How to Make Your Own Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

At some point, when I was making my own hamburger buns and bagels, I decided to try out making my own bread. I wasn't really sure what would come of it, whether it would really be good enough to replace our weekly allotment of Arnold's Bread loaves or whether I could get the slices thin enough to slather on peanut butter and jelly. But, pleasantly, I was surprised.

The loaf came out golden and crusty—even shaped like storebought bread. And once I sliced it, toasted it, topped it butter and jam, it was no different than the kind we kept in our pantry. Except that it was better—as evidenced by the fact that we actually enjoy having the heel of the loaf as morning toast. To boot, it's surprisingly cheap and super easy to make, thanks to my bread maker.



Needless to say, it's been months since I've bought a loaf of bread from the store. Instead, now my cart will have a bag of flour or a carton of yeast. And once or twice a week, you'll find me in the kitchen, pulling a new loaf of wheat bread, fresh from the oven.

Want to try your hand at making your own sandwich bread, too? Find my whole wheat bread recipe below, and then check out my post devoted to breadmaking tips and tricks that I've picked up along the way.



Recipe to Make Your Own Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with a Bread Maker

Ingredients
⅝ cup warm-ish water
⅜ cup milk
1 egg
1½ tablespoons canola oil
1½ tablespoons honey
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1½ cups bread flour (if you don't have bread flour, check out my breadmaking tips for an easy substitution)
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast



Instructions

1. In your bread machine (mine is similar to this one), add ingredients from the water to the flours, in the order given in the recipe. (So, you'll add the water first and the bread flour last.)
2. Once you've added the last of the flour, use a spoon to hollow out a little dent in the middle of the flour. Into this, add your yeast.
3. Program your bread machine on the "Dough" cycle. Press Start.
4. Let the bread machine mix the dough and go through the rising cycle. At the end, it will beep.
5. Prep a loaf pan by spraying it with non-stick spray.
6. Remove the ball of dough from the bread machine's pan, and put into the loaf pan. Press it down a bit so that it flattens to fit the shape of the dish.
7. Put a cotton dish towel over the dish, and set in a warm place to rise for an hour. After an hour, it should have about doubled in size. (For an easy way to let your bread rise, read my breadmaking tips and tricks article.)
8. Turn your oven on to bake at 350-degrees. Remove the dish towel from the dough, and let it bake in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.
9. Remove from oven and let cool. 
10. Once cool, cut into slices. Store slices in a sealed bag or airtight container for up to a week. (You can also keep the loaf in the fridge.)

Recipe makes one medium-sized loaf of wheat bread.

Related Posts 
Homemade Breadmaking Tips & Tricks
Recipe for Making Homemade Bagels in a Bread Maker