Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

From time to time, it's near impossible to find a loaf of wheat bread. It's one of those things like butter that will disappear from grocery shelves for a bit. I decided it might be high time for me to try making my own loaves using this recipe. 

Local honey and Fermipan yeast

While the directions call for putting the water into the bowl of a standing mixer and sprinkling the yeast over top, I prefer doing it in a measuring cup and adding the honey. This way I can ensure the yeast proofs.

As the yeast proofs away, I put the milk and oil in the bowl of the stand mixture...

...and measure out the all-purpose flour. Here in Belize, I use Bebe Agua.

The proofed yeast gets poured into the mixing bowl that has the milk/oil mixture.

Then the all purpose flour gets added to the mix and using the dough hook, everything gets a quick mix.

In the meantime, the whole wheat flour gets measured. As an aside, this is the only wheat flour I've found in Corozal. It works just fine, but it would be fun to source other brands and see how they do.

The wheat flour gets dumped into the bowl and the dough hook gets put to work again to create a shaggy dough.

This all sits, undisturbed, for 20 minutes to let the flour absorb the liquids.

When the time is up, the dough hook goes to work again to knead the dough for about 8 minutes. 

What you get is a lovely ball of dough that is just a bit tacky.

I divide the dough in half and put each piece in lightly oiled bowls.

After covering the bowls with plastic wrap, I put them in my unheated oven for about an hour. This keeps them out of any drafts.

When doubled in bulk, the dough gets turned out on a lightly floured board, shaped into loaves, and placed in their pans that have been coated with cooking spray.

Now it's time for their second rise. I put a dampened tea towel over the pans and put them back in the unheated oven for about 30 minutes.

Here they are after the second proof:

I use a serrated knife to make a slit down the middle, then pop the pans into a pre-heated 425 degree oven.

As soon as I shut the oven door, the heat gets lowered to 375 degrees.

After baking for about 30 minutes, this is what you get:

The result? Using this recipe I may never buy whole wheat bread again. There's a slightly sweet taste and the crumb/density is perfect for sandwiches. And when slices are toasted? Oh man, it just seems to bring out all the flavors.