whole wheat sandwich bread

so, i've got an absolute ton of fabulous, fancy, amazing bread recipes. but... what if you just want something basic? something healthy, but simple? no nuts, no seeds, just an easy-peasy whole wheat bread?

boy, have i got a recipe for you, friend! 

obviously, like any other bread recipe, you can tweak this. add nuts and seeds if you like! use it as pizza crust! bake a wheel of cheese into it! whatever you want!

the trick with whole wheat (and other whole grains) is ensuring you give the dough adequate time to rise. without that, you can end up with dense, hard, BLAH bread, and who wants that?

ingredients:

3 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 t salt

2 1/4 t yeast

2 c hot water

1-2 c whole wheat flour additionally

olive oil

to make: 

mix 3 c whole wheat flour and salt in a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer).

mix yeast and hot water (as hot as your tap will make it). let stand for a couple of minutes until the yeast gets foamy. 

mix the yeast mixture with a spoon, so ensure no yeast sticks to the bottom of the bowl, then pour into the flour mixture. mix in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or by hand with a large spoon. 

add flour 1/2 c at a time, until it forms a ball, and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. 

if you're using a stand mixer, swap the paddle for the dough hook, and knead 2-3 minutes, adding more flour as needed. if you're mixing by hand, dump the dough onto a floured counter top, and knead by hand for 2-3 minutes, adding flour as needed. you want the dough to be an elasticy ball, and not stick to you/countertop/etc.

coat the dough in olive oil (i use spray oil, but some in your hands spread on the dough works too) and leave in a warm spot to rise for 1 1/2 hours. 

dump the dough onto a floured countertop.

punch down the dough, and break into 2 roughly equal balls. knead them a couple of times, adding flour if necessary to stop sticking. 

oil 2 loaf pans (again i use spray olive oil), roughly shape your dough into loaves, and stick them in the loaf pans. 

allow to rise another 1 1/2 hours. 

preheat your oven to 400 degrees. bake the loaves on the middle rack for 25 minutes. 

cool on a wire rack. 

enjoy! 

i slice this bread before freezing, so i can just take out as much as i want, but you can freeze whole loaves, or it will last a few days on the counter!