Brown Sandwich Bread with Molasses and Parsnip

Sometimes my home baked bread can be a little too dense for a sandwich.  I like a thick, chewy fresh baked bread very much but if I want something lighter, I simply let my second rise go overboard so the dough has more than doubled, nearly tripled, in size.  Simple as that!  I love how light and soft this bread is.  It really is perfect for sandwiches... and it makes excellent toast, too!

Molasses and parsnip help to lightly sweeten this brown wheat bread, but you won't be able to detect those as strong flavors at all.  Modify the recipe with honey or other sweeteners, and leave out the parsnip or replace it with something else, if you like.  Anything goes!

Brown Sandwich Bread
Makes 2 loaves.

1/4 cup warm water
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups milk
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened and diced

1 large parsnip

Peel and dice the parsnip.  Cook in water until very tender, about 25 minutes.  Drain and cool.

Place the warm water and yeast in a bowl to foam for 5 minutes. Heat the milk and molasses on the stove until warm. Combine the milk mixture with the yeast, salt and 2 cups all-purpose flour. Blend well, then gradually stir in whole wheat flour. Add additional flour if the dough is wet and saggy, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is soft yet sticks in a clump around the spoon.

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding as much extra flour as is needed to reduce stickiness, for about 8 minutes. Press the dough out kind a flat and scatter the butter and parsnip over the dough.  Knead the butter and parsnip into the dough.  It will kind of fall apart and get sticky at this point.  Knead it back together, using a little flour if it becomes too wet (though it will be a little sticky at first and that's okay).  I also find that it helps to use a wide putty knife or bench scraper to pick up and fold the moist dough.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease two standard loaf pans. Punch the dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Form dough into 2 loaves and place into the prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until more than doubled (nearly tripled) in size.

Preheat the oven to 450F. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350F and bake another 20 to 30 minutes or until top is chestnut brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!