100% White Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
May 17th, 2009 by SteveB
As a child, I, like many other Americans, had been conditioned (unintentionally, I’m sure… no conspiracy theory here!) to think of bread as merely an adjunct; a pasty white, flavorless platform for slices of lunch meat, peanut butter or any other filling that happened to find its way into my school lunch sandwich. But sandwich bread doesn’t have to be dull and uninspired. With a little imagination, even simple sandwich bread can take center stage, providing both a satisfying, deep wheaty flavor and needed nutrition.
This 100% whole wheat sandwich bread is made from flour derived from white spring wheat, rather than the red wheat that goes into making conventional whole wheat flour. The resulting white wheat flour has a less biting flavor, making it ideal for sandwich bread even for those, like myself, who do not like the taste of conventional whole wheat bread. And while whole wheat breads can tend to be dense and heavy, this bread has a light and airy crumb, in part due to the double flour addition technique that is used during the mixing of the dough. Butter and dried milk powder provide a richness and tenderness to the crumb. Finally, a touch of honey lends just the right note of sweetness.
Poolish
- 185 g King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
- 185 g Water
- 1/16 tsp. Instant Yeast
Final Dough
- 460 g King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
- 370 g (all of the above) Poolish
- 260 g Water
- 15 g Dried Milk Powder
- 1 3/4 tsp. Instant Yeast
- 15 g Salt
- 40 g Honey
- 90 g Butter
The evening prior to baking, the ingredients of the poolish are mixed and allowed to ferment overnight at 70°F until mature, about 12 hours.
The next morning, the flour, dried milk powder, instant yeast and salt are combined. To the bowl of a stand mixer is added the mature poolish, water, honey and 125 g of the flour mixture. Using the whisk attachment, the combined mixture is then whisked on speed 3 until lightly aerated, about 1-2 minutes. The whisk attachment is then replaced with a spiral dough hook, the rest of the flour mixture is added and all the ingredients are mixed on the lowest speed (stir) until a homogeneous dough is formed, about 3 minutes. The mixer speed is then increased to speed 3 and the dough is mixed to medium gluten development, about 3 minutes. While the mixer is still running, the butter is then added piece by piece and mixing is continued until all the butter is incorporated and a smooth dough is obtained, about an additional 3 minutes.
The dough is then placed in a lightly oiled, covered container and is allowed to ferment at 72ºF for 1 hour. Halfway through this 1 hour fermentation, the dough is given a fold.
After the first fermentation, the dough is divided into two pieces and each piece is lightly rounded. After a rest of 15 minutes under a plastic sheet, the dough pieces are formed into loaves as shown here and placed into buttered loaf pans.
The loaves are then placed into a small homemade proof box and allowed to undergo their second fermentation at 78ºF for 1 hour. The loaves are then baked in a 350°F oven for 50 minutes, with steam being supplied during the first 10 minutes of baking
Hi Steve,
Thanks again for all the great recipes. i have a quick question. If i am doubling a recipe do i double the yeast in the polish and bread? I remember reading somewhere that yeast was treated differently when scaling up recipes. thanks again, i love your site.
shane
Hi Shane,
You should be able to double all the ingredients in the recipe, including the yeast, without any problem.
i love your site! lot’s of great info!
I am realizing why my whole wheat bread recipe is not turning out. besides being a newbie to bread baking. i am wondering how to change/help my recipe so it will turn out for me and not be a brick. lol I really like to add extra grains in for more of a multi grain wheat bread. but i also would like it to be more like a sandwich bread soft and fold-able. I had it turn out once but have never had it turn out again. I have no clue how to know if i have too much liquid, or not enough liquid. how would i know if my recipe is well “balanced” or not, and how to change it if it needs it.
Thanks in advanced for all your help
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
As you are a self-professed ‘newbie’ to bread baking, I highly recommend that you add Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman or Bread Baking: An Artisan’s Perspective by Daniel DiMuzio to your current reading list. Either of these books will give you a firm foundation of bread baking knowledge that will serve you well in helping you to identify solutions to any problems you may encounter. After you’ve read one or both of these books, I would be glad to answer any specific questions you might have.
For lactose intolerant people what can they use instead of nonfat dry milk?
Hi Kristin,
Not being lactose intolerant myself, I can’t say I have a lot of experience with direct substitutes for dried milk powder. Perhaps another reader might chime in with some suggestions. Also, you may be interested in Pain Héloïse, a bread specifically formulated for a young girl with dairy allergies.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for ALL of your helpful instght. I started baking my own breads with the formulas and techniques from your site a little over a year ago. It all started with focaccia and now I’m an addict!! The Scali and Focaccia are my family’s as well as my office staff’s favorites. I now make breads at least weekly. I have tried a few different flours with mixed results. I have had great success both with availability and results with the Trader Joe’s brand of 100% white whole wheat flour. I thought I would pass that along.
Happy Baking,
Dr Dave
P.S. I found an excellent braiding video for 3,4,5,and 6 strand braids and placed the address below. Check it out and let me know what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peBLtCEOlA0
Hi Dr. Dave,
I’m glad to hear that you enjoy baking some of the breads posted on Bread cetera.
Thanks for the video links. One of my favorite videos showing how to construct a six-stranded braid can be found here.
Looking forward to trying this recipe! The poolish is sitting in my basement as we speak. You don’t mention the temperature of the water — does it have to be warm? That’s what I’m used to with yeast breads, but maybe it’s different when you start with a poolish?
Also, I’m planning on mixing it by hand (first with a whisk, then adding the rest of the flour and kneading). Do you think that will work?
Thanks for such wonderful instructions! The video about shaping loaves was very helpful.
Hi Becky,
The water should be at a temperature which will produce a dough at around 76-78°F after mixing. The water temperature can be calculated using the formula shown here.
Hand mixing should work fine with this recipe.
Thanks for the quick response, Steve! The bread came out well, though it didn’t have quite as much lift as it probably could. During the fermentation times, which I take to be rising times, I wasn’t sure if I should wait for it to double in size or something like that. Instead I just followed the minutes even when it hadn’t risen very much… perhaps I should have let it rise longer?
Becky,
Because conditions may vary from kitchen to kitchen, the times specified in recipes should only be taken as guidelines. For the final proof, the bread is ready to be baked when a gentle poke of the surface leaves an indentation that takes about 2-3 seconds to rebound.
For the past 20-years, I’ve been baking most of my yeasted breads starting in a cold oven set to 325F once started – except sweet bread, Italian and French breads. Seems to give additional rise, and a nicer crumb, color, and shape.
Steve,
What a great loaf this produces! This was my first experience with white whole wheat, and I am amazed at the depth of flavor despite the fact that this is touted as milder than regular whole wheat. I did not brush the loaves with butter or other glaze. Do you have a suggestion for an appropriate glaze or wash?
Nancy
Nancy,
If one desired to produce a shiny crust, I suppose brushing on an egg wash before baking would do the trick.
Hi Steve, i am utilising this recipe to make sandwich buns and after a few attempts i am nearly to where I want to be. I have reduced the hydration and cooked for a shorter time period and reduced the butter content to get a more airier crumb as it has less rise that a tin loaf. However I am finding that the crust is very chewy and was wondering if you could offer your expertise to isolate the issue?
I have ended up with slightly more of the flour pre-fermented (200g) and adjusted the rest of the formula accordingly. Depending on my schedule, I sometimes add a little more yeast for a 16 hour fermentation rather than 12 for the poolish. I was wondering whether the extra fermentation (4 hours of poolish) would have an affect on the crust?
Would the extra fermentation contribute to an increase in protease activity? A shot in the dark, but I was thinking that as they break down proteins this would give a softer crust? I was also considering that the length of bulk rising and proof would have an affect on the crust being more/less as well as flavour? The rational oven I am using injects steam periodically throughout the process….would this have a dramatic effect on the chewiness of the crust? The oven is new to me so trying to get to grips with it. I am baking at 180 for 20mins.
On a little more of a scientific and health note, protease are useful enzymes that break down proteins in the body…..would they still be present in the bread once baked?
Many thanks
Darren
Hi Darren,
The use of steam can have a dramatic effect on the characteristics of the crust. Typically, steam is used only during the first few minutes of baking. This delays the setting of the crust and allows for maximum loaf expansion. Once the loaf begins to brown, the steam is vented and the crust allowed to set and continue browning. Continual use of steam throughout the baking process will discourage this process from properly occurring and may result in the crust characteristics you describe.
Enzymes present in the dough before baking, although perhaps not destroyed, would probably be denatured during the baking process.
Hi Steve, the issue was with the steam. I worked out how to use the Rational oven properly so bread is a lot better now. I have scaled up my amended recipe x 10 which gives me 100 sandwich buns. With this the yeast was included in the scaled up recipe ( around 45 grams yeast) which gave a quick bulk rise and proof). When scaling the dough dried out really quickly due to the proofing on the bench. I want to develop a good flavour in the bread which is negated with the amount of yeast in the mix. Have you any ideas of yeast content when working with such quantities?
Many thanks
Darren
Darren,
If you are using fresh yeast, a typical amount would be approximately 2%, by weight, of the total amount of flour used. This would include the amount of flour and yeast in the poolish. If active dried yeast is being used, a lesser amount is recommended (1%) while instant yeast would be used at an even lower level (0.8%).