Honey Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread (for bread machine)

It is no secret that I’ve been working to perfect a whole-wheat sandwich bread recipe for months now. I was not only looking for a recipe that was reliable and tasted good of course, but that also didn’t contain any “unusual” ingredients like dried milk powder or wheat gluten. We absolutely LOVE the honey whole-wheat loaf from Great Harvest, and if they can make it with only five simple ingredients (freshly ground whole-wheat flour, water, honey, salt & yeast) then I should be able to do it too!

So after months of experimenting I am thrilled to finally have something to share. And while this recipe comes out just right 9 times out of 10 I’ve learned that things can’t always be “perfect” when it comes to making bread in your bread machine. If you aren’t weighing your ingredients and instead just measuring them out like me, and if you live in a place where the humidity might change from time to time…well then, expect some occasional surprises with the outcome of your bread. I have learned one valuable trick though (from a blog reader!), and that is to check on the bread once or twice during the kneading process to make sure the dough looks “right.” I’ve caught mine looking too wet and sticky a couple times so I’ve added a few sprinkles of flour to get things back on track before the baking started. That’s exactly why the picture loaf looks a little “floury.”

I also want to share that this particular recipe makes a loaf that is on the larger side, which I like because then I don’t have to replenish our bread supply every two days. This loaf also comes out with a lighter crust due to its big size and that is a plus in my book as well. If you have any good bread making tips or recipes that you’d like to share please do so in the comments below!

Honey Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread (for bread machine)

Course: Breakfast, Lunch, Main Course, Snack

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 5 minutes

Servings: 1 loaf

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Ingredients

• 4 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups water warm (not too hot or it will kill the yeast)
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
• 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 packet

Instructions

1. Follow your bread machine’s directions for making a whole-wheat sandwich loaf. For me that means putting in the dry ingredients first with the wet ingredients on top. I have the Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker and it takes the machine five hours to make this loaf.

Recipe Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.