This perfectly crafted whole wheat bread recipe brings warmth and nourishment straight from your oven to your table. In just under 2 hours, you’ll create a healthy, fiber-rich loaf that’s both satisfying and nutritious.
Each slice delivers 4g of fiber and 5g of protein, making it an excellent choice for health-conscious bread lovers. The balance of texture and wholesomeness makes this recipe a family favorite that’s worth every minute of preparation time.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- White Whole Wheat Flour: 6-7 cups, fresh and high-quality for best results
- Warm Water: 2¾ cups + 2 tablespoons, temperature should be comfortable to touch
- Instant Yeast: 1¼ tablespoons, ensures proper rising
- Vital Wheat Gluten: 1 heaping tablespoon, helps achieve perfect texture
- Salt: 1 tablespoon, enhances overall flavor
- Unsalted Butter: ¼ cup melted, adds richness
- Honey: ⅓ cup, natural sweetener
- Greek Yogurt: 2 tablespoons, creates tender crumb
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Initial Mixing: Combine 4.5 cups flour with yeast, add warm water, mix and rest for 15 minutes
- Add Enrichments: Mix in gluten, salt, melted butter, honey, and yogurt until well combined
- Develop Structure: Add 1½ cups flour, mix until dough pulls away from bowl sides
- Knead: Work dough for 5 minutes in stand mixer (10 minutes by hand) until smooth and elastic
- Prepare: Grease two bread pans and line bottoms with parchment paper
- Shape: Divide dough in half, roll each into 9-inch logs, place in pans
- Rise Time: Cover with greased plastic wrap, let rise until dough crowns over pan tops
- Bake: Place in cold oven, set to 350°F, bake 30-38 minutes until golden
- Finish: Brush tops with cold butter while hot, cool completely on wire rack
Baking Tips & Techniques
Making whole wheat bread is easy and fun! The key to soft, fluffy bread is proper kneading – you’ll know you’ve kneaded enough when the dough feels smooth and bounces back slightly when poked. Keep your hands lightly floured while working with the dough.
If you’re new to bread making, the “window pane test” is your friend – gently stretch a small piece of dough; if it stretches thin enough to see light through without breaking, your dough is ready!
Simple Substitutions
Don’t have Greek yogurt? Regular plain yogurt or sour cream works just as well. You can swap the honey with maple syrup or brown sugar for a different flavor.
If you’re out of vital wheat gluten, you can skip it, but your bread might be a bit more dense (still yummy though!). For dairy-free baking, replace butter with oil and use dairy-free yogurt.
Storage & Freezing
Fresh bread is amazing! Keep your loaf in a bread bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. Want it to last longer? Pop it in the fridge for up to a week.
Here’s a handy trick: slice your extra loaf before freezing – this way, you can grab just what you need! Frozen bread stays good for up to 3 months. Warm frozen slices in the toaster for that fresh-baked taste.
Serving Ideas
This hearty whole wheat bread makes the best sandwiches! Try it warm with melted butter and honey for breakfast. Toast thick slices for avocado toast or use it for grilled cheese sandwiches.
The nutty flavor pairs wonderfully with peanut butter and jelly, or try it with your favorite soup. For breakfast, lightly toast and spread with cream cheese and sliced bananas!
Whole Wheat Bread
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or Mixing Bowl
- Bread Pans
- Plastic wrap
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 6-7 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 3/4 cups warm water plus 2 Tablespoons
- 1 1/4 Tablespoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
- 1 Tablespoon vital wheat gluten heaping
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
Instructions
- To a Mixing Bowl or Stand Mixer: Add 4.5 cups wheat flour and yeast and stir to combine. Add warm water and mix. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Add vital wheat gluten, salt, melted butter, honey, Greek yogurt and mix well.
- Knead: Add 1 ½ cups of flour and mix. Mix well and watch the dough; it should begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If needed, add more flour, a little at a time, until it does. Knead the dough with your stand mixer for 5 minutes (or by hand for 10 minutes). The dough should be smooth and elastic, but still slightly sticky when touched.
- Prepare Pans: Spray bread pans with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottom of the pans with parchment or wax paper.
- Shape: Spray your clean counter and hands with cooking spray. Turn the dough out onto the counter and divide it into two equal pieces. Press each portion into a rectangle about 9 inches on the long side. Roll them into logs and place in prepared pans.
- Rise: Spray plastic wrap with non-stick cook spray and gently cover the pans. Allow the bread to rise for about an hour, or until the dough is rounded over the tops of the pans.
- Bake: Place both bread pans on the middle rack of your cold oven. Turn the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 30-38 minutes, until the tops are golden. Remove from oven and smooth a stick of cold butter over the tops of the hot bread. Remove bread onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store leftover bread in a bread bag on the countertop for up to 3 days, or in the fridge.
