Soft Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread
Soft and fluffy, this homemade Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread will put store-bought bread to shame! Made with only 7 ingredients, this bread recipe skips all the artificial flavors and chemicals in commercial sandwich bread, while still being amazingly delicious and perfect for sandwiches, toast or just eating plain!
Of all the delicious aromas that can come from a kitchen, I will have to admit that the smell of freshly baked bread might be my favorite. There’s just something about the aroma of homemade bread that is so warm and comforting. Oh but the taste of homemade bread…..I have no words…..
Over the years, I’ve tried several different sandwich bread recipes, but many of them resulted in dense and/or dry loaves; definitely not what you want your sandwich made from! And, although store-bought bread is soft and fluffy, it is often filled with many strange ingredients that aren’t exactly nutritious. So, in an effort to conquer the “bread battle”, I finally created a bread recipe that meets my requirements: soft, flavorful, sliceable, and not dense or dry.
Although this bread recipe is not made entirely with whole wheat flour, I still think that it is better for you than eating store-bought bread which contains lots of preservatives and additives. I have found that it is almost impossible to create a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread without it being super dense. That should make you wonder: what do they really put in commercially produced “100%” whole wheat bread? Yeah, maybe I’ll just stick to making this recipe instead 😉 ….
Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour~ For this recipe, I use a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour for the best texture and flavor. I usually just use regular 100% whole wheat flour, but whole wheat pastry or bread flour would probably work well too.
All-Purpose Flour~ This type of flour works great for me, but bread flour would probably work really well too.
Yeast~ I prefer to use instant yeast because (not surprisingly) the dough rises a bit faster. However, you can definitely use active dry yeast too, but you’ll probably need to let your dough rise a full 2 hours.
Salt~ This ingredient is super important for flavor in bread; if you omit it, then your bread will taste very bland and flavorless.
Milk~ I like using milk in this recipe because it adds a little calcium boost to my diet, without having to actually drink a glass of milk. And, I think the loaf is softer when you use milk (any fat percentage of milk works). I haven’t tried using water, so let me know in the comments if you decide to experiment.
Honey~ Honey adds a light sweetness to the bread, and also gives it a softer texture. I have tried using brown sugar before and it works, however I found the bread to be a bit more dense and dry.
Oil~ I use canola or vegetable oil, but olive or coconut oil would work too. I haven’t tried using melted butter, so I can’t vouch for those results. Oil is a necessary ingredient in this recipe for the best texture, so omit at your own risk.
The Dance
A lot of people are scared away by the thought of making homemade bread with a yeast dough. But trust me, it’s really not hard at all, and much of the time spent on making bread is just waiting for it to rise.
To start, warm your milk in the microwave for about a minute until it is roughly110 degrees fahrenheit. If you don’t have a thermometer, dip a finger into the milk. It should be warm, but not scalding hot. Once your milk is warmed, whisk in the honey and yeast. Cover with a kitchen towel and let the yeast bloom for about 5 minutes. You should see a nice thick foam layer floating on top of the milk. If you don’t see any foam, your yeast might be out of date, or your milk could have been either too hot or too cold.
Pour the milk/yeast/honey mixture into a large bowl before adding the oil, salt and flours. Stir to form a shaggy dough. Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead the dough for 5 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic. Then, shape it into a ball and place into a lightly greased bowl. Let the dough rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It should double in size.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down (my favorite part of making bread lol) and shape it into a loaf. Let the dough rise another 30 minutes in the pan before baking in the oven and serving. For a recipe visual, watch the video below:
This Soft Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread is perfect for your favorite sandwiches, whether you choose a grilled cheese, BLT or peanut butter and jelly. Or, toast a slice and spread with butter and drizzle with honey….literally the best piece of toast I’ve ever eaten!! However, I’ll have to admit, my favorite way to enjoy this bread is fresh from the oven, as all the comforting aromas of homemade bread surround me and waft through the entire house….. Enjoy! 😀
Looking for no yeast, no knead, quick-bread recipes? Check these out:
Soft Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 1/4 tsp instant or active dry yeast 1 standard packet
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- In a glass measuring cup, warm your milk in the microwave for about a minute, or until it reaches roughly 110 °F. The milk should be warm, but not scalding hot.
- To the warm milk, whisk in the honey and yeast. Cover the dish with a kitchen towel and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the mixture should be bubbly and smell "yeasty".
- Add the bubbly yeast/milk/honey mixture to a large bowl and then stir in the oil and salt. Next, add the all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Stir the ingredients together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface (I use all-purpose flour for this) and knead it for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. If it gets a little sticky, sprinkle a bit more flour onto your work surface. Shape the kneaded dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough is doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and then knead it for about one minute. Shape the dough into a loaf before placing it in a lightly greased 9×5 inch loaf pan. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 30 more minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- After 30 minutes, place the pan in the oven and bake the bread 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center of the bread reads around 190 °F using a thermometer.
- Flip the bread out of the pan and allow it to cool before slicing and serving.
Absolutely love warm homemade bread, and this is the best homemade bread I’ve had. It’s the perfect density; not too dense and not too fluffy. And the hint of honey adds a nice flavor without making it overwhelmingly sweet. Perfect for any sweet or savory sandwich!
So glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Reginald! 😀
Sounds absolutely delicious
I will have to try making this bread. Sounds really good.
The perfect density to hold together my favorite sandwich. Thanks for a fantastic sandwich bread recipe!
Yay, so glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Alice! 😀