Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread
After making the Honey Wheat Pizza Dough the other day and getting such great results, I was determined to make some honey wheat sandwich bread as well. As I searched for recipes, I found that most of them were basically the same as the pizza dough recipe that I had just made, so I made the dough again but changed the proportions just a tad to make enough to fill up a bread pan.
The result was FANTASTIC. This bread is this bread fluffy, slightly sweet and utterly delicious. The addition of olive oil keeps the crust nice and soft which is perfect for sandwiches. The aroma that this bread creates as it bakes is absolutely heavenly. So good, in fact, that my landlord (who lives behind me) HAD to come over and find out what I was baking. Now there is a new rule: every time I bake a loaf, I have to bake one for her too :D
Hopefully that’s evidence enough to convince you to bake one yourself.
Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups warm water $0.00 ($0.00)
- 2 Tbsp honey ($0.21)
- 2 tsp yeast ($0.19)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil ($0.30)
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour ($0.38)
- 2-3 cups all purpose flour ($0.21)
- 1/2 Tbsp salt ($0.05)
Instructions
- hCombine the warm water, yeast and honey. Stir to dissolve and allow to sit until the yeast becomes foamy on top. This may take longer than usual (up to 10 minutes) because the concentration of the honey.
- Once the yeast mixture is foamy, stir in the olive oil and salt. Next, stir in the 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour. Begin to add the all purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until you can no longer stir it with a spoon.
- Turn the ball of dough out onto a floured surface and knead in the rest of the AP flour. You will use between 2 and 3 cups of all purpose flour total depending on the moisture content of your environment and flour. Keep adding flour and kneading until you have a soft, elastic but not sticky ball. Knead for about 3 minutes.
- Loosely cover the ball of dough and allow it to rise until double in size (about 45 minutes). Shape the dough into a log the length of your bread pan. Coat the bread pan with non-stick spray or oil and place the dough inside. Allow the dough to rise again until double in size (another 45 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut a long slit in the top of the dough to allow for expansion during cooking (a serrated bread knife works great). Once the oven is fully heated, bake the bread for 30 minutes until deep golden on top. Remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Combine the warm water, yeast and honey in a bowl. Stir to dissolve and then wait for it to become frothy.
Stir in the olive oil and salt.
Stir in all of the whole wheat flour. I used stone ground, it has a wonderful texture and flavor.
Begin to stir in the all purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time until you can not stir it anymore.
At that point, dump it out of the bowl onto a floured surface. Knead the dough and keep adding all purpose flour until you have a soft, elastic but not sticky ball of dough (about 3 minutes of kneading and between 2 and 3 cups all purpose flour total).
Shape the dough into a ball, loosely cover and let rise until double. You can either let it rise in an oiled bowl or even right on the counter top.
After it has doubled in size, punch it down then shape it into a log that will fit in your bread pan. Coat the pan in non-stick spray or oil. Place the dough inside and let it rise until double again.
Here it is all risen and beautiful. You want it to have risen up higher than the edges of the bread pan. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Make a long slit in the bread to allow for expansion while it cooks. You can do any design but I like the length-wise slit because it gives uniformly shaped bread slices.
Bake it for 30 minutes or until it is a deep golden brown on top.
Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack before slicing. Slicing hot bread can cause it to smoosh down into a dense mess.
YUMMMM.
Perfect loaf but had absolutely no flavor. Not sure if it matters that I made it in bread machine.
If using instant yeast, would you just combine everything in the first step with the water?
Instant yeast can actually be proofed the same way as regular dry yeast, so you wouldn’t have to change the method. It can be added dry, like in no-knead breads, but it doesn’t have to be. :)
Do you us guide for uniform slices?
Nope, that was just freeform slicing. :)
Great bread! However, 425 is too high of a temp to bake this bread. I’m glad I read the comments. I baked mine at 375 degrees for 25 minutes and it was done. I used a thermometer to check the internal temp, which was 185 degrees.
This is my go-to recipe for cinnamon rolls and other buns. I use all chakka atta flour (a finely ground whole wheat flour, the only kind my Costco stocks) with a little vital wheat gluten instead of the white/whole wheat combo. Otherwise, I let the dough rise, divided it in 2 portions, and then flatten/stretch each portion out into a rectangle for filling.
Two fillings that have worked great so far:
– soft butter (smeared) then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon
– olive oil (brushed) then smeared with a tart jam and sprinkled with ground almonds
I roll the filling into a sausage, pinch shut, cut into cinnamon roll shapes, rise about 30-40 minutes in lined cake tins, then bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. As the dough is not very sweet, these work well with a little icing.
It came out well. I think that I like a little more sweetness, and so may add a little brown sugar. That will increase browning, so I’ll have to keep an eye on it in the oven. I baked this loaf at 375 in a convection oven for 35 min.
This is my go-to bread recipe! For some reason though it always turns out overdone when I follow the oven directions, so I bake it at 400°F for 27-28 minutes and it’s perfect!
We double the recipe and keep it in the freezer. We don’t buy bread at the store anymore! Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi! I’ve been unable to get whole wheat flour due to the pandemic. Are there any adaptations of this that use regular bread flour or all purpose flour? Thanks!
You should be able to make this will all AP flour, but you might need slightly more water as AP flour doesn’t absorb quite as much as WW flour. :)
I’ve been messing with this in quarantine as a sort of personal science experiment to learn more about bread. It’s such an easy and forgiving recipe that it’s good every time. The first time I had a hard time getting the dough to come together by hand. I got there but had to add a lot of water. I’ve been using my stand mixer with the dough hook ever since which is easier. For this week’s loaf I used a whole packet of yeast (only an extra 1/4 teaspoon) and didn’t score the top (I’ve had the same problem with deflation another commenter reported). I also forgot the salt but that was an accident. :) It rose beautifully and is almost fluffy.