Homemade Wheat Bread

This homemade wheat bread recipe is simple, super soft, and so easy to make, even for a beginner! Get all the details you need!

Homemade wheat bread that is simple, super soft, and so easy to make, even for a beginner!

If you’ve never made homemade wheat bread before, you’re missing out. Not only is it incredibly easy, but it also makes your home smell amazing and gives you a fresh taste that you can’t buy anywhere else. Nothing is as good as that warm loaf from the oven. 

This wheat bread recipe is super simple and great for beginners!

The hardest part about making this homemade wheat bread is waiting for the rise times to happen.

How to make this homemade wheat bread recipe

• In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, including the brown sugar and the yeast.
• Add in the oil and then mix until it is combined.
• Knead the dough in the bowl, or roll it out onto a floured surface for about 8 minutes. This is a lot of arm strength, and can cause a little fatigue- that’s how you know that you’re doing it right.
• Place the dough back in the bowl and cover. Let it rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Make sure that you have the dough somewhere warm, as the dough will take longer to rise in a colder environment.
• A good idea is to place it on top of a preheated oven or one that was recently turned off. (An example is preheating the oven while you do the prior steps, and then turn it off for the dough to rise on top without wasting more electricity).
• Once your dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a floured surface and divide it into two pieces.
• Fold each into loaves by creasing it down the middle and folding it in half lengthwise. Then tuck the ends in and place it into the prepared loaf pans. 
• Spray some plastic wrap with cooking spray, and lay the greased side down onto the dough to prevent sticking. Let rise for about 30 minutes, or until doubled. 
• Preheat the oven to 375 and then when the bread is ready, remove the plastic wrap and bake for about 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees.

Why does this wheat bread need to rise twice?

Think about the last slice of bread you ate and how there were a lot of little air hole pockets inside, those are a result of a fine gluten structure. When you allow your dough to rise, it’s filling with air and creating pockets.

You then punch down the dough, removing the air and allow it to rise again, resulting in smaller air hole pockets and a smaller crumb. Meaning, you shouldn’t have to worry about giant gaping airholes inside your bread. 

Can you let the bread rise too long?

YES! There is such a thing as letting your bread rise too long, and not letting it rise long enough. While this recipe does state times for letting your bread dough rise, it is very important to go by eyesight and less on the clock.

You WANT to see that your bread dough is nice and doubled in size. You don’t want to see a stale lump of cold dough that looks like it hasn’t moved. 

The second rise is called proofing and it’s important to do a quick test to ensure that it is ready for the oven. This is super easy, just lightly poke the dough with your finger and see what happens.

You want it to leave a small indentation. If the dough quickly refills and your indent disappears, it means that your dough needs to rise a little longer. 

If your dough has been rising for too long, the gluten structure will break down and result in a dense bread. The over-proofed bread may even have a slightly soured taste to it.

While there is nothing wrong with eating it, and it won’t make you sick, it will be a small stab to the ego when the bread comes out tasting differently than how you’d expect.

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