9/12/09

11 BBA: Light Wheat Bread

Light Wheat BreadThis is the next bread in the BBA challenge from Pinch My Salt.

If you have ever wanted to make a nice, light, sandwich bread that your family will love, this bread is a great place to start.

Here, whole wheat makes for about a third of the total flour. I have a recipe that uses half white wheat and half all purpose flour that I simply call my Half and Half Honey Wheat Bread.

Making a loaf of partial wheat flour is much easier to make than one with 100% whole wheat flour, and definitely easier for most people to digest if they are not used to incorporating wheat into their diet.

I doubled PR's (Peter Reinhart) recipe. I like the fact that this recipe calls for powdered milk, which contributes to a softer texture in the crumb.

I added 1 T. of vital wheat gluten, which is not in PR's recipe.

It also calls for shortening or butter. I usually use canola oil in mine...it's just easier to mix in with the wet ingredients.


Honey is part of PR's recipe, which I believe goes well with wheat breads. Of course, you can use sugar, brown sugar, molasses, or maple syrup....


Wheat bread does take a longer mixing time than your standard white bread to develop the gluten. You may need to knead it up to 10 minutes to develop a window pane.

This is where you gently stretch the dough, until it is transparent enough to see through it. If it breaks or has holes in it, you need to mix it longer.

Picture from The Kitchen.com


This is my bread 30 minutes from shaping.

It is ready to go, even though the recipe states approximately 90 minutes...or until the dough crests above the pan.

Remember to have your 350 degree oven ready at this point. If you don't, you risk having your bread over proof and collapse in the oven...

It takes my oven about 10 minutes to reach 350 degrees.


PR suggests waiting 1-2 hours to cool.

In my household, it is tradition to cut off a big, fat slice and slather it with butter.

And honey.







Here's a glam crumb shot.

Tender and soft.

Noticed the 'swirls'?

That's because I roll out my bread.







My son asked for a grilled cheese sandwich...








It just doesn't get better than this~

11 comments:

  1. What a lucky little boy! A homemade bread cheese sandwich would definitely be a treat around here. The bread looks perfect! I'm attempting to make your rosette hamburger buns tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!

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  2. I love this bread! I've made 3 loaves already this week. We also made grilled cheese sandwiches with it tonight. You're right! It doesn't get any better than this!

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  3. Oh YUM! I love grilled cheese and on homemade baked bread...HEAVEN! I still have to master the homemade bread loaf. I have tried a couple of different recipes but nothing that I love. I also really need to get a stand mixer...I think it would make it a little easier.

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  4. Your loaves look perfect, like always! I want to try this one!

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  5. Thanks for the bread baking tips. Tried whole wheat today, tasty but did not let it rise enough.

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  6. That window pane photo is impressive. Did you have helper or a timer?

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  7. I can't wait to try your recipe! I love the tutorial. I haven't heard of stretching the dough until you can see through it. You make it look so easy! My family always want warm bread out of the oven too!

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  8. My mom used to make bread. A loaf would disappear QUICKLY, 'cause it was just so good warm from the over.

    You make it look so easy. Maybe I should try it sometime.

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  9. Loved your windowpane... I pretty much gave up trying to do it, I guess I'm windowpane-challenged!

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  10. Another one I'm looking forward to. Always nice to have another good grilled cheese bread. =) I love all your pictures, especially the windowpane one.

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  11. Mamakd, yes a stand mixer does make it easier because wheat bread dough needs to be kneaded longer than white bread dough. Check your local classified ads...Good luck!

    Rachelle, bread baking is trial and error. It's great when you can figure out what happened~

    Lars, Bewitchingkitchen & Di...My windowpane is close to the photo (which is not my photo, by the way)...you have to knead the bread longer to develop the gluten and get this impressive result~

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