George, my sourdough starter (thanks for naming him, ChannonD --and thanks everyone for your great suggestions), has been bubbling away for a few weeks now and I've been using him to make waffles, pancakes, and sandwich breads with different combinations of flours: all white, part whole-wheat, and all whole-wheat. You already have my recipe for Sourdough Sandwich Bread, and today, I want to share with you a recipe for my All Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich bread with no added yeast.
This is a super simple bread, and it requires just a few main ingredients: Flour, sourdough starter, and some sugar or molasses. I also add a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar into the mix to help with the rise. Whole wheat flour is low in gluten, the substance that helps create structure in breads and helps them rise, and a little acid can actually help with gluten formation. You can substitute the vinegar with lemon juice.
I love this bread: it has a nuttier, warmer flavor than the all-white bread, which is excellent too, and although it doesn't rise as high, it has, as you can see, a nice, open crumb -- not so open that your peanut butter or jelly would slip through, but enough to make the bread light and airy and not dense at all, as wholegrain sandwich breads sometimes tend to be. Jay, who's missing a few teeth, loves this bread with the crust trimmed away. It makes great toast too!
I haven't shared my recipe for sourdough starter because I followed the one over on the King Arthur blog, except, as I told you in my last sourdough bread post, my sourdough is more hydrated-- it uses more water. If you want me to share the recipe for my starter, give me a holler and I will do so.
There is some waiting involved in the recipe, and you need to be patient, in order to help the gluten form. There are three rise times, including an overnight wait time while the flour and sourdough soak together. Trust me, it's all necessary to make sure you get the best bread possible.
I am going to keep this post short because I have something to talk about after the recipe. Stay tuned if you're interested, and weigh in if you want to. I would love to hear what you think.
All Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups sourdough starter
- 2 cups water (I've been using distilled water for my breads because the chlorine can inhibit yeast and I find it does make a difference. But if you'd rather use tap water, that's okay too)
- 4-5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp sugar or molasses
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place the sourdough starter in a bowl along with the water, sugar, and 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Mix well and let it stand overnight or about eight hours.
- Beat the dough the next morning with the kneading attachment of a stand mixer or with a ladle, then add salt, vinegar, and 1 more cup of flour. Continue to add the flour and mix, ¼ cup at a time, until you get a dough that feels sticky but doesn't really stick to the sides of the bowl.
- Continue kneading on a flat surface, by hand or in the stand mixer, for another five minutes. If the dough sticks to the surface as you knead, add a little flour, no more than a tablespoon at a time. You want a supple, smooth ball of dough that's not too firm.
- Coat a large bowl with oil and place the ball of dough in it, turning over once to coat the top with oil.
- Cover with cling wrap or with a tight lid and let it stand in a warm place for two hours or until doubled.
- Lightly grease two loaf pans with an oil spray or oil, and sprinkle some cornmeal or cream of wheat on the sides and the bottom.
- Punch the dough down and divide into two. Shape each half into a loaf by rolling it out into a rectangle about six inches wide and nine inches long, and then rolling it into a log. Tuck the sides down and pinch any seams together. Place the loaf, seam side down, into a prepared loaf pan. Repeat for the second loaf.
- Cover the loaves with a towel or -- better still -- with shower caps. This is a trick I learned from the King Arthur blog, Flourish, and it works really well because it allows the loaf to expand without weighing down the top, the way a kitchen towel would.
- Place the loaves in a warm place and let them rise two hours or until they dome slightly over the top. Whole wheat loaves will not dome or rise as much as white or part-whole-wheat breads will, so don't wait too long to bake in the hope that your loaf will rise further. After two hours, the bread is likely to lose its structure.
- About half hour before baking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- When you're ready to bake the loaves, place them on the center rack and bake 40 minutes.
- Remove the loaves from the oven and, carefully, turn them out onto a rack. Let them stand, right side up, until they are thoroughly cool. As attractive as the smell of freshly baked bread is, resist the temptation to cut a slice off before the bread has thoroughly cooled because you can upset the moisture balance in the loaf.
- I like brushing or spraying the top with a little oil for an attractive look as soon as it comes out of the oven. But no need to do this if you'd rather not.
- Slice and eat!
**
Make these wholegrain breads next:
Fast Whole Wheat Bread
Applesauce Sandwich Bread
No Knead Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Quick Ciabatta
***
A reader left this comment on my last post on vegan stews: "Do you know "vegan" excludes lamb? I'm unsubscribing," wrote this person who didn't give their name, nor, it appears, bothered to look through the post or at the recipe for my Irish Lamb Stew which is made with TVP chunks and is indeed very vegan.
The next day, another reader, alluding to this reader's comment, wrote on a different post: "I am new to this community and I’ve had some doubts. I left a group because there was comments on how people should die because they held a pig roast. I love pigs, but I want to work on compassion for “all” creatures. The point is there seems to be some severe extreme militia type points of view in this community."
There's something seriously wrong with the way we are presenting ourselves to the world if we are giving new vegans, and those considering embracing a nonviolent lifestyle, the idea that vegans are intolerant, or worse, "militia type" people who would condone violence if it was directed toward people who are eating animals.
I get it -- it's frustrating for us ethical vegans. Billions of animals are "processed" by the food industry each year, after leading miserable lives on factory farms. Vegetarians make up just over 3 percent of the American population, and about half of these vegetarians are vegans, according to a Vegetarian Resource Group poll from this year. It's thrilling to consider the possibilities for animals if the numbers were much higher, and depressing that they aren't.
But look at it this way: there are way more vegans today in the world than there were even five or 10 years back, and certainly more than there were two decades ago, and our numbers are growing. What's even more promising is that people who are not ready to become full-fledged vegans yet are eating more plant-based meals because of all the options out there, the benefits to health, and growing awareness about animal cruelty. Meatless Mondays are catching on in workplaces and even in some school districts. The change for animals is slow in coming, and it couldn't come sooner, but it's happening.
There are many compassionate souls who love animals and do get the suffering and pain, but they still can't quite wrap themselves around the idea of giving up all meat. Desi, who is the kindest person I know and who loves animals even more passionately than I do, was vegan for a while, but eventually he did start eating meat occasionally, usually while visiting friends or family or while eating out. He eats vegan most days, and certainly at home, and that's good enough. Jay, who also loves animals and is a vegetarian, craves eggs and cheese. He saw these foods on television at the orphanage, and never -- or rarely -- got to eat them, so he longed for them when he came here. I let him eat them sometimes because they connect him to his past which he is not ready to let go of yet. I make sure I buy eggs and dairy that are responsibly sourced and humane, and I talk to him, in age-appropriate ways, about the suffering of dairy cows and egg-laying hens. My hope is that one day, when he better understands that suffering -- and I am sure he will because he's a wise little soul -- he will embrace an all-plant-based lifestyle. But I want that decision to be his, or it will never stick, the way it does not for many Indian kids who grow up in traditionally vegetarian families and start eating meat the moment they experience independence.
It might be good to remind ourselves of what's happening in India where Hindu extremists who call themselves "cow protectors" have been going around targeting people who eat beef (usually Muslims and Christians). In one instance, the militants forced two workers driving a truck carting beef to eat cow poop and then put the video online as a lesson to others. A man was dragged out of his home and killed because the "cow protectors" suspected he had eaten beef (investigators later found out it was mutton, goat's meat), and another man was lynched for transporting beef. A couple, suspected by the militants of carrying beef in their baggage, was beaten up at a railway station when they refused to let the "cow protectors" search their bags. The stories go on and on, each more horrifying that the other. The agenda for the "cow protectors" is not really the cows who perhaps are in greater mortal danger from consuming plastic bags floating all over the landscape in urban India. No, their agenda is persecuting religious minorities.
I digress to make this point: a true animal lover does not condone violence to humans as a means to an end; militants with an insidious agenda do. The very basis of our vegan lifestyle is rooted in non-violence, because we love all creatures and we don't want to see them suffer. As Gandhi, the father of non-violence and an animal lover himself, often pointed out, violence can be committed as surely with words as with actions. As vegans, let's stop committing violence with our words against the people who are not vegan. If we do, we'll only push them further, and that's not going to help any animals.
This was good enough to comment. It's just that good.
This recipe works well, and is not too finicky, which is good because my process was somewhat haphazard. I forgot the sugar, only eyeballed the flour, used my own home grown sourdough starter and added about a cup of spent grain, before leaving my still proofing dough in the fridge overnight to avoid over rising and the results were still excellent.
I would certainly use this as a base to experiment with alternate types of flour, and additional ingredients.
Awesome, so happy to hear! Thanks for sharing your process, always useful to hear how it goes and it's helpful for other readers.
Should the starter be fed and pass the float test for this recipe?
also is the sourdough 100% hydration?
I have made your 1st sourdough sandwich bread and your sourdough bread machine recipe. They are great. I have been working on the hydration because of my high humid hot weather that I deal with on all bread recipes.
Hi Pammer, my sourdough is around 70 percent hydration. I don't really use the float test because it often gives mixed results and is not reliable.
I made this with 100% hydration starter and used a bit of rye flour as well. it turned out so good!! It’s definitely a patience game but love the end result! Thank you for the recipe!
So happy you loved it! ❤️
Hi there! I love your recipes! I am super interested in trying this one as it calls for sourdough starter. Should the starter be 100% hydration? Thanks!
I'm just wondering what the consistency of the dough should be when you form it into loaves - should it still be a fairly wet dough or should I be adding flour?
Hi there! I am a newbie making this recipe for the first time. I mixed it all up and it's doing the two hour rise in my warm kitchen. Problem is itsbeen 1.5 hours and it's NOT rising at all. Can you suggest anything? Thanks for your help!
Hiee Vaishaali
I am just on step one currently
I have a general doubt I am completely new like 10 days old in sourdough baking
I wanted to understand if you say 2 cups sourdough starter
Do you mean it must be fed and then counted in 2 cups ?
Is it possible to make a smaller version as I am new
I have a nicely active starter , I am tired of searching for an article that can teach on how to maintain and use sourdough after activation
Lastly
The mother starter after feed blooms quickly, rises well but falls rapidly also is it normal ?
Hi,
Just made the starter.
Would love to bake a whole wheat bread
Can you please tell me the purpose of using apple cider vinegar in this recipe as I need a substitute.
Also, since my OTG is small, can I half the recipe?
Thanks in advance
According to the article:
I also add a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar into the mix to help with the rise. Whole wheat flour is low in gluten, the substance that helps create structure in breads and helps them rise, and a little acid can actually help with gluten formation. You can substitute the vinegar with lemon juice.
That's a great tip.
Have you ever done this as one larger round loaf (more rustic boule style) vs. 2 sandwich loafs? Any recommendations if I wanted to try that instead, or does it need the shape of the loaf pan?
I am running a bit behind schedule today. I completed the first step this morning and let it ride for 11 hours. Could I possibly do the second rise in the fridge and then the third in the morning and had the loaves baked and ready for tomorrow's lunch?
I made this and the bread came out just perfect ! I made the white bread as well, it was good too.Really wonderful recipe. As for the Vegan part, I think you are really balanced in your views. Thank you for putting such recipes together !
Hello, are you able to provide the conversion to metric like you have in the regular sandwich bread post? Thank you!
Do I leave the first mix of starter, sugar, water and flour on my counter or in the fridge overnight?
On the counter. If it was in the fridge I'd specify that.
Thank you.:)
Such a good recipe for a beginner sourdough baker like me! Thanks a lot.
I also found your recipe during the pandemic. Thank you for putting out a whole wheat version!
But I also have to say, I just read through your blog post following the recipe, and I agree whole-heartedly. People will never want to listen to vegans if there is a lack of compassion towards other people.
I have tried a couple of times to make the jump from vegetarian (for 24 years now) to vegan, but have not succeeded. I think it is probably because I make/cook for 5 other adults in my household, and it’s difficult to mesh everyone’s tastes and needs together. I look forward to perusing your site a bit more, in hopes that I’ll find some suggestions to help with my challenging situation. (Three of the people in the house are vegetarian, the other three are not. I won’t cook meat for the meat-eaters...they are on their own with that).
Thank you for publishing this! During the COVID-19 stay-at home order, it has become impossible to find baker's yeast or unbleached all purpose flour in the grocery stores. After 6 weeks of the stay-at-home order, even baking powder and baking soda have been hard to come by.
I used up my 10 lb stash of all purpose flour getting the sourdough starter established. It took 3 weeks for it to become strong enough to bake bread. Fortunately, the Indian grocery stores have atta flour, which I used in recipes for the sourdough discard, and saved the all purpose flour for feeding the starter.
Now that my stash of all purpose flour is used up, I've been feeding the established starter with atta flour, and it seems to be doing ok.
Again, thank you for the information, allowing me to develop the skills needed to adapt in this time of shortages.
Great to hear, happy it's working.