I am not a planner. My best ideas usually come to me only after I actually begin a task. That’s the way it has always been and it usually works for me, whether I am working, writing a blog post, or …baking bread.
My sandwich bread recipe, which is part whole-wheat, has been one of my go-to bread recipes for months now. It takes less than 15 minutes to put together the dough and once that’s done all I have to do is nurse it through two rises and bake it into two fabulous loaves we can eat all week long.
I’ve often thought of converting the recipe to an all-wheat, high-protein bread richer in dietary fiber, but while I’ve baked enough wholegrain breads in the past, I have never been satisfied with the texture of an all-wheat sandwich bread which, in my book, needs to be at the same time soft and chewy and light and airy but firm enough to hold whatever you want to slather and smear on it.
This past Sunday, as I started mixing up the water and the yeast to make my usual loaves, my lazy brain cells blinked out of hibernation for just a minute to suggest: what if…?
I ran with the thought and ended up with this fabulous, whole wheat high protein sandwich bread. My original sandwich bread recipe calls for two cups of whole-wheat flour and two cups of all-purpose. For this whole-wheat recipe I replaced the two cups of all-purpose with one cup whole-wheat flour and one cup of vital wheat gluten flour. This immediately punched up both the fiber and protein content, because vital wheat gluten flour is almost 75 percent protein.
For those unfamiliar with vital wheat gluten, this is a natural protein found in wheat and it is especially valuable in baking wholegrain breads because it helps them build structure– in simpler words, it helps them rise. I’ve explained the role of gluten in bread-baking and the gluten content of various kinds of flours in this old post on my Whole-wheat French Bread. But to do a quick recap, here’s the reason whole wheat bread doesn’t rise as well as a bread made with all-purpose flour or bread flour: gluten occurs in the grain’s endosperm and all-purpose and bread flours are made by milling the endosperm which automatically gives them a high gluten content. Whole-wheat flour contains not just the endosperm but also the wheat germ and bran which are the outer coatings of the wheat kernel and are devoid of gluten. Since ounce for ounce whole-wheat flour has less milled endosperm in it than more refined flours do, it has a lower gluten content. Simple enough?
I know some of my readers who are outside the United States don’t easily find wheat gluten flour where they live: I’d advise, in that case, to just continue using half whole-wheat and half all-purpose or bread flour to get a really delicious loaf.
If you’re wondering after looking at the pictures why my two high protein sandwich bread loaves are different-sized, it’s because I’ve got two different sized loaf pans: one’s wider and squatter, and the other one’s taller and slimmer. Both bake up delicious breads, though. 🙂
***
Looking for more bread recipes?
Applesauce Sandwich Bread
Whole Wheat Maple Sourdough Rolls
Gluten-Free Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Whole Wheat Sourdough Baguettes
Whole Wheat French Bread
***
High Protein Sandwich Bread recipe:
High-Protein Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup water (warm)
- 1 cup nondairy milk (warm)
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (use sugar or agave nectar if you'd rather)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Mix the yeast and the warm water in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. In another bowl, mix the warm soymilk, water, oil, maple syrup, and salt.
- Add the soymilk mixture to the yeast. Then add 1 cup vital wheat gluten flour and mix on low speed or by hand.
- Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour and continue to knead, adding a more flour if needed, 2 tbsp at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Continue kneading for another 10 minutes. You should have a really smooth, supple dough.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning once so the top of the dough is coated with oil.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and allow it to rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in volume.
- Now punch down the dough, and put it back in the bowl to rise for another hour.
- Grease and flour two standard (6-cup) loaf pans. Now punch the dough down again and divide it into half. Shape each half into an oval, tucking the seams underneath.
- Place each oval into a loaf pan, cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and set it aside to rise for about 90 minutes until the dough rises above the pan, forming a nice dome.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bake the loaves for 10 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 30 minutes or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
- Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes, then remove the loaves from the pan and continue cooling.
Hi!
Lovely loaf.
Can I make it in a bread machine ???
Recipe question – First, this looks like an awesome recipe! I can’t wait to make it. Question, what can I use to substitute soy milk (if anything)? I can’t use a nut milk, as my daughter’s school is nut-free. Thank you!!!
Any nondairy milk is fine!
1. Mix in a stand mixer on low speed or by hand. Then add:
2. cup vital wheat gluten flour
3. Knead on low speed or by hand, adding a little at a time until the dough is no longer sticky:
4. to 1 1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour (add more flour if the dough’s still sticky).
5. Continue kneading for another 10 minutes. You should have a really smooth, supple dough
This recipe makes no sense. Step 2 says “cup vital gluten flour”. So how many cups? Step 4. “to 1 1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour…” What does this mean
Some of the recipes got scrambled when I moved to a different recipe plugin — most of them have now been fixed, including this one.
Hi! Do you know if its possible to make this in a bread machine?
I haven’t made it in the machine but it should be fine.
Hi Vaishali,
I have not been able to get VWG inspire of an extensive search both in India and Singapore. Will hi-protein flour help in combination with any other flour? Please help.
Hi Prema, yes, high protein flour is perfectly fine. I am guessing this is refined? You can combine half of the high protein flour with half of regular whole wheat flour. Cheers! 🙂
HI VAISHALI,
I BAKED AS LOAVES THEM WEEK BACK AND THEY TURNED OUT FANTASTIC. YESTERDAY I TOOK THE SAME RECIPE AND SHAPED THEM IN HOT DOG ROLLS AND BUNS, AND SKIPPED ON THE SECOND RISE, AND YOU WHAT THEY CAME OUT EXTREMELY GORGEOUS. SOFT AND DELICIOUS FOR SURE. THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR UR RECIPES……………..
GOD BLESS
NISHA.
Hi Nisha, so glad you liked this– and great idea to bake them as hot dog rolls.
HI VAISHALI,
MY PERSPECTIVE TOWARDS ANIMALS KEPT IN ZOO AND THE CONCEPT OF HAVING ZOOS AT ALL HAS BEEN COMPLETELY CHANGED. M TRYING TO INCULCATE THE SAME THOUGHTS IN MY KIDS AND FOR THAT I HAVE TO TAKE THEM TO THE ZOO, AND MAKE THEM FEEL THE HARSHNESS OF CAPTIVITY AND LONELINESS; SO THAT THEY CAN FURTHER PASS ON THE SAME TO THEIR FRIENDS.
ITS GOOD TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE YOU WITH SUCH A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE SPREADING THE GODLY MESSAGE GLOBALLY.
IN WHAT WAY IS ATTA DIFFERENT FROM THE REGULAR WHEAT FLOUR, COZ I HAVE BEEN USING ATTA IN MY EVERY WHOLE WHEAT BAKING? ALSO, DOES THE RATIO OF YEAST TO FLOUR DEPENDS AND VARIES AS PER THE TYPE OF FLOUR USED?
NISHA
Hi Nisha, how lovely that you are teaching your children compassion to animals– kudos to you.
About your question, atta is made with a lighter wheat and produces an airier texture in breads than regular whole wheat flour available here in the United States. You can substitute atta in any recipe that calls for whole wheat flour.
As for yeast and flour, you could use less yeast if you have more time on hand and can allow for a slower rise, or if you’re using another rising agent, like sourdough.
How do you make your whole wheat sourdough starter? I didn’t see it…did I miss it?
Hi John, I did start one but the whole wheat would just not take, for some reason, so I ended up adding AP flour to it. I do want to try again — there are recipes on the internet for WW starters– but haven’t had the time.
Thank you so much for the recipe! I was looking for a recipe for a high protein bread and this recipe is the perfect jumping off point. eg. substituting spelt or rye or quinoa flour, adding whole grains, flaxmeal The possibilities are almost endless!
And yes, I do agree with you regarding zoos and aquariums. They mostly just make me sad… The Vancouver Aquarium has many very large tanks that exhibit local ecosystems as opposed to one kind of fish with plastic plants in a small tank. They help to convey the reality of community – how all organisms in an area are dependent on each other. There is also a floor dedicated to learning games for cildren – interaction of different species with each other, the influence of man on the aquatic environment and what each person can do to minimize it, etc. A good lesson to teach to people of all ages, no?
Hi Akta,
I am guessing you used the gluten? The gluten is imperative for the rise, since this is an all-whole-wheat dough.
Another possibility could be bad yeast. What kind did you use? I like using active dry because you can tell if it’s alive before you add the rest of the ingredients, when you mix it in the warm water.
This has always been a fool-proof recipe for me and I make it at least once a month, so I am rather intrigued it didn’t rise for you.
I purchased the vital wheat gluten from whole foods, but I have a feeling my problem was probably the yeast. Either it was too old or I didn’t let it “froth” before i mixed it with the other ingredients…Ill make a second attempt this weekend and keep you posted…hopefully second time is the charm…thx for the feedback 🙂
Hi Vaishali, I stumbled upon your blog when i was searching for sourdough pretzel recipe (which by the way turned out perfect!!). I was really intrigued when I saw this recipe. I’m not a vegan but am a very strict vegetarian and it’s hard to get enough protein in my diet without and eggs/meat…you can only eat so much lentils/beans. I followed your recipe to the dot but for some reason my bread did not rise much when i put it in the loaf (after the initial 2 rises). You said at that point it should have rised enough to form a nice dome over the loaf pan. I halved the recipe because its just me and my husband but when the bread was done it was about 1 1/2 inch high…did i do something wrong? I feel like the only thing i must’ve done wrong was let it rise the first time a little too long, about 3 hours. I did not use raipd rise yeast, if that helps.
Any suggestions would be great…this is my first try at a sandwich bread recipe…:)
Akta
Hello!!! I love your website. I have a question about the type of flour in the recipe. Is whole wheat BREAD flour the best to use? I am trying to learn and I did not know that there was a difference. Thanks so much!!!
Dake, if you can find whole-wheat bread flour, then yes, use that.
Thank you for this recipe, Vaishali. For quite some time, your Perfect Sandwich Bread has been my go-to recipe. I think I have found a worthy competitor in this one 🙂
Hi Nisha, that’s not a stupid question. It is harder to check the doneness of loaves baked in a loaf pan as opposed to those baked on a flat cookie sheet. Here’s one way to determine if your loaf is done: press the top with a fingertip. If it springs back, you can be pretty sure your bread’s done. Hope that helps. 🙂
Hi Vaishali,
I baked it today and it was a 100% success, except that the loaves didnot have the golden colour on the sides. Also, how do one test tapping the bottom when the loaves are still in the hot oven and hot pan? I might sound stupid here.
God Bless
Nisha.
Hi vaishali,
I myself feel very suffocated when I see animals forced to survive in the zoo against their will and wish. Issues that u often raise in your article(s) are of “A SENSE OF HUMANITY”, which I think is possessed by few blessed ones.
Coming to the bread; where I had completely lost the hopes of getting wheat gluten, I did found very good quality of vital wheat gluten. So now its time for me to bake some really healthy stuff for my family.
Once again thanks for your healthy and wonderful recipes, and drawing peoples attention to such sensitive issues.
God Bless
Nisha.
Jen, Thanks for the feedback! I always use a serrated knife to slice this or any bread– it’s the best way to make even slices. And even if this bread squishes a bit when you’re cutting, it springs back when sliced.