Light Wheat Sandwich Bread

 I'm not a great bread maker, at least not yet.  One cause for this may be lack of patients. All the waiting for the bread to rise and then rise again, and again! UGH, not for me!  The other issue I have is that I get the baking urge around 10:00 pm.  It's hard to start making bread at such a late hour and be able to do all that waiting I was talking about.  Just like always, last night at 9:30 I felt the need to bake this wonderful wheat bread I saw over at Cook Like a Champion.  Instead of trying to hurry the process along I just stopped right before the actual baking and put my dough in the refrigerator until this morning.  However, it wasn't too fun allowing the bread dough to come to room temperature until I could actually bake.  Like most things, it was worth the wait and although my bread did not look perfect, it tastes pretty darn good!  I was proud of my first wheat bread attempt :)

flour

Light Wheat Sandwich Bread
Printable Recipe 
from Cook Like a Champion

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp powdered milk
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp shortening, at room temp
• 1 1/4 cups water, at room temp 

Directions:


In stand-mixer bowl, using paddle attachment, stir together flours, honey, salt, powdered milk, and the yeast.  Add the shortening, and water.  Mix on low speed until the ingredients from a ball.  The dough will be soft and supple.

Change from the paddle attachment to the dough hook and knead on medium speed 6 minutes.

Kneading is so easy with my mixer :)

Sprinkle your work surface with flour and knead for about 10 minutes, you can add a little flour if needed.  The dough should be tacky but not sticky.

Lightly oil a large bowl and place dough inside, turn the dough to coat with oil then cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.

Remove dough and make a rectangle 5 inches wide and 6-8 inches long.  Working from the short side, roll up the length one section at a time, pinching the crease after every turn.

The loaf will spread as you roll and the final length should be 8-9 inches. Make sure to pinch the final seam closed then roll the dough back and forth so it evens out.


Put the loaf in a lightly oiled pan, make sure the ends of the loaf touch the pan. Spray the top of the dough lightly with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 90 minutes.

Preheat oven 350 degrees F and place on the middle rack of oven.

Bake for 25 minutes then rotate the loaf pan 180 degrees and bake 20-30 minutes. The top and sides will be golden brown and the center of the loaf should be 190 degrees F.

Remove from pan and allow to cool 1-2 hours before serving.

Store in plastic wrap or paper bag in a dark, cool place for about 3 days.


If refrigerated the bread will dry out, no one wants that!

Finished Product