Whole wheat sandwich bread that doesn’t taste like cardboard?

And doesn’t come from a package that says “all-natural” yet contains high-fructose corn syrup.  (It doesn’t seem fair that you can find those ingredients even when you think you are buying the right things for your family.)

Making my own sandwich bread was one of my least favorite parts of this process.  All of the whole wheat bread recipes I tried came out hard and dense.  So, I decided to try a recipe for white bread.  And just switch the white flour with whole wheat flour.  Add a little extra rising time and it’s bread that I actually like having a sandwich on!

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

1/2 cup milk

3 tbsp honey

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

2 pkg active dry yeast (I like the Hodgson Mill brand made for whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 cups warm water

5-6 cups whole wheat flour (or a mix of whole wheat and white whole wheat)

Combine milk, honey, salt and butter in a small saucepan.  Warm until the butter melts.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a warmed mixer bowl.  Add milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour.  Mix with a dough hook for about a minute.

Continue mixing and add remaining flour and mix until dough forms a ball on the dough hook.  Knead about 2 minutes longer.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the dough and turn a couple of times in the bowl so that all of the dough is coated.  Cover bowl with a towel and let stand for 90 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 pieces.  Roll out into a rectangle and then roll up into a loaf shape.  Repeat with second half of dough.

Place in greased loaf pans and cover with towel.  Let rise for 90 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  (Loaves should sound hollow when you tap on them and be golden brown.)

Recipe adapted from “Instructions and Recipes for your KitchenAid Stand Mixer”