Really, I know you’re thinking “She’s crazy, sick even.”  What does she mean Wonder Bread?  “That’s the garbage from the fifties with chemical ‘nutrients’ to grow bodies into diabetes.  You’d be right if I was trying to duplicate wonder bread. 

No, what I mean is “This is what Wonder Bread would want to be if it really was bread.” 

This made gorgeous toast and a heavenly sandwich.  I have to agree with Rose that this is like a lean brioche.  Maybe it’s a brioche wanna-be but that doesn’t seem fair to this bread because it is stand alone good.  

When I say this makes gorgeous toast, it’s because while it’s less butter than brioche there’s still enough butter that without adding any to the surface, this does get a lovely golden brown.  It’s aroma is very reminiscent of brioche.   Even though I burn it a lot, my favorite toast comes from under the broiler.

The recipe is from Rose’s The Bread Bible. 

The Changes I made:

The most major change I made was using half King Arthur white whole wheat flour to replace half the all purpose. 

Then I cut the butter by 8 grams. 

I routinely save any potato water I have from making mashed potatoes and use it to replace some or all of the water called for in a bread recipe.  I have come to enjoy having potato water frozen in ice cube trays so much that when I run out, I cube a potato, cook it in about two and a half cups of water, blend it and use it as potato water in bread baking and to thicken gravies or sauces.  In this bread, I used two ice ‘potato’ cubes and then measured the remaining water needed to make the called for 105 grams. 

White Whole Wheat Soft Sandwich Loaf

adapted from R. L. Beranbaum’s

The Bread Bible

Starter/Sponge

340 g King Arthur AP flour

405 g water (with two “ice cubes” potato water)

45 g honey

3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

Stir this to combine all ingredients evenly; this should result in a very smooth and thick batter.  Cover. 

Allow to sit covered from 1 to 24 hours.  Mine sat for 2 hours.

Dough

150 g KA white whole wheat flour

156 g KA AP flour

40 g non-fat dry milk

3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

120 g unsalted butter

14 g salt

Whisk together the two flours and then reserve out a third to a half cup for kneading.  With the remaining flour mix, whisk in the dry milk, and the instant yeast.  Top the sponge with the flour mix -Do Not Mix. 

Allow to sit at room temp, covered for from 1 to 4 hours.  Expect to see the sponge bubble up through the flour mix in several places.

Mixing

Add the salt and butter to the bowl with the starter sponge and mix to moisten the flour; it should come together. 

Flour the counter lightly and turn the contents out.  Knead enough to begin gluten formation.  Use the reserved flour as you knead but try not to add more than the reserved amount.  The dough will be very sticky.  Gather the dough into a ball and cover with the bowl for 20 minutes.   You should expect the dough to be easier to work with and less sticky at the end of the 20 minutes.

Kneading

Knead the dough for perhaps another 5 to 6 minutes - expect it to be very smooth and elastic while continuing to be slightly tacky - tacky means it pull at your skin as you let it go but no longer sticks and clumps onto your fingers.

Rising

Place the dough in a lightly oiled container and cover.  If you use a straight sided clear container such as the one above, it is very easy to see when the dough has doubled as the below photo shows. 

Mine took about ninety minutes; it may take up to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.

Shaping

Shape into a loaf.  The loaf should fill the pan to about half inch from the rim and then rise to a half to an inch above the rim.

Rising

Took an hour and a half; it may take two hours.

Pre-heat the Oven

350° for 45 minutes

Bake

I misted the oven when I put the loaves in and again at three minutes and six minutes.  After 20 minutes I rotated the loaves 90° and baked them for a total of 52 minutes, reaching an internal temperature on an instant thermometer at 210°. 

Nice Crumb

See how nicely it toasts!

I know you thought I make some fancy smanzy sandwich with such a great bread and I did . . . but not like you think probably.

Peanut Butter and Mayo

It’s just one of those oddities about me.

This goes to Susan at WildYeast for her weekly Yeast Spotting.  I’ve come to look at the weekly Yeast Spotting as a delightful trip to a Bakery Wonderland!  If you’re not familiar with Susan and Yeast Spotting, it’s explained here.