Pixie’s Kitchen presents: homemade wheat sandwich bread

Do you have a bread machine—and want to enjoy a nicer loaf of bread than it turns out? Pixie, Little Man, and I will show you how to better utilize a bread machine to easily make a lovely loaf of nicely textured sandwich bread. It’s a great compromise of convenience and homemade goodness! :)

First, here are some side by side comparisons of a loaf of bread (accidentally) baked in the bread machine, and a loaf baked in the oven. The texture inside the loaf is spongy and the outside is tough and pockmarked on the bread machine loaf (not to mention sporting holes on the bottom. My husband’s slicing job just added insult to injury). As you can see, the oven-baked loaf is much smoother and compact, as well as finer-textured.

I get all my bread recipes from Betty Crocker’s Best Bread Machine Cookbook and use the 1.5 pound loaf version of the recipes. This recipe is the Honey Cinnamon Bread; I simply omit the cinnamon.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
1.5 cups bread flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons dry milk
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons bread machine or quick active dry yeast

(Then I call out, “I’m going to make bread, do you guys want to help me?” And kids come running with joyful shrieks of “YAAAAYYYY! Yes!”)

Measure the ingredients into the pan “in the order recommended by the manufacturer”—in my case, what works is literally adding them in the order listed on the recipe.

Water first

Kids like making patterns with drizzling honey

I usually don’t soften the butter—just cut it up into small pieces

Give the flour a stir and spoon it gently into the measuring cup, don’t pack it down or shake the cup

Use a straight object (like a wooden spoon handle) to scrape off the excess, making the top level with the edge of the cup. Then add to the pan.

Dig a little hole in the middle of the flour mound and place the yeast there. You don’t want it touching the water or salt

Putting salt on the side, away from the yeast

Now, put the pan in your bread machine and choose the Dough cycle. I used quick yeast, so I chose the Quick Dough option.

After it preheats, the machine will begin mixing the ingredients. After it has mixed for a few minutes, open the machine and check the dough ball—you want it smooth and barely moist, not gooey with too much liquid or dry and tough with too much flour. Add either flour or water, just a little at a time, to correct either issue.

While the dough mixes, you can take the opportunity to clean up your kitchen...

....and get things ready for when the dough is done. Lightly dust a work surface with flour (I use a big cutting board), and lightly butter a bread loaf pan (shortening works, too).

Important note: if your bread machine’s dough cycle has a “Rise” phase at the end of the cycle, take the dough out before the rising starts. On my machine, for example, Rise is the last 15 minutes of the 45-minute cycle, so I set a timer for 30 minutes and take the dough out. You CAN still make a loaf if you goof and the dough rises; it will just be poofier and a little harder to work with.

Fresh out of the machine

Flip it over and kind of roll it around to very lightly coat it with flour, so it won’t be sticky

Gently but firmly press it out into a general rectangular shape. A rolling pin works too.

You want it at least as long as the pan

Now roll it up, starting on a long side. Ignore the wheat germ, I was experimenting with trying to make a wheat swirl in the loaf

Pinch the edge to seal it to the loaf. I often skip this step and just make sure the edge of the dough roll is positioned on the bottom when I put it in the pan.

Press each open end of the loaf down, and tuck the pinched edge underneath the loaf, so that the ends are smooth.

If the dough roll is longer than the pan, gently push it together and make it into a nice loaf shape

Place in the pan....

Cover loosely with a light towel or plastic wrap, and set to rise someplace warm and non-drafty where it won’t be disturbed. My oven has a “proof” feature; another good trick is to microwave a cup of water for several minutes, then remove it and put the pan inside the microwave afterward to create a similarly warm environment.

Generally, when the bread rises even with the top of the pan, it’s a good time to turn on your oven. Preheat to 375 degrees. (Please note I have a double wall oven setup; do NOT preheat the oven with the rising bread inside!)

When the bread has risen about an inch above the top of the pan, into the oven it goes! Set your timer for 35 minutes.

Baking beautifully

Check for doneness by tapping the top of the loaf. If it sounds hollow, it’s done :)

Place the pan sideways on a cooling rack and gently tip or jiggle the loaf out. Then set the loaf upright to fully cool on the rack.

Just an extra tip: Store your bread inside a bread keeper. Homemade bread goes stale pretty quickly. So whatever you aren’t going to use in a day or two, slice up, wrap the slices in foil (I pack 2 per foil packet), put them in a large resealable plastic bag, and freeze!

ENJOY! And thank you for reading!