Happy New Year!
The boys have been off of school for the last couple of weeks and school starts back tomorrow. Which means it’s time to get geared up for the ‘get up and make breakfast and lunches’ routine again. Which means that sandwich bread needs to exist in this house. Which means that someone around here has to bake because I can’t bring myself to buy loaves from the store anymore.
The recipe I use is adapted from fivehearthome and you can find the original recipe here.
Wheat bread is tricky. I tried a lot of different recipes but with some tweaks, this is the recipe we LOVE. Most of my tweaking to the recipe was done to get that soft, chewy, bendy texture with each slice. Who wants a slice of homemade bread that crumbles when you fold it in half? Not me. So in addition to including vital wheat gluten I also added non-fat dry milk. I also swapped some of the white whole wheat flour by using AP flour to help the structure. Perfect every time!
Notes:
- Vital Wheat Gluten + Non-fat Dry Milk = soft and bendy texture. Don’t skip! I get my vital wheat gluten from a local health food store or order it here if it’s not in stock
; I use Baker’s Special Dry Milk
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; I use 
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- I measure flour by loosening the flour then scoop it up with a scooper and sprinkle into the measuring cup and level off. Does that make sense? Or use a scale. But I’m too lazy to be that precise.
- Adding something acidy helps take away that strong wheat taste. I use orange juice, but when I’m out I use lemon juice.
- You’ll want to mix the first 4 ingredients with the water then let rest for 20 minutes before moving on. This helps the wheat flour absorb the liquid better. After that, add the remaining ingredients and knead.
- I am terrible at dividing the dough evenly in half, so I always use a scale.
- I shape the loaf using King Arthur’s method. You can see kind of what I mean in the pics below or click to watch this handy dandy video. It’s under 2 minutes long, but makes a world of difference in not getting those unwanted tunnels. Transfer into 2 greased bread pans to rise, bake, and enjoy.
Try it – you’ll never want to buy store bought again.
- 3½ cups white whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup vital wheat gluten
- ½ cup non-fat dry milk
- 4 tsp INSTANT yeast
- 2¾ cups warm water (115-120 degrees)
- 1 tbsp salt
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup honey (slightly warmed)
- 4 tsp orange juice (or lemon juice)
- 2½ cups all purpose flour (substitute with wheat, if you'd prefer)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, wheat gluten, dry milk, and yeast.
- Add water and mix together using the paddle attachment for one minute.
- Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Add salt, oil, warmed honey, and orange juice and beat for 1 minute.
- Slowly add 2½ cups of all purpose flour just until all is incorporated
- Knead using the dough hook for 6-8 minutes
- Using a scale, divide dough evenly into 2 pieces
- Turn dough onto a greased surface, shape into loaves, and place into two greased non-stick bread pans. Gently press dough into the corners.
- Cover loaves with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot until crest is about 1 inch over the pan (about 30-45 minutes).
- Bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
- Once baked, spread butter over tops of warm loaves and let cool before slicing.