Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

We made it!  Mt. Yale - 14,199 feet

     Happy Labor Day everyone!!  I hope you all are enjoying the long weekend and the beautiful weather (hopefully where you live you have had beautiful weather).  It has been a beautiful weekend full of fun, family, friends, and of course food!  One highlight of my weekend was climbing Mt. Yale with the greatest, most entertaining group of friends one could ask for.  Not only was it a beautiful and inspiring hike BUT we also indulged in some delicious sandwiches at the summit, hence the inspiration for this post.  Let me tell you, food (and beer) just tastes better on top of a mountain.  Cheers!

     As I believe I have mentioned previously, my goal this fall is to go without buying bread. This means a lot of experimenting, particularly in order to make sandwich bread!!  This Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread is a recipe I stumbled across on a blog called High Altitude Bakes.  I halved the recipe and made some very minor changes, and it turned out delicious.

     The next time I make this particular recipe I may try to allow for longer rises (and potentially three rises instead of two).  The longer rise, particularly once the dough is in the loaf pan, will not only make for a richer, yeastier, breadier flavor but it will also make for larger sandwiches!  The texture of the grain was great for sandwiches and it held together nicely; however, the slice was about 2/3 the size of what I think of as a good size sammy.  My resulting loaf may have been more compact than the recipe I followed because I live at about 5,200 feet, and the recipe comes from someone living closer to 8,500 feet or so.  The difference in air pressure can make a big difference in the way the dough rises!

Enough rambling.

Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Yields 1 Loaf (or 2 if you double ingredients)

Ingredients:

• 1 C warm water 
• 1/2 T yeast
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/6 C honey
• 1/6 C canola oil
• 1 1/2 C bread flour
• 2 C whole wheat flour
• 2 T vital wheat gluten

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water for 5 minutes, or until it becomes foamy.
2. Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients in a stand mixer.  Add dissolved yeast and mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment until a ball forms.  *At this point, the dough should feel damp, but shouldn't be extremely sticky.*
3. Knead dough by hand for additional minute to form into a ball.
4. Place dough ball in medium, oiled bowl and cover with saran wrap.
5. Allow time for dough to rise and double in size - about one hour.  *This time will vary depending on altitude.  Shorter time for higher altitudes and longer for lower altitudes.  Use your best judgement!*
6. Punch dough down and knead briefly, only about one minute. Place in an oiled loaf pan, pushing the dough to the sides of the pan so it covers the bottom and cover with plastic wrap.  *At this point, my dough was feeling airy, easy to work with, slightly moist, but not wet, and not very sticky (if at all).  The dough has also gathered some of the oil from the bowl which helps with the stickiness factor.*
7. Once dough is covered in loaf pan, allow time to rise.  I allowed 34 minutes until the dough was just under the rim of the bread pan. The last 9 minutes of the 34 minutes, the bread was uncovered.  The next time around, I will probably have it rise slightly longer.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Remove saran wrap from loaf pan, if you haven't already, and bake for 20-30 minutes.  I baked this loaf for 23 minutes.  A finished loaf will be browned on top and will sound hollow when you knock on the top.  Try to do so without burning your hand!
10. Cool on a wire rack - or cut off a small piece to have warm with a little butter and some honey!

The texture of the bread had a nice medium and fluffy grain, and the crust was firm but not too too toothy.  The wheat and honey flavors were subtle but delicious, and the bread stays together nicely which is perfect for sammys!  ...and we take sandwiches quite seriously in this household!

Don't be afraid of making sandwich bread.  Give it a try!  I promise you will be happy!

Bon Appetit!!