Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Whole wheat sandwich bread – soft and chewy, and it stays fresh for days thanks to the tangzhong or water roux.
Nothing beats the taste and smell of homemade, freshly baked bread!
This whole wheat sandwich bread has a soft, chewy crumb and a hearty flavor thanks to the whole wheat flour. It’s perfect for sandwiches, toasted and slathered with butter and jam, or for French toast.
I experimented with various ratios of whole wheat and white flour, and I’ve got the best result with a 50:50 blend of the two flours. You can try and use 100% whole wheat; just keep in mind that the bread will be denser.
The recipe uses a tangzhong (or water roux), which gives a tender crumb and a longer shelf life. One part of flour is cooked with five parts of water at 65 degrees C or 149 degrees F to form a roux. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency and your spoon forms lines in the pan.
Store the whole wheat sandwich bread at room temperature in an airtight container for 3–4 days, or slice it, wrap it well, and freeze for up to 1 month.
If you try this whole wheat sandwich bread, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #aseasyasapplepie on Instagram!
How To Make It: Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
For the Tangzhong:
- ⅔ cup+1 tablespoon (175 g) water
- ¼ cup+½ tablespoon (35 g) all-purpose flour
For the Dough:
- 1¾ cup + 1½ tablespoons (225 g) all-purpose flour
- 1¾ cup + 1½ tablespoon (225 g) whole wheat flour I used Bob’s Red Mill organic whole wheat flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) lukewarm milk I used skimmed milk. You can replace the milk with water
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) active dried yeast
- 4.7 oz. (135 g) Tangzhong
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon (8 g) salt
- Optional: rolled oat
Instructions
- Make the water roux. Whisk together the flour and water until there are no lumps.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture has thickened and it has a pudding-like consistency. If you have a candy thermometer check the temperature, it should be 149°F (65°C).
- Remove from heat, place the tangzhong into a small bowl and cover with cling film (make sure that the cling film touches the surface of the water roux to prevent a skin from forming).
- When the water roux is cool, make the dough.
- Dissolve the yeast in half of the milk.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the tangzhong and all the other ingredients except for the extra virgin olive oil and salt.
- Start mixing and, when all the ingredients come together, add the oil and salt.
- Continue to mix until the dough becomes soft and smooth. This will take about 10/15 minutes.
- Make a ball, put it in a bowl covered with cling film and let it proof until it’s doubled in size, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- After the dough has doubled in volume, oil a 9"x5" (22×12 cm) loaf pan.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide it into 3 equal pieces and form each piece into a tight ball.
- Put the balls seam sides down into the loaf pan.
- Cover with cling film and place in a warm place to allow to rise until doubled ( about 1 hour).
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Brush the top of the whole wheat sandwich bread with water and sprinkle with rolled oat.
- Bake for about 25 minutes. If the top of the bread is browning too fast, cover it with aluminum foil.
- Let the sandwich bread cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Hoping to try this today or tomorrow.
But, I was wondering, is there a reason you form it into 3 balls instead of rolling ups rectangle like you do for the white sandwich bread? Could it be formed like the whit bread?
Thanks!,
Hi Jeff!
No reason! :) I just wanted to try something different.
Another success. The bread recipe worked beautifully. Thank you for the recipe.
Happy you liked it, Chris! :)
I think I’ll cut the sugar a bit next time but this was made of love! So good . I used almond milk because that is what I had on hand.
How is 3 grams of yeast 1 teaspoon, but 8 grams of salt is also 1 teaspoon??
How is 120 grams of all-purpose flour 1 cup, but also 200 grams of granulated sugar is 1 cup?
How is 215 grams of olive oil 1 cup, but also 240 grams of milk is 1 cup?
1 cup of feathers and 1 cup of rocks don’t weigh the same amount even though they have the same volume.
VOLUME is the space something takes up. WEIGHT is how heavy it is. ;)
Delicious ! The kids and hubby love it!!!
Happy to hear that, Delphine! :)
HUGE success!! Absolutely loved this bread recipe. Made in a smaller loaf pan, and used the extra to make pull apart buns. I live up north and because of the lower temperature, I will sometimes let my bread rise ovenight, but I find some breads are too yeasty. I let this one rise overnight for the second proofing and it turned out perfect!! I also used water in place of milk :)
Thanks so much!
Thanks for trying the recipe, Amanda. I’m glad it came out great for you! :)
Very tastefull bread! And it’s so easy to make… Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Thank you Despina! :)