Whole Wheat Bread

I discovered this whole wheat bread recipe on @sallysbaking's TikTok, and I doubt I will ever make whole wheat bread any other way. This bread turned out delicious and baked perfectly!

This recipe called for a sponge, a technique I had never heard of before creating the dough. After doing some reading I found out that a sponge is also known as a preferment, doing this creates a deeper flavor and a lighter fluffier texture. Let's jump into it!

Ingredients

Sponge:

1 cup water, warmed to about 110°F

1/3 cup warm milk, about 110°F

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or instant yeast

2 cups whole wheat flour

Dough:

3 Tbsp honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp lemon juice

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

First, we will start with the sponge! In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk water, whole milk and yeast. Sir in 2 cups of flour. Cover and let that double in size at room temp about 60 -90 minutes.

When the sponge is ready add the remaining dough ingredients.

Add in, honey, unsalted butter, lemon juice, salt and whole wheat flour.

Using the dough hook on your stand mixer, or a spatula or wooden spoon if you don't have one, beat on medium until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl. If needed, beat in 1 tbsp flour at a time until you have a workable dough. Beat the dough for an additional 8-10 full minutes or knead by hand. Lightly oil a clean bowl. Place the dough into the bowl, turning to coat the dough. Cover and allow to rise about 1.5 hr to 2 hr or until dough is doubled.

Punch out the dough, roll it out on a floured surface. Roll it into a rectangle then roll it into a log. Place into a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise until it is around 1 inch above the pan rim, about 45-60 minutes. Bake 350°F for 36-40 minutes. It will be done when the center reads 195°F-200°F.

Best is paired with homemade butter, check out the recipe on our blog page!