The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Looking for whole wheat bread recipe

wunderlong88's picture
wunderlong88

Looking for whole wheat bread recipe

Hello.  I'm fairly new to bread baking.  I've ordered a Grainmaker but won't have it until late Dec.So in the mean time I'm using Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour and Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and Artisan Flour. I also have a couple of books ordered to help me learn and to hopefully get some good recipes.

But for now I would love a good sandwich bread (lighter, not heavier) loaf recipe that is uses whole wheat/whole wheat pastry (either or both).  Some artisan flour is ok too.  I am overwhelmed when looking online for recipes.  They either call for ingredients I don't have (I have a pretty well stocked kitchen), aren't whole wheat, or are too complicated.  

I would also like a light dinner roll recipe using whole wheat pastry flour primarily.

What are some good recipes from this site (or otherwise) that you might recommend?

Thank you!

 

 

cfraenkel's picture
cfraenkel

Whole wheat flour is by nature more dense than all purpose flour, so if you're looking for something light and fluffy like you'd get in a bakery you should realize that usually they are a small percentage whole wheat, not ALL whole wheat.You won't really get a "light" whole wheat bread without either sifting a LOT (ie: not really whole wheat any more) or adding some bread flour.  That said, I bake with all whole grains most of the time, before I steer you toward a recipe - sourdough or yeast?

 

wunderlong88's picture
wunderlong88

Yeast....and thank you for your explanation.  I did realize this but thought some whole wheat breads seem to be lighter and others heavier/denser and I prefer toward the lighter. 

Thank you so much!

gavinc's picture
gavinc

I've made Debra Winks 100% whole-wheat sandwich bread published in Hamelman's Bread 3rd edition. It's fabulous and soft. I've made it a few times and tweaked the formula to suit our local flour (Australia).

1st attempt using my home stone milled wheat: 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf - Debra Wink | The Fresh Loaf

3rd attempt was modified to suit bought wholemeal flour (Australia): 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf - 3rd Attempt | The Fresh Loaf

I am continuing to tweak the formula to suit a loaf pan that gives me a good sandwich loaf profile. Hope this helps

Cheers,

Gavin

DoughKnob's picture
DoughKnob

For the lightest 100% WW bread, use flour made from hard white spring wheat. King Arthur makes a hard white ww flour, as does Montana Wheat, who calls theirs Prairie Gold. It is lighter in color than typical red, and a little milder in flavor as well.  Here is a simple recipe from King Arthur that gets good reviews and uses their own white whole wheat flour, which should be widely available.  https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-100-whole-wheat-bread-recipe

If you want red wheat, hard red spring wheat tends to produce lighter results than hard red winter wheat. It has to do with the ratio of the two proteins that combine to form the gluten.  If you can find Montana Wheat products in your area, they call their red spring wheat Bronze Chief. They sell the whole berries, whiter or red  in 25# bags, for when your mill arrives.

If you have a digital scale, I would highly recommend using weights rather than volume measurements. especially for flour, as the weight of a cup of flour will vary greatly depending on humidity, and how tightly packed the flour becomes over time. If you don't have a scale handy, be sure to fluff or sift the flour before measuring.

Good luck,

Dan