We’ve gotten lots of requests for a good whole wheat bread, so here’s my go-to Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe. This recipe is for you batch bakers who want to get the most out of your time in the kitchen! It makes 4 generously sized loaves of deliciously soft, slightly sweet whole wheat sandwich bread for all of your freshly baked bread needs. It’s perfect for sandwiches and toast and it’s not too dense or heavy, yet it still holds up well to slicing. In my humble opinion, it’s the perfect whole wheat bread.
I started with a great recipe from Bosch and tweaked and changed things until I felt like they were exactly right. I love the method here because it only has one rise and goes straight from the mixer to the baking pans. That means you aren’t going to be waiting all day to dig in that freshly baked bread. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour – You don’t need to grind your own wheat, but I really do think you wind up with better-tasting (and supposedly more nutritious) flour. If I am going to grind my own (I use a WonderMill) I order hard white wheat. I find it milder and softer than red wheat, and produces a lighter finished product.
If you are buying flour, look for white whole-wheat flour, which is ground from hard white wheat. Regular whole wheat flour will work but it has a stronger flavor and may not be quite as light and fluffy. If you can find whole wheat bread flour, that’s another great option. - Warm water – Warm water is used to activate the yeast. Too cold and you won’t get a good rise, too hot and you’ll kill your yeast. Aim for 105-115°F water.
- Bread machine yeast – Also labeled “rapid rise” or “instant” yeast.
- Table salt
- Unsalted butter – The amount of salt in salted butter can vary, so using unsalted butter lets us control the amount of salt in the recipe. If all you have is salted, that’s ok. Just reduce the additional table salt to about 2 3/4 teaspoons.
- Honey – Honey adds a subtle sweetness and helps the crust brown.
- Plain Greek yogurt – The original recipe called for a dough enhancer, which is an ingredient that most people don’t have laying around and can be hard to track down. plain Greek yogurt gives us some of the same benefits in a much easier-to-acquire package. The acidity supports the structure of the dough and the protein, milk solids, and fat contribute to the overall moisture and tenderness of the final bread.
- Vital wheat gluten – Vital wheat gluten is the concentrated protein from wheat flour and it’s often sold near the specialty flours on the baking aisle. This is what gives bread dough it’s strength and elasticity. Using whole wheat can interfere with the gluten development in the dough, preventing it from properly trapping the gasses created by the yeast, which results in a poor rise and dense, crumbly bread. Using it here allows us to get all the of the benefits of using whole wheat while avoiding some of it’s potential pitfalls. If you can’t find it easily, or you don’t have it at home and you want to try this recipe anyway, you can sub in some bread flour for a portion of the whole wheat flour. See the notes in the recipe card at the end of this post for full instructions. If you’re using 100% whole wheat flour, do not skip the vital wheat gluten!
Equipment
- Heavy duty mixer – Note that this is a big batch of bread (we’re starting with 9 cups of flour and then add more)! I’m using a Bosch mixer for this. If you are using a KitchenAid mixer or other standard size mixer, check your max capacity before you begin. You can also check the frequently asked questions and recipe card below for options on shrinking the recipe down. I would recommend a 2-loaf batch if you have a KitchenAid mixer.
- Bread pans – I use and love these pans. I bought them on Amazon and yes, they are a little spendier than your average bread pans. But if you’re serious about making your own bread, they are fabulous at retaining heat, giving you a nice, smooth, evenly-browned loaf of bread.
How to Make Honey Whole Wheat Bread
- You’ll start with some flour, rapid-rise yeast, and warm water in the bowl of your mix. That needs to sit for a minute until the yeast wakes up and the whole thing looks bubbly and spongey.
- At this point you’ll add some salt, butter, honey, Greek yogurt, and vital wheat gluten. Then you’ll slowly add several additional cups of flour, until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- You’ll let that knead for a few minutes right in the mixer, then transfer to a greased surface to divide into 4 equal potions. Each of those portions will then go into a greased bread pan to rise for about an hour. This is the only rise, which is one thing I love about this recipe!
- After that, they are ready to go into a hot oven until golden brown! A quick rub of cold butter over the hot tops while fresh out of the oven finishes them off.
- You’ll allow the loaves to cool all the way in the pans, and then they are ready for use or storage for later!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store completely cooled bread in a tightly sealed plastic bag or airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- These loaves freeze beautifully. You can use gallon-sized Ziploc bags (you may have to cut the ends off), or you can buy bread bags. Again, if you live somewhere where lots of people make their own bread, you might be able to buy them locally. Otherwise, these bags from King Arthur Flour are fabulous.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some people are successful at making whole wheat bread without it. However…part of our job is making our recipes something that beginners to experts can make, and can make well on a consistent basis. Because of variations in bread-making experience, wheat quality, different types of wheat, whether you grind it yourself or buy the flour at the store, elevation, and about a million other factors, there’s lots and lots of potential for this recipe to fail. Vital wheat gluten helps with that. It’s not going to hurt you or your bread (unless, like a commenter mentioned, you’re allergic or have Celiac Disease), but it can help level out some of those problematic factors, so I guess my thing is why not add it, you know?
Yes, especially if you have a pro-series mixer. That said, you’ll want to keep an eye on your machine, especially near the end of the kneading cycle. If it smells “machiney” or appears to be straining or overheating, turn it off and finish kneading it by hand.
Yes, absolutely! During the final kneading, just double the kneading time. Also, there’s a tendency when making bread without a mixer to add too much flour because you can really feel the moisture of the dough. Just realize that as time goes on and the longer the bread is kneaded, it will become less and less sticky, so try and be patient before adding too much flour.
Of course not! The easiest way to adjust the ingredients needed for the number of loaves you want is to press the + or – button on the recipe card to the number of loaves you’d like to make. Since the customary US measurements do not divide cleanly, the best way to measure is to click on “Metric” under the ingredients list on the recipe card below and measure all ingredients by weight in grams.
I would estimate 16 standard slices per loaf at normal sandwich thickness.
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 12-15 cups whole wheat flour preferably hard white wheat
- 5 ¾ cups warm 105-115 F water
- 2 ½ tablespoons bread machine or instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons table salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ⅔ cup honey
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 heaping tablespoons vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- Mix 9 cups wheat flour and yeast in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Add the warm water and mix well. Cover and allow to rise for 15 minutes.
- Add salt, honey, melted butter, yogurt, and vital wheat gluten. Mix well. Add remaining 3-6 cups of flour, mixing the dough at low speed, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and the dough barely sticks to your finger. Allow the mixer to knead the dough for an additional 5 minutes.
- While the dough is kneading, spray 4 9×5″ bread pans with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. Spray a work surface and your hands with non-stick cooking spray.
- Turn the dough onto the prepared work surface. It should be very easy to work with. Press the dough into an even circle or square and divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Press the dough into a rectangle that is about 8½-9" on the long side. Roll it into a smooth log and place into a prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Cover and let rise for 45-60 minutes or until the dough is rounding over the tops of the pans.
- Carefully place the pans onto the middle rack of a cold oven. Turn oven onto 350℉ and bake for 32-40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and, if you're feeling awesome, an instant-read thermometer reads 200℉. Remove from oven and run a stick of cold butter over the tops of the bread. When cool, remove from pans. Use immediately or freeze loaves for future use.
Notes
- Nutritional information reflects 1 loaf of bread, not an individual serving size.
No Vital Wheat Gluten?
- If you cannot get vital wheat gluten, use your whole wheat flour for the initial mix and then use white bread flour for the additional flour, only as much as needed to obtain a dough that is pulling away from the sides of the bowl and behaving as the directions above instruct.
- All purpose flour may be used this way as well, but the bread flour will provide better structure and rise.
- You can also use 100% whole wheat bread flour in place of all the flour and omit the vital wheat gluten.
Questions & Reviews
I LOVE my Bosch mixer…my mom had one when I was growing up in the 70’s…I remember grinding wheat for flour for her…for some reason we thought it was fun as kids!
I’m going to have to make this bread now. For once I’m craving something that is somewhat healthy!
Suzy, I buy my wheat from Golden Wheat Farms. Its super clean and good prices. Their website is shop.goldenwheatfarms.com
Reading the ingredient list of store-bought bread is a good motivator to make it yourself! We grind a bunch of wheat at once (outside) and then store it in the freezer to bypass the mess and hassle of grinding. I make bread every week and we eat one loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven. Such a treat for all of us. Kate, your bread looks perfect! Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Why is it so hard for us to commit to making bread on a regular basis? I have everything I need to do it (including the bread bags!), but just don’t do it! I am very interested to see what the Greek yogurt addition does to the bread. And since we’re out of bread, I guess that leaves me no excuses today but to just go do it.
I was thinking about plastering my refrigerator with vinyl words that said “Stop it!” after hearing President Uchtdorf’s talk, but maybe I should say “Start it” instead!
Have fun on your trip. Wave as you drive by Taylorsville.
I had the same problem, but now I just commit a morning, and make two batches, so I am freezing 8 loaves (or more like eating 1 right away, and freezing 7) so that I don’t have to do the whole process as often:)
This sounds almost exactly like my recipe… the only difference is in the rise. Try this little trick…. turn oven on to 180 (or as low as your oven will go) while kneading dough. place dough in pans. places pans in oven for 20 minutes. DO NOT OPEN oven door…. turn oven temperature up to 350. bake for 20 to 25 minutes. remove from oven (check for doneness) but allow to rest in pans for 10 minutes to produce a softer crust on sides and bottom of loaf. It has never failed us. If you try it please drop me a line and let me know what you think. And yes it does cut at least an hour off your bread making process which is extremely helpful when you are feeding a houseful of teenage boys and a hubby who spent their day cutting/hauling wood (when we lived in alaska!) OH I’ve been making my bread this way for the past 8 years or so. (I LOVE my BOSCH as much as I did my KitchenAid which I no longer have but miss so much…. we won’t go there…. big sigh.)
Enjoy your bread!!
I do the same trick with my bread as well. I have discovered that letting the whole wheat dough rise actually makes the bread crumble and have uneven air pockets. From mixing bowl to pan saves time and dishes!!!
You can also use a spray bottle and spritz the loafs down as soon as they come out of the oven and onto a wire cooling rack, this will make them nice and soft.
Don’t cut into the loaves until they have completely cooled for at least 2 hours!
Also, when making whole wheat bread, gluten is only needed if you are using old wheat kernels, otherwise the grain makes sufficient gluten with out needing to add more.
One more thing … Whole Wheat bread is only dense and heavy because the baker made the dough that way by using way to much flour, and not realizing that whole wheat flour is like a very dry sponge that takes a while to absorb water.
Whole wheat flour absorbs the water in the dough the longer it rests, and at a slower rate than all purpose flour. If the same recipe was made using only all purpose flour, it would need much more flour.
Change the mindset: making whole wheat bread is much different than making all-purpose white bread.
To avoid dense bread that does not rise and does NOT need gluten, just add less flour than it looks like it needs, so the dough is still rather sticky. If you are tempted to add more flour, just wait 10 to 15 minutes and the dough will thicken.
Whole Wheat dough should be more on the sticky and moist side because of the absorption properties of whole wheat, and especially if whole grains are added to the dough.
Amen, I just wanted to say I make my own bread every two weeks for my family and yes it does take a whole morning but well worth the effort. It is so much cheaper than a decent loaf of store bought bread and my family loves it. I have a Bosch and that is the only way I would do it.
To anyone who is a little hesitant, just try it. The more you make it the more comfortable you’ll be and you’ll find the way it works for you.
I use juice cans to bake my bread. It’s kind of fun because it comes out round and I can bake six loaves at a time.
I have both a Bosch and a KitchenAid and I love them both for different reasons. Bosch all the way for bread or anything that needs kneading, or for something with a super tough dough like biscotti. But for the rest of my baking, the KitchenAid is king. All cakes and cookies and whipped things go in there. In fact, I got rid of the dough hook for the KitchenAid and the whips for the Bosch! I’ve always used the wheat bread recipe from a kitchen store in Logan, UT but am interest in others since, as you said, I’ve had a hard time finding ingredients since moving to Wisconsin. Thanks for all the work you do to provide us with great foodie stuff!
I used to do that until I tried the Cookie Paddle attachments for the Bosch. Now my KitchenAid sits in my cupboard. They work fabulous!
I’ve made the Bosch recipe for years but always do 1/2 white flour, 1/2 wheat flour. It’s my favorite since it still tastes good and stays soft several days later, not just right out of the oven. I am looking forward to trying your version. I also use the smaller loaf pans (8 x ?) and get 6 loaves! Even better than 4 🙂
So is this recipe gluten-free? And do I have to add the vital wheat gluten? KIDDING! Actually, I have a question about those bread pans. I am definitely in the market for some. Do these USA pans work ok for sweetbreads like banana bread? I can’t tell from the photos whether they’d turn into a sticky mess or not. Thanks for your fabulous work!
Yes! I was worried about that, too, but apparently they have a non-stick coating on them that keeps them awesome. 🙂
THANK you! 🙂
USA pans are made in my home town, they are fantastic. Cookies sheets are awsome, I won’t own anything else. Just bought myself some cake pans and hope to try them out for Easter.
My sister is the bread baker in the family, and she uses her pan all the time. I am going to send her this recipe. Thanks!
I have the USA Pan jelly-roll size. I make everything on it—and absolutely nothing sticks. My only discovery is that I seem to have to adjust down 25 degrees when I use it (I do calibrate my ovens with a thermometer all the time).
I love the USA pans too! You can find them at Bed, Bath & Beyond also (and use a coupon).
Wheat-grinding mess was my excuse too, until I got a heavy duty blender (Vita- Mix, but I’m sure a BlendTec or Bosch or Kitchen Aid that’s heavy duty will work); I grind wheat in there every few days.
My go-to bread recipe is similar, but even easier- put the dough in the pans and put them into an oven that’s PREHEATED to as low as it will go (170 on mine). Turn the oven OFF when you put them in, but back on 25 minutes later to 325 and bake for 30 minutes (I only make 2 loaves at a time for freshness- more loaves would probably need longer). If you have a “start time” and “bake time” feature on your oven, you don’t even have to think about it once the pans are in until it tells you it’s ready!
BTW, I love OBB, and it’s on my list of blogs on my blog.
This recipe sounds easy and yummy! I can totally relate to your non-bread making excuses (reasons), I received a wheat grinder a year ago for Christmas and have yet to use it! You’ve inspired me, thanks!
Sandy, If you ever whip our your wheat grinder, try hard red winter wheat from Golden Wheat Farms! Its super clean and great prices. Their website is shop.goldenwheatfarms.com That’s who I buy from 🙂