Beautiful Light Wheat Bread

Perfect for sandwich bread, this recipe has a neutral taste and is easy to cut into nice slices.

This is another recipe from Whole Grain Breads by Machine or Hand: 200 Delicious, Healthful, Simple Recipes, and as I mentioned last week, the results have been somewhat uneven. But since there are so many yummy sounding recipes in it, I’m going to persevere.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 C whole wheat f lour
• 2 1/2 C bread flour
• 1/2 C nonfat dry milk
• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

1. Warm water to 105-115F; add yeast and brown sugar to warmed bowl, mix well and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except half the the bread f lour; mix well and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Add remaining bread flour (might want to go easy on this, use your own judgement) and mix until it pulls from the side of the mixer and is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise until doubled (about an hour).  Punch down, shape into a greased loaf pan, and let rise again (about another hour).
4. Bake in preheated 375F oven for 25-30 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean and dry.

The Verdict: I had a bit of rising problems with this bread, but the next day it seemed better. It cut very nicely and had a simple flavor, and would be good for an everyday sort of bread if I can get the ratios adjusted or new yeast, whichever the problem is. I am determined to get this bread baking thing down!

For more bread recipes, check out Yeastspotting.

also shared at the Grocery Cart Challenge