Soft, creamy to the crumb white sandwich bread baked from home. It doesn't get any better than this! From one of my favorite cookbooks, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the original recipe is found on page 76 entitled 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread. However, the day I made this loaf, I only had all-purpose flour on hand. I didn't let that stop me from making a batch of dough. My kids really chowed down on it. This bread made perfect sandwich bread; it was easy to slice. And we lurved eating it as breakfast toast with home canned red plum jam. I didn't make the plum jam, my neighbor did.
For your own wonderful copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois, just click on the book title and you'll be directed to Amazon. I get about a dollar for every book I sell, and every dollar counts these days. Right?
HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup honey (I love RoundRock Honey)
- 5 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil, plus more for greasing the pan
- 6 2/3 cups all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
- Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt, honey, and oil with the milk and water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
- Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a strong handled spoon.
- Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top); approximately 2 to 3 hours.
- The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is MUCH easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days.
- On baking day, lightly grease a 9x4x3-inch nonstick loaf pan. Using wet hands, scoop out a
1 1/2 pound (cantaloupe-size) handful of dough. This dough is pretty sticky and often it's easiest to handle it with wet hands. Keeping your hands wet, quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the vall a quarter-turn as you go. - Drop the loaf into the prepared pan. You want to fill the pan slightly more than half-full.
- Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Flour the top of the loaf and slash, using the tip of a serrated bread knife.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF, with an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.
- Place the loaf on a rack near the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing in order to cut reasonable sandwich slices.
Now I have to say this. I was at the end of my batch of dough when I shot this loaf. And I did not have enough to fill my loaf pan by more than half as instructed. That’s why the loaf looks small or as short as the pan.
Trust me, follow the instructions and you’ll have a tall round top loaf.
AND! It’s VERY IMPORTANT to let the loaf cool completely. Store the unused portion in a plastic bag or airtight container.
IF you think it will take you a few days to eat the entire loaf, then I recommend you refrigerate it.
Slice off what you need as you go. It doesn’t take long for the bread slices to come to room temperature before eating. And it doesn’t effect the texture to put chilled slices in the toaster, it still comes out yummy!
Save the ends in a separate freezer container and store in the freezer. After a month of baking bread, you’ll have enough leftovers to bake up some bread pudding.
How many loaves will the recipe make? Mine is rising as we speak.
four – 1 pound loaves.
Using your hand, pull up about a grapefruit size portion of dough. It will grow bigger as it rises on the pizza peel, then it will double in size as it bakes.
I love my copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Our favorite is still the basic dough but I am glad to know you’ve made the 100% Whole Wheat recipe with All Purpose Flour! I’d love to make all of our bread but we are Wheat Bread eaters and haven’t found a recipe that fits the bill so to speak. I’ll be trying this soon (I know it’s white bread but still).
kb
i made this for breakfast today, delicious…u r gd…
by the way…i have some all the recipes u sent me!!!!!
and even print out…woohoo…
How is this different than the Soft White Bread you posted if you don’t mind me asking? I see the recipe calls for oil in this one. Do they both taste about the same? Thanks!
Hi Ashley! Thanks for the great question. The two recipes look very similar, I agree.
The Soft White Sandwich Bread Baked From Home calls for oil and milk. These ingredients, I believe, give the bread a softer crumb and texture, closer to the soft sandwich breads we buy from the store. My kids really enjoy soft, soft sandwich bread. I would use this recipe to make soft dinner rolls, it’s that soft.
Soft White Bread Made at Home, was suppose to be a Whole Wheat bread recipe. I just didn’t have the whole wheat flour at the time. It’s soft, but when compared to the other, it does have a bit more chew. Only soft white sandwich bread eaters would notice the difference.
I apologize for the similar recipe titles. I didn’t mean to create confusion.
i changed this with some cocoa powder and mashed bananna. i can start to finish it in 3 hrs easy. easiest bread recipe EVER! i make it in a big muffin pan and bake time is 20 minutes.
That’s an interesting twist, Wells, Thank you for sharing!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Since I have only made one loaf of bread in my entire life, this seems a bit difficult for my skill level. I think what interests me the most is that it makes so much and you can bake a fresh batch every day. (unless I am reading that incorrectly) How many loafs does it make? Also, what is with the broiler pan in the oven? The first bread I made the other day was very simple and it did not call for this broiler pan? Just curious. Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipes.
Kelli,
Before you try this bread recipe, go make the Buttermilk Bread recipe. It has a softer, sandwich bread texture that us store-bought eaters are accustomed to eating.
Here’s the link:
http://simpledailyrecipes.com/7429/how-to-make-buttermilk-bread/
Oh, and you’ve got it right about making a loaf when you’re ready. A loaf needs 1-pound of dough, which is about the size of a canteloupe. Most of the bread recipes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day make 4 loaves each. Except for the Buttermilk Bread recipe, it makes 3 – 1 1/2 pound loaves.