white whole wheat sandwich bread

A few years ago I made a New Year's Resolution to learn how to bake bread. Through a lot of trial and error, I managed to figure it out (even before I had the help of an electric stand mixer) and, as I did so, tried out a lot of different recipes. Some were delicious, while others I couldn't for the life of me get to work right. In all my practicing, though, I was never able to find a recipe for a good, whole wheat sandwich loaf.

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My family eats a lot of sandwiches, and because they do, I like to make sure I buy the healthiest bread I can find that still tastes good to all who have to eat it. When I shop for bread, I read all the labels to make sure that what I get is actually whole wheat and not made with cheap sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. About a year ago our Costco started carrying these loaves of white whole wheat bread that looked and tasted like Wonder bread but that were much healthier. We devoured it, and often found ourselves back at Costco more frequently than we would have liked just to replenish our supply.

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After months of pregnancy-induced aversions to being in the kitchen, I recently started feeling enough like my old self to get back in there. Because the scheduling complications of a larger family make it even more difficult than it already was to get to Costco on a regular basis, I decided that my first endeavor would be to bake a loaf of white whole wheat sandwich bread. I got online and searched around for a recipe.

The first recipe I tried turned out to be a real winner. It was uncomplicated to make, rose high enough to work well as sandwich bread, and was soft not only on the first day, but for the entire week it took us to consume the two loaves. Oh, and it tastes really, really good! I made it for the second time today and was so impressed with the results, I thought I'd share the recipe as I've made it here so that maybe it'll be a keeper at your house like it's quickly becoming at ours.

White Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
original recipe found here
yields 2 loaves

3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
4 tsp instant/quick-rise yeast
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2 1/2 cups very warm water (120-130 degrees F)
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1 tbsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
4 tsp lemon juice
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2 1/2 cups white wheat flour


1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the first three ingredients. Add water and mix for one minute, scraping down the bowl halfway through if necessary. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

2. Add salt, oil, honey, and lemon juice; beat for 1 minute. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Knead dough in mixer using the dough hook for 10-15 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and feels smooth rather than sticky.

3. Preheat oven to lukewarm by setting it to 350 degrees and then turning it back off after exactly 1 minute. Grease two nonstick bread pans. Turn dough onto a greased surface and divide evenly into two loaves. Roll each out into a narrow rectangle, then fold into thirds and tightly roll up, tucking the ends under. Place each loaf into the prepared pans.

4. Place pans in the warm oven and allow to rise for about 30 minutes, or until the dough is nicely domed above the tops of the pans. Without removing the pans from the oven, turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Remove immediately from pans and cool on a rack.