Recipe: Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
An adaptation of Cook’s Illustrated’s whole-wheat American loaf, using a bit of rye flour to extend the loaf’s shelf life.
Makes one 9-inch loaf.
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook
- Bowl cover or plastic wrap
- 2 loaf pans
- Digital scale
Ingredients
- 323 g bread flour, plus extra for work surface
- 100 g whole-wheat flour
- 100 g rye flour
- 2 tsp. table salt
- 1 C milk
- ⅓ C water
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp. honey
- 2 1/4 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast
- Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain heat 5 minutes, then turn off oven heat.
- Mix flours and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook.
- Mix milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast in 1-pint Pyrex liquid measuring cup.
- Turn machine to low and slowly add liquid. When dough comes together, increase speed to medium (setting number 4 on a KitchenAid mixer) and mix until dough is smooth and satiny, stopping machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook if necessary, about 10 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead to form smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
- Replace dough in work bowl. Cover bowl and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Form dough into loaf by gently pressing the dough into a rectangle, one inch thick and no wider than the length of the loaf pan. Next, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn dough seam side up and pinch it closed. Place dough seam side down in greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan and press gently so dough touches all four sides of pan.
- Cover pan; set aside in warm spot until dough almost doubles in size, 40 minutes.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing empty loaf pan on bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil.
- Remove cover from loaf pan. If desired, slash dough along center length. Place pan in oven, immediately pouring heated water into empty loaf pan; close oven door.
- Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted at angle from short end just above pan rim into center of loaf reads 195 degrees, about 40 to 50 minutes.
- Remove bread from pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.