Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread - By Smitten By

I'm still trying to find the perfect whole wheat bread recipe. America's Test Kitchen's bread that I posted previously is by far my favorite but it uses some white flour which we're elminiating. I tried that recipe with all whole wheat flour and it didn't really work. 

Makes 2 4×8 loaves

4 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp instant yeast

3 tbsp vital wheat gluten (you can substitute vinegar if you want)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup potato flakes 

3 tbsp softened butter 

3 tbsp honey

2 cups very hot tap water

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, yeast, gluten, salt and potato flakes.  Mix for about 30 seconds to evenly distribute the dry ingredients.  

Add the oil, honey, and water.  Mix for another 30 seconds.  If the dough is too dry, add a little more water about a tbsp at a time.  The dough should be wet enough to leave a little residue on the sides of the bowl.  Mix for 10 minutes (just set your timer and walk away).  

Do not add any more water or flour at this point, it will not incorporate and will ruin the dough.

When it is done mixing, the dough will be smooth and elastic.  

Spray the inside of a large plastic bowl with cooking spray.  Place the dough on in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap or clean cotton towel and let it raise until it has doubled in size.  It takes between 30 to 60 minutes, so keep an eye on your dough.

After the first raise, gently punch down the dough with your hands.  Separate the dough into two equal balls.  Form into loaves, and place in pans lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover again with plastic wrap or cotton towel and let raise  again until about doubled; it should raise just above the top of the pan.  Near the end of this raising time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake for 25 minutes.Remove from the oven and let them cool in the loaf pan for 7-10 minutes.  Then remove from the pans and continue to cool on a wire rack (don’t let it cool completely in the pan, it will become a sticky mess and ruin the bread.).