Whole Wheat Pecan Bread with Dried Blueberries: Your New Favorite Sandwich Bread

Anyone else miss the days of getting stickers and gold stars every time you did something well in elementary school?

Cleaned your cubby? Gold star. Turned in your homework? Choose a sticker.

Every little accomplishment was recognized and celebrated, urging you on to grow into a (somewhat) responsible and successful adult.

But then adulthood actually hits, and praise and recognition are saved for annual reviews and really big milestones. No more stickers.

While it’s understandable that gold stars aren’t distributed quite as liberally anymore, I do feel like we all deserve to recognize and celebrate small accomplishments in our lives. And that’s why I love making bread.

Sure, it’s exciting when sweet cookies turn out just right or a steak comes out perfectly medium-rare, but there’s just something so gratifying about making a loaf of bread.

Let’s be real: making bread is time consuming.

Depending on the recipe, you need at least four hours dedicated to making it. Sometimes even days if you decide to soak the dry ingredients like in a soaked whole grain bread recipe.

Between mixing, kneading (you’ll LOVE our no-knead oat bread if you can’t stand this step!), rising, folding, and rising again, it is not something you can just throw together.

But that’s not a bad thing! In fact, there’s something so nerdily relaxing about the whole process. Every step is precise and based on science.

And by the time you’ve read and re-read the instructions, gone through all the steps, and finally have a loaf baking in the oven, you’re fully invested in the final product. Unless you have a lot of time, and extra ingredients, you can’t just make another loaf real quick if the first doesn’t come out.

Then, when you open the oven door and see a perfectly risen bread, pride starts to bubble up inside. And by the time you’re gently cutting the first slice and see that it is in fact bread and not a doughy mess, you can’t help but dance around the kitchen.

If you’re new to bread-making, this is a great recipe to start with as there’s no fancy shaping or cutting designs into the top. You don’t even have to worry about combining the wet and dry ingredients separately. Everything just gets thrown into a stand mixer and you’re off!

This recipe really is the perfect next step after making quick breads as the dough is simply mixed together, formed into a log, and then placed in a loaf pan.

And don’t let the term “whole wheat” intimidate you.

While some whole grain breads get a bad reputation for not being as soft and harder to work with, this bread has a key ingredient to ensure you end up with a spongy loaf that still packs in the nutrition of a whole grain baked good:

White whole wheat flour.

It may sound like an oxymoron, but I promise it’s not too good to be true.

White whole wheat flour is simply whole wheat flour that’s milled from a lighter variety of wheat. As a result, the flour, and the baked goods it’s used in, end up softer and lighter than traditional whole wheat, yet still retain all the fiber, vitamins, and minerals of the whole grain.

Next, let me tell you about the fruit. While dried cranberries or raisins are common bread ingredients, this time I went and changed things up by using dried blueberries.

Have you ever seen dried blueberries? Like really looked at them?

They’re adorable!

Unlike dried cranberries that are on the flatter side, dried blueberries still have that round blueberry shape, but are just smaller and shriveled up a bit.

While this recipe doesn’t require a large quantity of dried blueberries, they still provide a little health boost. Fresh blueberries are high in antioxidants – compounds that protect against chronic disease and inflammation.

As I’m new to dried blueberries, I was curious whether or not they contain the same amount of disease-fighting properties as fresh. Luckily, it turns out other people have wondered the exact same thing!

A study published in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology compared the antioxidant activity of fresh versus dried blueberries. They found that the drying process doesn’t affect the antioxidant content of blueberries, as there were no significant differences between the fresh and dried ones. Pretty cool!

However, just as with any dried fruit, dried blueberries are a more concentrated source of sugar and calories compared to fresh. So, while perfect for sprinkling into our dough, it’s good to keep portion sizes in check when feeling the need to munch while waiting for the dough to rise.

Tart and sweet, the dried blueberries also add brightness to the nutty, more earthy flavors of the whole wheat flour and pecans.

While delicious on its own, my favorite way to eat it is with a smear of cream cheese. I also think it would be perfect bread for a turkey and brie sandwich, or for a vegetarian option like a hummus, avocado, and sun-dried tomato sandwich.

But the loaf didn’t last long enough for me to try it.

In fact, between my husband and I, we finished off the entire loaf in three days. I like to point out that we also had made a chicken noodle soup, which was a perfect pairing with the bread, but I guess that doesn’t really change the fact that we devoured it quickly.

So, whether this is your first introduction to yeast breads or you’re simply looking for a new recipe to try out, this whole wheat pecan bread is well worth devoting your morning or afternoon to making it.

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Cooking By the Numbers…

Step 1 – Grease Large Mixing Bowl and Measure Ingredients

Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with canola oil and set aside.

Measure out all of your ingredients, and set out all the baking tools you’ll need.

If you haven’t already, toast the pecans lightly in a dry frying pan on the stove, or on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it so the nuts don’t burn!

Step 2 – Combine Ingredients and Mix

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed (I used speed setting 4) until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Step 3 – Knead the Dough

Switch the mixer attachment to a bread hook and knead the dough for 7-10 minutes on low speed, until smooth and slightly sticky.

A good check is to lightly press your finger into the dough. If it springs back (hey there, gluten!), then it’s ready. If it’s not ready, continue kneading for another 1-2 minutes and check again.

Step 4 – Rest Dough

Transfer kneaded dough to the greased bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap that’s been lightly greased, and allow dough to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm, dry spot in your kitchen without any drafts.

You’ll know it’s ready when it’s puffy and nearly doubled in size.

Step 5 – Prepare Loaf Pan and Shape Dough

Once dough is done resting, lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside.

Gently deflate the dough by pressing into the center, and transfer to a lightly greased surface.

Roll dough into an 8-inch-long log and transfer it to the prepared loaf pan with the seam side down

Step 6 – Cover and Final Rest

Tent the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it rest again, this time for 1-2 hours.

The dough is ready when it’s risen 1-2 inches above the rim of the pan.

Once it is almost done with the final rest, preheat your oven to 350°F.

Step 7 – Bake

Remove plastic wrap and place the pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, cover with aluminum foil and continue to bake another 15-20 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped. If you have a thermometer, the inside of the bread should reach 190°F.

Step 8 – Remove from Pan and Cool

Once the bread is ready, remove the pan from the oven and carefully take the bread out of the loaf pan. If it sticks a bit, carefully run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen it.

Place the loaf on a cooling rack. For extra flavor, gently rub a stick of butter over the top while it’s still hot.