Easy Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
A whole wheat bread recipe that will help you successfully bake your own homemade bread!
Over twenty years ago, I started grinding my own flour and making homemade whole wheat bread.
Baking bread is one of my favorite kitchen tasks ever. There’s just something so satisfying about taking steaming hot loaves of golden homemade bread out of the oven.
Today I want to share the bread making process with you, and show you just how easy it is to learn how to make bread!
The whole wheat bread recipe below is the one I’ve used for over twenty years, and it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
You can also use this recipe to make rolls, cinnamon rolls, and pizza dough. It’s very versatile.
When I make bread for our family of seven, I make a huge batch of dough. However, in order to properly knead all that dough, I need a kitchen mixer to help. I’ll talk more about that below.
But if you’re interested in just learning how to make bread by hand, I’ve included a smaller recipe below that will make just two loaves.
This post was originally written October 9, 2014, but I’ve updated it with a recipe card to make printing easier.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my disclosure here.
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe Instructions
I always grind my own grain into flour before making bread. If you don’t have a grain mill, you could also just use whole wheat flour.
I’ve used both hard red wheat berries and hard white berries, and I prefer the hard white for bread.
We usually get our wheat berries from our food co-op, Azure Standard. But you can also find it at Amish stores and other similar stores and even Amazon here.
Often, I also add in some spelt berries when I’m grinding the wheat, just to give some variety.
So first, I get out a bucket of wheat berries.
Then it’s time to grind the grain into flour. I use a K-Tec Kitchen Mill that we bought (used) almost 20 years ago. It still works perfectly even though it sounds like an airplane taking off in the kitchen!
I also have and love this grain mill.
Since I make a huge batch of dough at a time, I need lots of flour!
So, I just keep grinding it until this bowl is full. And sometimes I do more, if I’m planning to do other baking on the same day.
After grinding the flour, I add all the ingredients to my Bosch mixer and let it do all the work of mixing and kneading.
The Bosch makes it so easy to make a large batch of bread at one time. Ours has been going strong for around 17 years, and it’s definitely one of my favorite must-have kitchen appliances.
Bread Making Supplies
While I’m on the subject of supplies, these are my favorite bread making supplies.
- K-Tec Kitchen Mill or NutriMill Grain Mill
- Bosch Mixer
- Bread Pans (I have these, but switched to these)
- SAF Instant Yeast
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe by Hand
If you don’t have a Bosch or other large mixer (or you’d just prefer to make homemade bread by hand), here’s a smaller version of the whole wheat bread recipe.
This recipe makes just two loaves that you can knead by hand. If you want to see the large version I use, scroll down to the bottom of the post for that recipe.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons optional dough enhancer (this helps improve the dough, but is an optional ingredient)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons instant yeast (I use SAF)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 4-6 cups whole wheat flour
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Easy Whole Wheat Bread Recipe by Hand
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup oil I use coconut oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons dough enhancer optional
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons instant yeast I use SAF
- 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 4-6 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Combine the water, oil, honey, dough enhancer, and about 2 cups of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir or mix with an electric mixer.
- Sprinkle the yeast on top, and stir/mix again.
- Allow to sponge for 15 minutes.
- Add the salt and 4-6 cups of flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. This is the tricky part, knowing when to add enough flour and not too much. You don’t want your dough to be too dry, so be careful not to add too much.
- Grease your hands with oil and knead the dough by hand for about 8-10 minutes on a well-greased surface. With this dough, you don't want to add in unnecessary additional flour while you're kneading. If the dough is sticky, add more oil to your kneading surface and your hands to keep it from sticking. It's okay to add a small amount of flour if the dough is too wet, just don't add too much. Knead until the dough passes the windowpane test.
- Form the dough into 2 loaves and put into well-greased bread pans.
- Allow the bread to rise in a warm oven or another warm place until doubled in size (25-60 minutes, depending on conditions in your kitchen). I usually turn my oven on about 250 degrees for a few minutes as I’m starting to make bread, then I turn it off. That way, the oven is warm but not too hot. If the kitchen is really warm, or I’m doing other baking (so the top of the stove is warm), I’ll just let the bread rise there, on top of the stove or nearby.
- Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
- After removing the loaves from the oven, I sometimes brush the tops with butter, which gives them a nicer appearance.
- Let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe for Large Mixer
This whole wheat bread recipe will make 5-6 loaves of bread, so it’s best to use a mixer like a Bosch that can knead the dough for you.
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 cups warm water
- 2/3 cup oil I usually use melted coconut oil
- 2/3 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons dough enhancer optional
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 Tablespoons instant yeast I usually use SAF instant yeast
- 2 Tablespoons sea salt
- 14-18 cups of whole wheat flour I often use at least half spelt flour
Instructions
- Combine the water, oil, honey, dough enhancer, and about 2 cups of the flour in the bowl. Mix.
- Sprinkle the yeast on top, and mix.
- Allow to sponge for 15 minutes. (I just put the lid on my Bosch and set the timer for 15 minutes. During this time the dough begins to get bubbly and thickens if your yeast is active.)
- Add the salt and 14-18 cups of flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. This is the tricky part, knowing when to add enough flour and not too much.
- Knead the dough for about 6-8 minutes on speed 1 (or a medium speed, if using a different mixer), until dough passes the windowpane test.
- Form the dough into 5-6 loaves and put into well-greased bread pans. (I usually make about 3 loaves of bread and 2 pans of rolls or 3 loaves of bread, 1 pan of rolls, and 1 pan of cinnamon rolls.)
- Allow the bread to rise in a warm oven or another warm place until doubled in size (25-60 minutes, depending on conditions in your kitchen). I usually turn my oven on about 250 degrees for a few minutes as I’m starting to make bread, then I turn it off. That way, the oven is warm but not too hot. If the kitchen is really warm, or I’m doing other baking (so the top of the stove is warm), I’ll just let the bread rise there, on top of the stove or nearby.
- Bake the loaves/rolls for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
- After removing the loaves from the oven, I sometimes brush the tops with butter, which gives them a nicer appearance. Allow to cool in pans for about 10-15 minutes, and then remove to wire racks to finish cooling.
Notes
P.S. My children LOVE to help me make bread. It doesn’t turn out as perfectly when they shape the loaves (like the ones below), but it’s so, so fun to let them share the joy of bread baking with me!
As I mentioned above, this whole wheat bread recipe is so versatile! I often use it to make plain dinner rolls, and also cinnamon rolls.
For rolls, just take a portion of your dough, shape into rolls, and put into a baking dish to bake.
For cinnamon rolls, take a portion of the dough and roll out into a long, rectangular shape. Then cover with softened butter, about 1/2 cup of brown sugar or unrefined cane sugar, and sprinkle on a tablespoon of cinnamon.
Roll into a log shape, seal the seam, and cut 1-1/2 inch pieces off and put into a greased baking dish, and then rise and bake. Enjoy!
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This recipe sounds like it would be easier to make than some I have read. I struggle with Whole Wheat Bread and it being too dry and crumbling too much.
This one sounds like it wouldn’t be that way.
I plan on trying it very soon
Thank you, Sharon! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’m not familiar with dough enhancer and it’s not available in my area. Would vital wheat gluten be an acceptable substitution?
Hi Sadie! The dough enhancer is optional. It just helps improve the texture of whole grain bread, giving it a softer texture. But it is totally optional, and this bread can turn out well without it!
Is it possible to make this without the dough enhancer? If not do you have any bread recipes that use yeast but no dough enhancer?
Hi Teresa! Yes, the dough enhancer is optional. It just gives it a softer, smoother texture, but it’s not required.
Please post recipe for yeast raised cinnamon rolls or other for them. Thank you.