This whole wheat sandwich bread is made from freshly milled wheat berries, yeast, milk, butter, salt, dry milk, potato flour, and orange juice. Yes, orange juice! Who knew?
After grinding the wheat berries in my gorgeous Wondermill, I whisked all of the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer, and then added all of the wet ingredients and kneaded them all together with the dough hook. This recipe is seriously easy.
A couple of years ago, when I first tried making this bread, I had a little trouble with it collapsing a bit after pulling it out of the oven. It didn’t collapse too much, but just enough to make it look a bit lumpy. That’s before I learned about “oven spring.”
When baking bread with whole wheat, I now put the loaf in the oven while it is still slightly under proofed and let the oven take over. It’s amazing how much the bread rises when first placed in the oven, and it holds its shape when it is done.
This bread definitely has a whole wheat taste, but it is soft enough and moist enough to work well for sandwiches, toast, cheese bread, or croutons. I’ve even made garlic bread with it.
You definitely have to try grinding your own wheat if you get a chance. The flour you produce is warm and fluffy, perfect for getting the yeast going and producing a lovely dough. Even my white bread loving husband has been pleased with this bread.
This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour
- 2½ tsp instant yeast
- ½ C lukewarm water
- ½ C lukewarm milk (I used low fat)
- ½ C orange juice
- 5 T melted butter
- 1½ tsp salt
- 3 T sugar
- ¼ C nonfat dry milk
- ⅝ ounces potato flour or potato flakes
- 15 ounces whole wheat flour
- Place all of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Stir with a large spoon or dough whisk until just combined.
- Move the bowl to the mixer and knead with the dough hook for about 7 or 8 minutes, until you have a smooth dough. Adjust the water/flour as you mix. Do not add too much flour.
- Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Gently flatten the dough and roll it into a log. Place it into a 9" by 5" bread pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 45 to 90 minutes, until the dough has just crested about ¾ inches above the rim of the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while the dough is rising.
- When the loaf is ready, place it in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes.
- Tent the loaf loosely with foil and continue to bake for another 25 to 30 minutes. The center of the loaf should reach 190 degrees F.
- Turn the loaf out onto a rack and let it cool for about an hour.
