the baking thing. Take a class if you are frustrated. Read Bread by Hamelman. Stick with it. You can do it!

I was plunging the measuring cup, that may be my problem. Also, "stirring" the flour was confusing and I did it wrong. Thank you! I have a "warming zone" (a 5th burner on the stovetop) that I can put on to keep my stovetop warm but not too hot while my bread rises. One problem I had was that the dough didn't ever look "silky" as described by many online. I think it was the whole wheat flour. I bought new flour today from the neigbhorhood co-op. It's organice whole wheat I bought in bulk, but I didn't note the brand. If you ever get around to converting the measurements that would be great, I do have a digital kitchen scale. Thanks so much for all your tips! I will defnitely not give up. One of my New Year's resolutions was "never buy another loaf of bread". Almost $4 a loaf x 2 loaves a week is making my wallet hurt!

I baked this today.  I used a combination of molasses and honey in place of the sugar, and forgot to reduce the water proportionately.  I had to bake it longer and it was very moist, but still a good texture.  I suggest reducing the water by 1/8 cup if you use 1/4 cup liquid sweetener.

Excellent flavor!!

Thanks.

Glenn

Arlene--

I used Brer Rabbit brand "Mild Flavor".  It added a subtle touch of dark flavor, almost chocolatey.  

I'm not fond of flax seed (they taste a bit bitter to me), but I think toasted sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds would be a great addition.  As would toasted wheat germ.

I'm sure I'll be tweaking this recipe in the future.  My Chief Taster likes it.

Glenn

I just enjoyed a warm slice of this week's sandwich bread, one loaf of which a made into cinnamon bread. After rolling the bread out to shape the loaf I generously coated it with melted butter then spread cinnamon sugar over the butter before rolling it up jellyroll style. I had a bit of trouble sealing the seam and ends because of the butter but did manage to get a pretty tight closure. I baked it as usual and it turned out beautifully. Perfect for another snow storm here in Michigan!

This is a great recipe. I used only 1/4C @ Canola Oil and honey, 4 C Red Mill Whole Wheat and about 3 1/4 High gluten flour. Not sure if mine didn't rise like yours due to the alterations or pan sizes [10x6"]?

 This morning I had the best toast ever, the loaf was still soft and so yummilicious!

BTW, The FB link isn't working......

So glad to know that this recipe is foolproof. Saw Red Mill's on sale yesterday on my way to get some. Thanks!

Bob's Red Mill has great flavor. I bet you are in for a nutty treat. Amori's turned out good so I bet yours will too! Have fun. Let us all know how it turns out!

and toast and spread lightly with butter.  My variation on it came out delish!  Thanks for a great, flexible recipe.  I used white WW flour (all three cups) about 4.5 cups of all purpose, canola oil and a mix of brwon sugar, white sugar and molasses that was just greater than the 1/2 cup.  I let the WW absorb some of the water for about 10 minutes, that may be why I used less flour.  My pans are likely bigger (They are not marked and I was too lazy to measure them) but the rise was sufficient and my whole family loves it.   My pictures a re a little blurry - sorry - the crumb is great.  Thanks again, this will be regular around here.

Marni

PS - I think ground flax would be a nice addition.  I might also swap the white and whole wheat amounts.

I have been trying to find a good wheat sandwich bread recipe - thanks.  I'm going to try making it today.  Hopefully it won't be too chilly in my house, oh who cares I'm going to try it anyway.  I love the smell (and taste) of homemade bread.

Thanks for the recipe.  I love this site - so  many bakers with great ideas.

-Vanessa

After 6 loaves, this bread has new fans: Two friends, their children and my husband.

2 1/2 ts SAF yeast  [10 g]

1 Tb salt  [18 g]

1 1/2 Tb Vital Wheat gluten [last minute item]

5 C Bob's RM Whole Wheat Flour  [680 g]

2 C AP flour  [250 g]

2 3/4 C warm water  [600g]

1/4 C canola oil  [55 g]

1/4 C Organic buckheat honey  [55 g]

1/2 C additional AP flour for kneading/shaping

In the bowl of the KAid mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix first 8 ingredients to obtain a thick batter. Add 1 C of AP flour and continue mixing/adding flour to make a somewhat stiff but VERY pliable dough [2C].

Dust the counter lightly with flour; knead until smooth and springy. Place into a proofing container, cover and let rise until doubled in size [1 1/2 hours].

Degass and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Brush with egg yolk/cream mixture and cover loose with saran wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake loaves for 45 minutes. As AW mentioned, you might want to cover with foil the last 20 minutes if they start browning too soon.

AW for a Wonderful & Simple inspiration.........

I haven't had time to post my results until now.  The bread was fabulous!  Thank you for sharing that recipe.  It was soft, light and airy - just how we like our sandwich bread.  I'll definitely be making this more often.

-Vanessa

I have a wonderful Honey Whole Wheat that I make often but I am always open for a new version or a new bread so I just set this recipe to proof........Looking forward to tasting it........Thanks

A friend psted it on another site that I read so it is not really mine.  I can just verify that it's a wonderful bread....Very similar to this one or probably any ww Sandwich loaf.  but thanks to my friend Annie, I'd be happy to share it......I can't say where she got it from......although I admit that I have made it with brown sugar and more or less my own mixture of flour...It's never failed me yet.I have made it also by just tossing it all in the mixer or the bread machine without all the heating up....

HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
INGREDIENTS:
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 pkg. active dry yeast
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp. oil
• 1 egg
PREPARATION:
In large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, the yeast, and salt and mix well.
In saucepan, heat milk, water, honey, and oil until a thermometer reads 120-130 degrees F (warm)
Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine. Beat this batter for 3 minutes. Then, gradually stir in rest of whole wheat flour and enough remaining all-purpose four to form a firm dough.
Sprinkle work surface with flour and knead dough, adding more flour if necessary, for 5-8 minutes until smooth and satiny. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning the dough in the bowl to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, until double in bulk.
Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll or press each piece of dough to a 14x7" rectangle. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll with each turn. Pinch edges and ends to seal and place dough, seam-side down, into greased 9x5" bread pans, making sure short ends of bread are snugly fitted against the sides of the pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until the dough fills the corners of the pans and is double in bulk, 30-40 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, until bread is golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. I like to brush the bread with butter when it's still hot from the oven for a softer crust.

Here's a picture of the bread in the original posted recipe of this thread...I got a weird oven spring from the slash but it tastes wonderful.....My Husband agrees that it is another good one......I suspect that it was just a little under proofed and that caused the funny "large" slash.

Thank you SO much for this!  I've made about 50 loaves of whole wheat and this is the first one that's actually real bread.  I really love the roll-up instruction before putting the dough in the loaf pan, too; it makes such a difference.  (I was idiotically trying to form the dough into the proper shape before, but it would always shrink and I'd have to stretch it, and would shrink again.  What a dope!  The rectangle-fold method is so great.)

Anyway, I've been fine with all kinds of other breads, but whole wheat was really tripping me up.  You've given me a keeper at last, and thank you once again!  Delicious.

I've made a few recipes from this site in the past, but have never posted. According to the comments and all the changes people have made, this recipe seems almost foolproof, so I thought I'd give it a shot!

Here are the changes I've made so far.. It is in the first rise right now :)

~1.5 cups Red Mill 100% whole wheat (didn't quite have enough!) and the rest is Red Mill unbleached white flour. I used turbinado sugar instead of brown, and butter instead of shortening. Also, I used a poolish from last night to hopefully get better flavor out of the white flour. After combining the ingredients, I let them autolyze for about half an hour before kneading. The dough was still a bit difficult to work with, so I sprinkled some more flour on it and kneaded it in.

I'll update with pictures when finished!

Carll,

I'm glad you had success with the loaf. If you try the recipe with less sweetener, would you let me know how it turns out? I am trying to reduce my sugar and dairy intake and would love to know how this recipe can be made better.