100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Several leaning whole wheat bread slices on a wooden board. White background.

An everyday sandwich bread made only with whole wheat flour! The process is quite traditional, and does not require much hands-on work if you use a stand mixer. The crumb is soft and delicious, and it's the perfect bread to have sliced and frozen at all times.

Course Bread

Cuisine International

Keyword 100% whole wheat bread

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 3 15

Servings medium loaves

Calories 1480kcal

Author Paula Montenegro

Ingredients

For the sponge:

½ cup water warm
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup whole wheat flour superfine or finely ground

For the dough:

1 cup milk warm
¼ cup runny honey
¼ cup vegetable oil or melted butter
4 to 5 cups whole wheat flour superfine or finely ground
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup water warm

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the sponge:

By hand, put ½ cup water, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon honey, and 1 tablespoon dry yeast in a bowl and stir to mix. Leave for 10 minutes. The mixture will bubble and become spongy. If it doesn’t look active, don't go any further; it means the yeast is not working.
Stand mixer: mix the sponge in the mixer bowl directly.

For the bread dough:

Stir the sponge and add 1 cup milk, ¼ cup runny honey, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 2 cups of the flour, and mix a little.
Add 2 teaspoons salt and ½ cup warm water.
Mix well and add 2 to 3 cups whole wheat flour until it becomes a dense dough, adding the rest of the ½ cup water as needed. You might not use all the liquid, maybe a tablespoon or two less. The batter will be thick but soft and not floury.
By hand: turn onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 8-10 minutes. It will be a little sticky, but add flour only if necessary.
Stand mixer: attach the dough hook and knead for about 8 minutes at medium speed, adding extra flour only if needed if the dough is not pulling out from the sides after 5-6 minutes.
Put in an oiled or greased bowl, turn so that the entire surface is greased, cover, and let rise until it doubles in volume in a draft-free, tempered place.
Transfer the dough to a clean countertop and punch down lightly to let out the gas.
Divide the dough into two parts and sprinkle two loaf pans with oats or polenta.
Form the dough into logs, rolling it (as for cinnamon rolls) but pressing the edges with each roll to ensure there are no (or very few) air holes when the bread is baked. The post above includes a video showing the step-by-step process to form the loaves.
Put the formed logs in the prepared pans, cover, and leave to rise until doubled or very puffed, about 30 to 40 minutes. Being all whole wheat, this bread will rise significantly, very little in the oven so allow it to rise well this last time.
Turn the oven to 350°F (180°C) about 15 minutes before baking.
Bake loaves for about 50 minutes or until golden brown and dry, and the bottoms sound hollow when lightly tapped.
Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Notes

Yeast: if the sponge doesn't bubble and/or puff up in some way, that means that it's not working, so don't go ahead with the rest of the recipe because the bread will not rise. Buy new yeast and start again.

Resting time: it's important to let the yeast do its job and double the size of the bread dough. The place where you put the bowl has to be tempered, that is mild temperature. If it's too hot it will rise too quickly and if it's too cold will not rise as much as it should. Both situations are not good. I sometimes put it inside the turned-off microwave or wrap the bowl in a blanket or sweater (yes I do) when the kitchen is too cold.

Kneading: make sure the dough is kneaded until soft and smooth, yet slightly sticky. This is fine because after the first rise it will lose most of its stickiness. Make sure you knead 10 minutes by hand or about 8 minutes in the stand mixer because the gluten needs to develop for the bread to rise as it should.

Storing: this bread keeps well for a week in the refrigerator and for a month in the freezer. In both cases make sure it's well wrapped so that it doesn't dry out quickly. If freezing, I highly recommend slicing it first. That way you can make fresh toast whenever you want. Otherwise, you will have to defrost the whole bread.

Nutrition