This 100% whole wheat sandwich bread is incredibly fluffy and has a great whole grain flavor!
I was interested in this recipe right from the beginning because of the inclusion of potato flour and dry milk powder. I had never used potato flour before and rarely use dry milk powder. So I looked into it and it turns out that they help make loaves moister and even increase the shelf life. Pretty neato, right? :D
What sets this loaf apart from the others is that it’s so incredibly soft. So much more moist and fluffy than your average whole wheat loaf! Now, if you don’t like the flavor of whole wheat, this loaf definitely isn’t for you.
By the way, if you need a gluten-free version, try this amazing looking gluten-free sandwich bread! This keto bread also looks great.
This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book. I’ve tried several recipes from there and I’ve loved them all! Like this gluten-free blueberry peach crumble, which is now my favorite crumble or crisp recipe ever. And these whole grain pancakes. There are over 400 incredibly tempting recipes to try so I’m sure I’ll be trying recipes from this book for years to come!
And it’s full of great baking tips. Like on the page with this whole wheat sandwich bread recipe, they tell us why they call for orange juice. This loaf isn’t the least bit orange-y, so why the orange juice? The clever folks at King Arthur Flour have figured out that the flavor of juice orange tempers the bitter taste of whole wheat. The small amount doesn’t add any orange flavor, but still improves the flavor of the loaf. And you could substitute water if you don’t have any orange juice, but remember that the loaf simply won’t taste as good!
100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 16 slices
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 cup (237ml) lukewarm water
- 4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter, cut into 6 pieces
- 3 cups (340 grams) whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons honey
- heaping 1/2 cup (35 grams) dried potato flakes OR 3 tablespoons (35 grams) potato flour
- 1/4 cup (28 grams) dry milk
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast1
Directions
- Either by hand, stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, mix all the ingredients together until you have a smooth, soft dough.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 – 2 hours or until it's puffy and has nearly doubled in bulk.
- Grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.
- Deflate the dough, roll it into an 8" log and place in the prepared pan.
- Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the loaf rise until it's crowned 1 1/2" over the rim of the pan (taking into account that this will vary depending on the size of your pan). This will take 1 1/4 – 2 1/2 hours depending on the room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C).
- Bake the bread for 15 minutes and then tent it with foil (to prevent the loaf from becoming too dark).
- Bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the center reaches 190 degrees F (88 degrees C).
- Remove the bread from the oven, let it sit for a minute, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
- To keep the crust soft, brush the top with melted butter.
- Cool the bread for at least 30 minutes before cutting into.
- When completely cool, cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Keep the loaf in the refrigerator after that to prevent mold.
Notes
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110 comments on “100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread” — Add one!
Hi Erin,
Making this today.
As an FYI, you can add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin for every three cups of wheat flour to accomplish the same thing as adding orange juice.
Rated this as a 5 because I already know it will be DEEEEE-lish.
Deb
Hello Again Erin,
So I am intrigued. What role does the orange juice play in this recipe?
Deb
Is this supposed to be firm? It looks like it is to dry.
The one in the pictures? Or did you make it and it looks dry? It should be quite fluffy!
Hi Erin, I was wondering what I could substitute the potato flakes or potato flour for? I don’t have them on hand but would really like to try this recipe!
Hi there! I wasn’t really sure so I looked into it and found this. It sounds a bit complicated and I’m not sure if it’d actually come out well. For a potato flour sub, I keep seeing people recommending potato flakes, which doesn’t help, either. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better answer! I can’t think of anything that’d be a good sub (unless you want to experiment with potatoes) and just omitting it probably wouldn’t be the best thing to do.
what about cornstartch!? I m gonna try it and see what happens
I’m not positive but I’m thinking cornstarch probably wouldn’t work. It’s much, much more starchy than potato flakes / flour. It can sometimes be used as a sub for potato starch, but I don’t think it’d work for potato flour / flakes. Sorry about that!
Ok, thank you! I’ll have to try that.
Good luck! :)
Hi Erin, I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow! Just want to clarify: You don’t have to knead this dough? Just mix all the ingredients together and then let the dough rise for 1-2 hours?
That’s correct! Just mix it up. :) I hope you’ll enjoy it and sorry for my slow reply!
Can we sub mashed potatoes for the potato flakes/flour? And if so, how much should we use and do we need to reduce the water in the recipe? Thanks!
I imagine you can but since I haven’t tried it, I’m not positive and I’d just be guessing at the amounts. I looked to see if someone else has made this recipe with mashed potatoes and found this. I recommend you follow their mashed potato version. :) I hope that helps!
Hi! This bread looks fabulous! Was just wondering I don’t have and can’t source potato flour anywhere here but I do have gluten. Can I use that instead? And how best can I use it?
Thanks, Vera! I’m not sure how you could use vital wheat gluten in place of the potato flour. In the ingredients list, I mention potato flakes. Do you have access to those? I’m not positive, but I think you can find those at most grocery stores. Let me know if you can’t find those and then I’ll see what I can find out! :)
This looks amazing! !! I have a question… I will mixing by hand so can I melt the butter or just have it room temp?.Thank you! !!!
Definitely have it at room temperature and not melted! I hope it comes out well. :)
Hu, just discovering your blog and loving the recipes. Have bookmarked quite a few to try.
I got excited about this bread until I read about the dry milk… Can’t have milk and can’t think of a non dairy alternative to dry milk.
Oh well, plenty of other recipes to try ;)
Thank you
Sorry for the slow reply, Izzy! I’m so happy that you found the blog. :) I haven’t tried subbing regular milk (or soy / almond milk!) in place of dry milk, but I looked into it and found this: how to sub milk for milk powder. I hope that helps! :)
Thank you so much for the info Erin :)
I will check it out
I love new bread recipes to try!
Store bought bread is filled with so much yuck. I’ve been searching for a DIY wheat bread and this may be it! I’m a new follower and can’t wait to explore all your recipes!!
love your blog! :-)
Looks delish! Always wanted this cookbook . . .
We bake all of our own bread, and are always looking for new recipes to try! This one is on our to do list this week.
ohhhhhhh, I want to try this! I just found your blog and can’t wait to try out your recipes. Even my kids are drooling! Thank you thank you!
I have been looking for a great whole wheat bread/roll receipt and this looks like the one!!! Will be trying this soon so I can serve to my out of town family on Thanksgiving!
This recipe sounds interesting, but I’ve been making the King Arthur Flour 100% Whole Wheat Bread for a long time, and both my husband and I have always really liked it – without orange juice or potato flour. I wouldn’t describe it as fluffy, but it tastes great and keeps well. I would still be interested in trying this when I bake bread again (I’ve gotten to where I usually prefer and eat tortillas rather than bread – I guess that’s one of the hazards of living on the border with Mexico…) I’m definitely saving this one – it will be interesting to see if I like it better.
I hope you’ll like this one! I’ve also made the recipe you’re talking about and it’s also great. To me, they’re probably equal in yumminess. :)
Interesting recipe. I never would have thought to put either potato flour or OJ in bread. I have to try it out. This makes me want to work at King Arthur. It sounds like it’d be fun being a mad baking scientist! Lol
Same here! Working at KAF, doing anything non-cleaning related, would be a dream job. :) I hope you’ll like this bread! It’s really good stuff. And yeah, I have no idea how people come up with this stuff. Orange juice in bread?!
This bread looks PERFECT! I have been looking for a great WW sandwich bread for my father -in-law. He is having hip surgery and says he can’t walk to get his beloved bread every week. I want to give him some homemade!! Thank you so much!
Aww, that’s so sweet of you! I hope that you and your father-in-law will enjoy the bread. :) I hope his surgery went well!
Yum, this bread sounds great!
I love King Arthur recipes and products. They are the best!
I have been wanting to try whole wheat bread. Nothing beats fresh bread!
Love to bake wholesome, quality, yummy things and would love to win!
I love King Arthur Flour. It rocks.
Love to bake bread!
I have tried several of your recipes and am now hooked on your blog! Keep up the great work. I was just looking for another whole wheat bread recipe to add to my repertoire so thanks, I’ll give this a try!
Thanks a bunch, Becky! Thanks so much for your nice comment and so sorry for the slow reply. I hope you’ll enjoy the recipe! :)
Mmmm, I’m hungry now!
I’ve been looking for a “true” whole wheat bread recipe. most ofthem to be and then the recipe calls for half white flour. I’m anxious to try this recipe and hope for a new favorite!
Oh, I hate that! I get so excited when I see something is “whole wheat” and then when I find out it’s not 100%, it’s such a let-down. I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe! :)
I’m heading to the kitchen right now to make this amazing looking bread! Thanks for the recipe.
I hope you’ll enjoy it! :)
Thanks for offering the giveaway! The bread looks really good :)
I need to get back into baking.
Baking and whole grains? Would love to try the recipes in this book!
The bread looks delicious! Love KAF’s hotline… always so helpful.
I’ve made this before, and it’s a winner!