The Very BEST Homemade Whole Wheat Bread is the softest, moistest, fluffiest, freshest-staying, homemade, 100% whole wheat bread you’ve ever tried!
I titled this bread “the best” and I’m not even exaggerating here, y’all. I’ve baked many a whole wheat bread recipe over the years, and this one is head-and-shoulders above the rest. (Besides, hundreds of raving comments — scroll down — can’t be wrong!😉)
What makes this bread so amazing is that it stays soft and fresh for days after it’s been baked. Just about all homemade bread tastes fabulous out of the oven, but then whatever isn’t initially eaten tends to dry out a bit as the days stretch on, particularly in the case of wheat bread. But this bread is just as good on the third day (if it lasts that long!) as it was on the first. Seriously, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t experienced it first hand. It’s like store-bought, stay-soft bread without the preservatives. Forgive me for going all Scarlett O’Hara on you, but as God is my witness, I’ll never make another recipe for whole wheat bread again!
One of my bread making tricks is that I like to use “white whole wheat” flour when I make bread. Even though it has the word “white” in its title, this flour is 100% whole wheat. Traditional whole wheat flour is made with red wheat; white whole wheat flour is made with white wheat, and its lighter grain results in a milder flavor and lighter texture than the whole wheat flour to which most of us are accustomed. Don’t be fooled by the taste, though…white whole wheat flour is unrefined and 100% whole wheat, nutritionally the same as its red wheat cousin. I buy King Arthur brand unbleached white whole wheat flour, but I’m sure there are other brands out there that would work just as well. And if you’re already grinding your own flour…well, I don’t need to tell you that you’re going to end up with some nicely textured bread whether you use white whole wheat flour or not.
I believe that the biggest factor that makes this bread stay so soft and fresh is the step in the recipe calling for you to make a sponge. Now I’m not talking about the kind of sponge you keep by your kitchen sink. In bread making, a sponge is a very moist dough that just begins to rise as it gives the yeast a head start. After it’s had some time to do its magic, you add more flour and ingredients and proceed with the recipe. The sponge in this recipe only needs to sit for about 10 minutes, but apparently that’s all it takes to achieve this bread’s wonderful texture.
The only difficulty that I ran into the first time I made this bread is that it stuck to my loaf pans, despite the fact that I had generously greased them. Nonstick pans are recommended for this recipe, but since I prefer baking in my stoneware pans, I figured out a way around not using nonstick. I grease my pans with coconut oil and then line them with parchment paper, using the coconut oil to adhere the paper to the pan. I find that if I cut a piece of parchment paper the length of each pan and allow it to somewhat stick out the sides, then I only need to cut two small pieces of paper per pan for the ends that remain uncovered. The key is pressing the parchment paper down and smoothing it as much as possible so you don’t end up with a bunch of creases in your bread.
This recipe makes two loaves, so I like to keep one wrapped (I use Glad Press’n Seal) and stored in the pantry, and the other wrapped up in the refrigerator until we’re ready to eat it. I have a bread box, but I still prefer keeping my loaf wrapped inside of the bread box. And when I cut off the first slice, I store that end piece pressed against the cut end of the loaf as a kind of “cap” to help prevent it from drying out. When we’re ready for the second loaf, I take it out of the fridge and store it at room temperature in the bread box. Since this is fresh homemade bread with no preservatives, it will start to mold after several days, so keeping that second loaf in the fridge until we’re ready for it buys us some extra time. You could also successfully freeze the second loaf if you prefer, but we eat it soon enough that refrigerating it suffices.
If it takes your family awhile to work through two loaves of bread, another winning alternative would be to give the second loaf away! I mean, who wouldn’t love the thoughtful gesture of freshly-baked homemade bread?
If you have never baked homemade bread before, I encourage you to try it. It may seem intimidating at first and the various steps do take a bit of time, but overall, it truly is easy. And if you are already an expert baker, then I encourage you to add this recipe to your repertoire!
Now go forth and make bread!
This 100% whole wheat bread stays unbelievably soft and fresh for days!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
- 4 teaspoons instant/quick-rise yeast
- ~
- 2 1/2 cups very warm water (120°F to 130°F)
- ~
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted and cooled) OR vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice
- ~
- 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together first three ingredients. Add water and mix for one minute, scraping down bowl halfway through if necessary. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Add salt, oil, honey, and lemon juice; beat for 1 minute. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Knead dough in mixer using dough hook for 10 to 15 minutes or until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and feels smooth rather than sticky.
- Preheat oven to lukewarm by setting it to 350°F and then turning it back off after exactly 1 minute. Grease two nonstick bread pans (8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" to 9" x 5" x 3") or grease two regular bread pans and line with parchment paper. Turn dough onto greased surface. Evenly divide into two loaves and place into prepared bread pans, gently pressing dough into corners.
- Place pans in warm oven and allow to rise for 20 to 40 minutes, or until dough is nicely domed above the tops of the pans. Without removing pans from the oven, turn on oven to 350°F and set timer for 30 minutes. Once baked, immediately remove hot bread from pans and cool on rack.
Notes
I use coconut oil in this recipe. It works wonderfully and doesn't make the bread taste like coconut at all. However, you may use regular canola/safflower/vegetable oil, if you prefer.
Kneading and rising times are approximate and depend on many different variables. The dough must be kneaded until it pulls away from the bowl and is no longer sticky, even if that takes longer than 10 to 15 minutes. And the dough should be allowed to rise in the pans until it is as high as you want your final bread to be.
Recipe adapted from Deals to Meals.
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Hi Samantha,
Thank you for sharing the recipe on your tasty wheat bread. It’s not only giving me an option how to maintain it’s freshness but you’ve perfectly share on how to do it.
You’re welcome, Angela…enjoy!
I’m trying this bread for the first time. Is there really only one rise? Most bread recipes I’ve made in the past have two rises. I’m going to go ahead and do two rises and see what happens.
This looks delicious! I’m sorry if this has already been asked, but where do you find wheat gluten? I love baking bread but have only ever used just yeast. Thank you in advance!
Hi Letitia! I find vital wheat gluten at my regular grocery store, but it is a rather large store. It’s typically in the baking aisle, near the other less common flours and starches. But if your regular store doesn’t carry it, you should definitely be able to find it at a health food or whole foods-type store. The brand I find around here is Bob’s Red Mill. Other common brands are Arrowhead Mills and King Arthur Flour. If you can’t find it on a store, you can always order it online. A small bag will last a long time! Good luck!
Hi Samantha,
This great recipe of yours is definitely a keeper! Read all the comments here and have gathered a wealth of information for a first timer like me…thanks so much for sharing this recipe. My bread turned out soft and moist, so pleased 😉
God bless..
I’m so happy you liked it, Jackie! There are a ton of comments on this recipe but I agree that it’s worth reading them for lots of extra details. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment…hope your 2015 is off to a great start!
Oh my Lord! I just made your recipe for The Very Best Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
and it’s to die for! Honestly you are not kidding when you say it’s the best! This is absolutely delicious and for certain will be the only recipe I do from now on.
The only thing I did different was use coconul oil (melted) instead of vegetable oil.
I too, am a fan of coconut oil.
Will be trying those granola bars soon.
Thanks for the recipe! Way better than store bought!
Sonia Lander
I’m so glad you love this bread, Sonia! It really is the best whole wheat recipe, and I’m relieved that all of the many commenters have agreed with me on that point so far — ha. 😉 I have lots of other coconut oil recipes on the site, so I hope you enjoy trying a few more of them. 🙂 Have a wonderful rest of the week, and thanks for taking the time to comment!
Hi! In step 2 you mention to beat for one minute and also in between adding each cup of flour. Is this just meant to be done with dough hook or a different attachment? Sorry….I’m a novice
Hi Jen! No apologies necessary…that’s a great question! Yes, you use the dough hook throughout this entire recipe…no need to switch out attachments. I hope this bread turns out well for you…good luck! 🙂
And I apologize for my delayed reply…I try to keep up with my comments but this past week I fell behind. 🙁
No worries 😉 Thanks for the reply – can’t wait to try it!!
I made your recipe for The Very Best Whole Wheat Bread. I was blown away! So easy, fast and truly delicious. I can honestly say I can delete all my other recipes because this one is a keeper. Thanks for sharing it.
I have a question… Can I use this dough to make pizza?
Hi Sonia! I know I answered your question via Facebook, but I wanted to answer it here as well in case others are wondering the same thing. 🙂 No, I have not tried using this dough as a pizza crust, but I hope you’ll let me know how it turns out if you try it! Have a great weekend!
I just wanted to chime in in case anyone else encountered a similar problem – so I made this recipe using white whole wheat flour that I ground myself. I followed the recipe exactly, including the measurements of flour, and it came out perfect the first two times I made it. I made it last week and for some reason it turned out terrible- it didn’t rise very well and came out flat and dense. I was determined to do better this week, so this morning I made it again and had the same problem. I was super worried my dough was too sticky, and my Kitchen-Aid was flapping the dough around up close to the top and I didn’t want it to get in the hardware so I obsessively kneaded it by hand and added more flour. The bread had trouble rising and turned out dense and flat again. I was really sad. 🙁
So tonight I tried again, this time looking through the comments a little and then just doing what I sensed was best. I used 6 teaspoons of yeast to ensure I had a good rise, and I only kneaded it for about 5 minutes in my stand mixer. I remembered that the first couple times I made this, the dough started pulling away from the bowl pretty early on, around the 4 or 5 minute mark, and those batches seemed perfect. Same thing happened tonight – the dough seemed ready after 5 minutes so I went with it. The dough rose really fast and turned out perfect. So anyway, I just wanted to comment and suggest that some people may not need to knead it for so long – I think I over-kneaded it the last two times because I was paranoid it was sticky – but kneading by hand I think makes it seem more sticky – which made me add more flour unnecessarily and I guess over-kneading maybe leads to more dense bread.
Anyway, thanks so much for this perfect recipe. The first couple times I made it I was so impressed. I love having a healthy bread recipe. Baking is an art and soon I will have this so down that I’ll hopefully never mess it up again. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Hayley! Bread baking can definitely be temperamental, but I’m glad you seem to have found what works for you and I’m sure that your tips will end up helping someone else. 🙂
I’ve been having this same problem so I’m excited to try out your tips! Thanks!
This recipe looks amazing! I am going to make it to take to my Ragnar relay for my fellow runners and I to enjoy! 🙂
I’m happy to hear it, Rosi! Good luck with your relay and I hope your running friends enjoy this as a snack. 🙂
Hi Samantha! I just want to say I stumbled upon your blog looking for a recipe such as this, and I can’t stop looking at all of your posts! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
I have made this recipe twice now and it tastes amazing! I do have a question though; what brand of flour do you use? I apologize if you have already answered this, I did try to read through all of the comments to see if you had mentioned it.
I ask because my bread has yet to turn out as fluffy and beautiful as yours and it has a rough top not smooth and glossy like yours. So, I have made a few tweaks to my technique, but I’m wondering if it isn’t the brand of flour I’m using.
Thanks so much for such a great blog!
Hi Tina! Thanks so much for the sweet comment…I’m thrilled to hear that you are enjoying the blog, and I hope any other recipes that you might try are a hit! I can see below that you found the answer to your question before I had a chance to get back to you, so that’s great. King Arthur is indeed the brand that I use, mainly because it’s the only whole wheat white flour that I can find around here! But it works well for me. 🙂 Good luck with tweaking this recipe to perfection…I’m sure you’ll get there in no time, and I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it in the meantime! 🙂
Absolutely the best and easiest wholewheat loaf to make. And everyone who eats it loves it. Seasoned bakers say it’s the best whole wheat they have tasted.
I vary it slightly by using white unbleached bread flour for the 2 1/2 cups at the end.
Thanks
I love to hear that, Tom…so happy that this bread has been a success for you! Hope you enjoy it for many years to come… 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment and hope you’re having a great week!
Hi Samantha!
Can you pls help me with measurements. Approximately how many grams is the cup you use?
Thank you!
Hi Anna! I am not really familiar with converting cups into grams. However, I found several conversion calculators online, and they’re telling me that 1 cup of whole wheat flour is equivalent to anywhere from 120 to 128 grams, depending on the brand of flour. Does this sound right? Sorry I can’t be of more help…finding a reliable converter tool online is probably your best bet. 🙂
hi i dont have/get the gluten what is the substitute?
Hi Barkha! Lots of people have reported making this bread without the vital wheat gluten and they said it still turns out great! So if you don’t have it or prefer not to use it, it should be fine to simply leave it out. Enjoy! 🙂
This bread was delicious! I am back to make it again since both my husband and I really liked it. The bread rose perfectly and tasted great!
Wonderful, Charissa…I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit! Hope y’all get to enjoy it many more times in the future. 😉 Have a great week!
What size bread pans should I use? I’d love to make this today.
Hi Angela! I’ve made this recipe in a couple different types of “standard sized” (about 9″ x 5″ x 2 1/2″) bread pans that I have, and it worked fine in both. If you look just under the recipe, there is a link to the specific Corningware bread pan pictured in this post, which is 1 3/4-quart loaf dish. This pan does have sides that slightly slope inwards, but the opening is about the standard dimensions I mentioned above. I think this recipe would work fine in slightly smaller (8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″) pan as well. Any pan in that size range should work. Hope that helps, and happy bread making!
Thanks Samantha! In case anyone else needs to know, I made it in 2, 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2 size pans and it worked great. This is such good bread! Has anyone tried it w/ 1/2 AP flour? I’d like to make it for a friend who prefers white but I think with the white whole wheat .she’d like 1/2 & 1/2.
This recipe should work just fine using all-purpose flour in place of half of the white whole wheat flour. 🙂
Here’s an update for others who may want to do this: I tried it tonight with 3 1/2 cups white whole wheat & 2 1/2 cups AP flour & everything else as written in your recipe. After adding more flour (about a 1/2 cup) and kneading for 20 minutes, my dough pulled away from the sides of the bowl but it was still sticky. I was afraid to add too much flour so I went ahead and put it in the pan to rise anyway. It rose great – well over the top of the pan. When I baked it however, it sank on the top. It is moist and delicious just not so pretty. I see in the comments others have had this problem so I don’t know if it was flour substitution or something else. Do you think I should have added more flour?
Adding a bit more flour until the dough was no longer sticky may have helped…the all-purpose flour could have required using a bit more to achieve the right consistency. Bread can fall after baking for a variety of other reasons — for example, it wasn’t baked quite long enough, or it was allowed to rise a bit too much — but since you made this recipe successfully the first time using all whole wheat flour, I’m betting the partial substitution of white flour had something to do with the sinking this time. Glad it still tasted good, and I hope it works better for you if you decide to try again! 🙂
I’ve never made bread before and so your recipe was my first. It came out PERFECTLY. I am genuinely, never buying store-bought bread again. It’s just the two of us, so one loaf lasts my family a whole week. I’m just getting ready to bake it for my second time! I followed it exactly, with the only modification being that I didn’t use Quick-Rise yeast. I followed other instructions on other websites for the appropriate conversion and rise/cook times and it was a totally approriate substitution. Thanks so much for sharing this!
I’m thrilled that this bread was such a hit for you, Cassie! Thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope you enjoy this recipe for many years to come! 🙂
What size loaf pans do u use? My bread rose and then kind of overflowed the pans instead of dome and I was thinking I may be using wrong size pans. Thank u!
Hi Eli! I’ve made this recipe in a couple different types of “standard sized” (about 9″ x 5″ x 2 1/2″) bread pans that I have, and it worked fine in both. If you look just under the recipe, there is a link to the specific Corningware bread pan pictured in this post, which is 1 3/4-quart loaf dish. This pan does have sides that slightly slope inwards, but the opening is about the standard dimensions I mentioned above. This recipe also reportedly works fine in slightly smaller (8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″) pans as well. Any pan in that size range should work. I’m not sure if your pan size was the problem, but it is possible for bread to overrise. At any rate, I hope it “domes” better for you if you decide to try the recipe again. 🙂
I don’t have a stand mixer to do all the kneading. Sounds like doing it by hand would be very time consuming. Any suggestions?
Hi Kay! This recipe can definitely be made by hand, but as with any homemade bread recipe, it’s going to take more time and muscle than making it with a stand mixer. 😉 Other than those two options, though, I’m not sure what to suggest? You could always try cutting the recipe in half and making it by hand. You’d only end up with one loaf of bread instead of two, but it would be less dough to mix and knead. Good luck if you decide to try it! 🙂
Samantha, I have made this very best whole wheat bread 3 times in the past two weeks. I love it and all of your claims are true, true, true! The first time I made it, it came out PERFECT! But the past two times it will not rise in the oven. What could I possibly be doing wrong? I keep your recipe in front of me and follow everything step by step. Could my oven not be warming to the correct temp when I turn it off one minute after I turn it to 350 degrees? (Even though it is not rising, it still tastes awesome.)
Denise
Hi Denise! I’m so glad you love this bread, but I’m sorry it hasn’t risen properly the past couple of times you made it. The fact that it initially worked for you but now it doesn’t could mean so many things. If it’s not rising at all, is it possible that your yeast could be bad/expired? You can always test your yeast (using a method like this one). You also may have accidentally killed your yeast if the water you used in the recipe was too hot. Does the oven feel warm but not overly hot after 1 minute of preheating? It doesn’t seem like anything should have changed with your oven if rising worked in it before and now it doesn’t. Your problem could also have to do with the weather. Humidity and temperature can both affect bread baking. In some conditions, it’s possible that the bread is just going to take a lot longer to rise, so it may need more time. But if it’s not rising at all no matter how long you wait, I’m guessing it has something to do with your yeast…? Hope this gives you some ideas of what could have gone wrong, and good luck on your next try! 🙂
I am really excited to try out this recipe!! I have been trying to find high quality all natural bread in the stores and they are either pricey, not completely natural or just have a weird texture. Not sure why it took me this long to just try and make my own when I try so many other diy projects.
I do not have any vital wheat gluten but I do have xanthan gum (powder form) that I use for other things. Do you know how much xanthan gum I would need to replace the wheat gluten called for in this recipe?
Thanks again 🙂
Hi Bella! I’ve never tried using xantham gum as a substitute for vital wheat gluten, so unfortunately, I don’t have any advice in regards to that. However, I can tell you that people have successfully made this bread without using the vital wheat gluten, so you can try leaving it out altogether if you wish. 🙂 Hope that helps and hope you enjoy your bread!
Hi! I buy lard from my local farmer. I’m assuming I could treat that the same as coconut oil. Any ideas on how that might change the taste, texture, etc?
Hi Tammy! I bet lard would work just fine as a substitute for the coconut oil in this recipe…but since I haven’t tried it myself, I’m afraid I can’t advise you as to how it might change the taste and texture of the bread. If you decide to give it a try, I hope you’ll come back and let us know how it turned out! 🙂
Samantha, I am in utter disbelief that I have successfully made homemade bread! I have been on a mission this summer to lead my little family to eat, clean, and live healthier. We are eating organic, whole, minimally processed foods…about 85% of the time. I’ve worked hard to minimize dangerous chemicals from our cleaning products and toiletries. All summer long, I have been thinking about making bread and have just been a bit intimidated. Well, I sent my oldest off to school this week and dove into your AMAZING recipe with my two year old. My expectations were not high because this was my first try and I would be kneading by hand. Samantha, I did it and it was so fun and delicious! The first loaf was gobbled up in a day and a half by my family. Today, I delivered the other loaf and some organic honey, organic fruit spread, and a few other goodies to my sweet mom for her birthday. A huge hit for sure. I have plans of delivering loaves to neighbors and church friends. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this awesome recipe. I was kinda thinking my first try at making bread may have been beginner’s luck or divine intervention (Ha!). I made the recipe this afternoon with both of my boys and two more lovely loaves. We’ll have warm bread with supper tonight! I look forward to checking out the rest of your site. God bless you girl!
Thank you for the sweet comment, Angela! It makes me very happy to hear that you’ve had such success with this recipe. What a thoughtful person you are to share this bread with your family members and friends (and how lucky they are!). Hope you enjoy any other recipes you decide to try from the site, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend! 🙂
Do you think there’s any way this could be done in a breadmaker? Maybe halve the recipe, do the first step through sponge in the stand mixer then transfer to breadmaker and add additional ingredients? Do you think that would work?
Hi Faith! I, personally, have not made this recipe in a bread machine. But that question has come up before and I’ve made suggestions for what might work, and other commenters have shared what’s worked for them. I know there are a ton of comments, but if you scroll down to the comment by Colleen on November 1, 2013, I shared with her what I thought might work as far as converting this recipe to a bread machine…then later, a few others commented that they tried my suggestions and the bread turned out great. Hope that helps! 🙂
I’ve tried to find Colleen’s comments from 2013, but it won’t let me go back that far. Is there anyway you can repeat the instructions for making it in a bread machine? I would really appreciate it!!
What size bread pans are you using for this?
Hi Donna! The specific bread pans I use are linked right under the recipe. 🙂 People have reportedly gotten good results using either 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ or 9″ x 5″ x 2 1/2″ bread pans…anything close to or between those sizes should work fine. Good luck!
Hi Samantha!
I would recommend using melted real butter! I get mine from my local farmers market. I always feel more environmentally friendly when I’m buying local and supporting my local economy.
Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Great recommendation, Maiya…I bet your local butter is divine! 🙂
loved it. tried it as a loaf and was fabulous and tried it as rolls and sandwich bread and was great!! and i dont even have this vital wheat gluten business though I did add a tablespoon of “bread improver”. thank you for sharing such a great recipe. it is the best bread recipe i have ever tried, let alone a whole wheat one. I’m sharing with all my loved ones!!
Yay! So happy to hear that, Rahilya. 🙂 I bet that your “bread improver” did the same thing that the vital wheat gluten would have done. Thanks for coming back to share your success with the rest of us!
Samantha, I was wondering if you could make a video on how to do this bread. I’m a visual person and I learn a lot better if I see someone doing it, especially on how you mix the dough until it starts to pull away from the bowl. I would just like to see exactly how you do it. I’ve done this bread many times and it never comes out like yours so I know I’m doing something wrong. Please help me because I know that this bread is AWESOME and we all love it. Thanks for your help.
This bread has very good flavor! I used 100% whole wheat (white wheat) flour from Wheat Montana. Wheat Montana grows non-GMO wheat, which is a real bonus for me. The loaves turned out perfectly high and domed. They looked BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was so proud of myself, and excited to cut into it! I think that the only downside for me was that the texture was identical to commercially made sandwich bread, so it affected the mouth feel and, as such, did not taste like homemade. This recipe would be perfect for families with kids who (typically) like soft, store bought bread. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Love this recipe! I used to love white bread, but I can’t taste store bought bread without thinking it tastes kinda weird now lol I’ve done it as is, and with half white and half wheat flour and it turns out perfect.
BUT the family was hoping I could adapt this bread to be a tad sweeter!
I know baking doesn’t always work when you ‘throw a dash of this in’. I tried adding a T of sugar, but it rose odd; I thought maybe less yeast would work but I have yet to try that. So before I make another batch (and possibly ruin it), I thought I’d ask the expert if you knew a way to add a little sweet to this recipe!
This was my first time baking with vital wheat gluten and I’m so glad I followed your recipe! It came out so wonderfully soft and not dense that whole wheat bread is known to be.
Also THANK YOU for the idea of using the bread cap to stop it from drying out, would never have crossed my mind – genius! 🙂
Yay, Crystal! Thanks for taking the time to let me know how much you enjoyed this recipe. I’m happy to hear it was such a hit!
I made this bread for the first time a few days ago…and am making it for the second time today. Its amazing! I forgot to let it rest for the 10min after mixing the initial ingredients but it still turned out great! My rising time was much longer but I think it was because the room was cooler for the first part of it – I put it on “Proof” in my oven and it rose up just fine after that. I used regular whole wheat flour because I am in Canada and could not find “white whole wheat” and left out the vital wheat gluten and it was still amazing and soft. I used vegetable oil because I couldn’t be bothered to make the extra step and melt the coconut oil lol. My kids and husband loved it – and are asking me to make a double batch today and never buy bread again (lol) we live an hour and a half from the nearest town/store so a recipe like this is invaluable! It stayed soft until the very end (3rd day) which is amazing for bread with no preservatives. I am making it again today, a double batch, and making one “loaf” worth into hamburger buns for dinner tonight. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe! I have pinned and shared it! 🙂
I’m thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out great for you and went over so well with your family, Tawnia! The way that it stays so soft and fresh for several days is probably my favorite thing about it. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it for years to come!
Love this recipe and have now made it many, many times. I use regular dry yeast and reduce the honey to just a little over a teaspoon (we try hard to eliminate any added sugar – natural or refined). This bread could probably be made without the honey but I’ve read that whole wheat flour can be bitter without a little sweetener. I let it rise in a bowl on the counter after the initial mixing and then let it rise once more after placing it in the loaf pans (another person in the comment section suggested this with regular yeast). I like to use a sun oven and bake this bread in that oven and also my regular oven. It always turns out wonderfully and it is incredible how soft it stays. I’ve never had any luck with other whole wheat bread recipes – I always produce a brick. Not with this recipe – incredible! Thanks so much!
Thank you for sharing your tips and experience, Ellen! I’m very happy to hear that you enjoy this bread so much. 🙂
Dear Five Heart Home – I baked this bread yesterday, made two loaves. It is the first time I have ever, ever, ever in my entire baking life that my bread has come out to perfection. IT was just as pictured. I had to let it rise a little longer. I set it in my Breville Smart Oven at “keep warm” 160F for one hour. After that, I turned it up to 350 for 30 minutes. I wish I could post a picture here. We waited for it to cool down and enjoyed it with some Maine Blueberry Jam. The only substitution I made was olive oil for the coconut oil. I will make again using coconut oil. I am now empowered! YIPPY!! I will attempt to make a rye or pumpernickel next. Any good ideas? Thanks so much. I am so glad I found your recipe by “Googling”!
Hi Samantha I am just trying this recipe – I am in the UK and only found normal wholemeal bread flour. I ommited the honey as we don’t do sweet bread over here 😊 but I had a feeling that it would be too much liquid anyway. Now I am mixing the dough and its basically a gooey mess and very liquidy. Is your flour somehow different and requires more water or are our cup sizes different here in the UK? The ratio should have been fine though because I used the same size cups overall. Any idea?
Hi! Could I able to substitute the whole wheat flour for 12 grain flour? Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Hi Cassandra! Great question. I’m guessing it would work, but since I haven’t tried it myself, I’m not sure if you may need to make adjustments. Using a different flour, it’s possible that you might have to add slightly more or less flour than called for in the recipe to get the right bread dough consistency. Good luck and hope you enjoy!
I was just wondering if this could be used in a bread machine ? I have no time due to a 24/7 hr job for a i an a care giver to my neighbor that is disabled and 83 years old and have three kids all under the age of 8 to 15 months old and i love to make home made bread for them i just never have time so for Christmas i was gifted a bread machine I jave made a honey whole wheat bread in it last wheat but it fell apart after three days and was dryed out thanks !
Hi Jackie! I’m sorry, but I don’t have a bread machine adaptation for this recipe. I do hope you’re able to find a bread machine recipe that you like!
Hi I was wondering if I could substitute the honey for regular granulated sugar and omit the vital wheat gluten? Thanks!
Hi there! I haven’t tried those particular changes, so I can’t say for sure how they might affect the recipe. But please let us know how the bread turns out if you decide to give it a try! 🙂
Hi. Samantha. Just wanted to say thanks. My wife and I just made this and it turned out great!! It was our first attempt at homemade bread and I agonized ( I tend to do that when doing recipes for the first time lol) over which of the many online to follow. Yours matched the Flour we bought and the fact that you used a stand mixer which we just bought. Followed it to the letter btw. We used metal bread pans and no issues with sticking.Curious if you have tried this or other bread using non quick rising yeast and letting it rise in a bowl like many other recipes have you do? Also your thoughts on making this a bit lighter by using some other flour as a portion of the total amount? We loved it but our adult daughter mentioned it had amazing flavor but wished it was a bit lighter. I saw some recipes use a combo of flour types. Regardless we are thrilled that we had such a great result on our first time. lol! Thanks again
I’ve made this bread twice and I agree, it’s the best bread I’ve ever made. I don’t have a mixer, so I hand-kneaded it for about 10 minutes and that worked fine. The second time I made it I subbed a cup of oat flour and replaced the honey with molasses and it was incredible. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I tried the bread today following all the steps but my bread did not rise much during the second rise time. Hence it resulted in a very dense bread.Could you please suggest what have gone wrong.
This really is a great recipe. I’ve made it every week for the last 5 or 6 weeks. We all enjoy it so much. Thank you for sharing. It’s also the easiest whole wheat bread recipe I’ve tried.
First, you don’t need the wheat gluten, second. You say it’s whole wheat bread recipe… no, it’s partly whole wheat. When you use the part whole wheat, you do not need the vital gluten…. man I hate that…
Hi Shannon. This bread is made with 100% whole wheat flour. I’m not sure where you got the idea that it’s only “partly whole wheat.” If you read the post, I explain that white whole wheat flour is called such because it is ground from white wheat kernels as opposed to red wheat kernels, but the resulting flour is still 100% whole wheat. As far as using the vital wheat gluten in this recipe, you may certainly opt to leave it out. But seeing as how this recipe is made with 100% whole wheat flour, it helps the bread rise better and stay soft for longer than it otherwise would. Hope that helps clarify things.
Hi, Samantha. I’ve been baking bread for years and years and years. I used to use red wheat berries (back in the 70s…lol), but always had to add white flour to cut it as the red winter wheat by itself is too strong for my taste. Over the last years, I’ve been buying white wheat berries directly from Wheat Montana, then from them through Amazon, in bulk. But I’ve not found a 100% whole wheat bread I liked that could be used for sandwiches, toast, just plain, etc so have always just added bread flour to my breads. But 100% whole wheat is so much better for us that I really wanted a good recipe. I tried KAF’s bread machine 100% whole wheat, but didn’t like it’s rise nor the overall loaf. So, today I made yours.I followed your recipe exactly, using oil this time. It made two perfect loaves that are light enough for sandwiches, yet will work on everything else also. I plan to give the second loaf to my neighbor who loves my bread as we can’t eat two loaves before they get old. The only thing I’m going to change in the future is to use melted butter instead of the oil as I prefer butter. I may also cut it in half and make one loaf sometimes instead of two. I’ll still make my other bread varieties as my husband wouldn’t like giving up my black bread, etc, but will continue to make this one also. For the person who wanted to know where to get vital wheat gluten, I used to buy it in bulk from Amazon, but didn’t really like having to buy 8 boxes of it at a time. So this time around I bought a single can on WalMart’s website for around $3.00 and, as always, store it in my freezer once opened. Thank-you for a great recipe!
Do you think you could double this recipe and make four loafs. I have a bash which can make up to five loafs and my family can eat two loafs in three days and I like to make only bread once a week. I was just wondering if it would turn out the same. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I mean Bosh mixer
Hi I’m from Singapore and I chanced upon yr recipe. Just wanted to say it turned out wonderful! Soft, tasty and with abit of chew. Easy instructions to follow and no need for extra gluten!
I’ve just put this bread in the oven; first time I’ve made your recipe, and I mixed and kneaded entirely by hand since my Kitchenaid is not behaving well. The texture was smooth and light as I put into the bread pans. Now waiting for the loaves to finish baking………..
Sounds like quite the workout, Lisa! 😉 Hope your bread turned out great!