My Favorite Sandwich Bread Recipe

This recipe is the one I keep coming back to, even after trying so many other whole wheat recipes. This one I think yields the right texture that you find in store bought bread.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (adapted from Bread Beckers basic bread recipe found in their recipe book)

1 cup hot water
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup EVO oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp salt
1 egg (I use an egg because I can't find Lecithin locally)
4 - 4 1/2 cups hard white wheat (or your combination of hard white and hard red)
1 Tbs instant yeast

NOTE - if you don't like dairy then feel free to use all water and omit the egg. If you omit the egg then add 2 Tbs. of Lecithin.

1. Combine liquids and salt in mixer.
2. Add 2 cups of the flour, add the yeast,  add two more cups of flour.
3. Mix for a couple minutes with the paddle attachment. It will look very wet.
4. Let dough rest for 20-25 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid.
5. Mix on low speed with your dough hook for 6-8 minutes. Add more flour in very small increments if necessary. (I normally don't end up having to add more flour.)
6. If you choose, you can knead by hand a few times with oil not flour before transferring to a lightly oiled bowl.
7. Cover and let rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
8. Shape into a loaf. I like to flatten and roll my dough into a large rectangular shape and then tightly roll it.
9. Let rise in loaf pan uncovered for about 30 minutes.
10. Bake at 350 for approx. 45 minutes.

Note - this recipe makes one large 2 lb loaf. An 8"x3" loaf pan is a 1 lb loaf size. You can divide this recipe into two 1 lb loaves and bake it for 25-30 minutes.