Bread Machine Sandwich Bread

The time has come to share my recipe for bread machine whole wheat sandwich bread!  I'm proud of this because I actually developed this recipe myself, using two different recipes as a base and with a lot of trial and error.  As you may know, I bake almost all of our bread from scratch; I only buy it if I can get it for pennies on the dollar.   This required having an easy bread recipe that I could make weekly or even more often for sandwiches and toast.

I developed it because I was having trouble finding a recipe that fit all my criteria, which are:
1) mostly whole wheat
2) soft and a little sweet, rather than incredibly dense like some whole wheat breads
3) risen high enough to be a good size for sandwiches
4) using regular ingredients, not making me have to purchse anything exotic or expensive

Here's the recipe I developed:
1-1/8 c. warm water
1 T. white vinegar
1 egg
1-1/2 T. oil
3 T. brown sugar
1 c. bread flour
2-1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1-1/2 t. yeast
Put everything in the bread machine in the order listed or in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Set the machine to "dough" cycle.  When the cycle is finished, remove dough to a greased loaf pan and let rise (covered) in a cold oven for 45 minutes.  Remove cover from pan, leaving pan in oven, and set oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for about 30 minutes, including preheating time.  Let cool for a couple of minutes; remove from pan.

As you can see, there are a few unconventional steps or ingredients in the recipe.  The vinegar and egg help the bread to rise, despite the predominance of whole wheat flour.  I also found that leaving the bread in the oven while it preheats (violating every baking rule) prevented the bread from flattening when I moved it around after rising.

The bread is really delicious, especially on the first day it's made, although I often freeze some slices.  The one aspect I'm still working on is that it can be a bit crumbly, making it not as good for holding together a hearty sandwich.  I'm always open to suggestions for improvement!

Check out Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom and Mrs. Moneysaver.