A whole wheat bread recipe that will help you successfully bake your own homemade bread!
Twenty years ago I started grinding my own flour and making homemade whole wheat bread.
Seriously, 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 wanted 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 all these years, and it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.
You can also use this whole wheat bread 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.
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe Instructions
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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!
If I were in the market to buy a new grain mill, I’d consider this one!
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.
RELATED: 9 Must-Have Real Food Kitchen Tools
Bread Making Supplies
While I’m on the subject of supplies, these are my favorite bread making supplies.
- K-Tec Kitchen Mill
- Bosch Mixer
- Bread Pans (I have these, but I’d love to switch to these)
- Dough Enhancer (this improves the dough and makes lighter bread)
- 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.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons dough enhancer
- 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
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
- 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.
- 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.
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
- Bosch or other bread mixer
Ingredients
- 6 cups warm water
- 2/3 cup oil I usually use melted coconut oil
- 2/3 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons dough enhancer
- 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).
- 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 perfect 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 rapadura, 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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Hello! I have a bread making machine. Do you have any recipes for your breads using this? I have no idea how to convert handmade to my machine. Any advice would be appreciated.
Have a good day. Stay home, be safe!
Debbie B
I don’t currently have any bread machine recipes available, but I’ll keep that in mind for future posts!
Yum, I can taste this delicious bread!
Hugs,
Kippi
this looks yuum indeed and healthy! I should try it at home.. Thanks from joining us at #OMHGWW
I love baking up fresh bread too. This recipe sounds wonderful. Pinned.
Thank you, Joanna!
My husband and makes the no knead breads. He uses the L. A. Times recipe. There is a U-tubes on the actual one. Mainly you put the simple ingredients together and let it sit for 12 hours, get it out of the bowl and sit for 2 hours while you heat up your dutch oven with lid in a not oven and bake for 30 minutes. It makes a large round rusty bread. There are many different things you can add to it to change it up.Look on line. Even one recipe for chocolate cherry bread done this same way! There are other recipes that make more dough you can hold in a container in the refrigerator and use only what you want out of i†at a time. We have never tried this one. Sarah
Sounds delicious! I've been wanting to try that type of bread for so long. Maybe that can be a project for this winter!
Bread making is my favourite hobby. I also have a bosch mixer and couldnt do without it. We eat about 10 loaves of bread a week. Too much to do by hand. I usually do about 60 % wholewheat, because whole wheat usually turns out heavy for me. I did do one whole wheat recipe one time and it said the trick was to add all the ingredients except only about half the flour and let that double in bulk, then add the rest of the flour. This has done wonders to my bread. Nice and soft and fluffy every time.
It is a wonderful hobby! Thank you so much for sharing that tip for softer, fluffier bread!
I just love making bread for my family! There's just something wholesome about it. I don't have a grain mill yet, but it's on my love to have list. This past week my husband surprised me with a Bosch mixer he found locally. I've only made butter in it but I can't wait to make bread! 🙂
Wow, that's so neat that your husband just surprised you with a Bosch! It's such a useful machine to have. I've never made butter in mine, but that sounds fun!
I do make my own bread…and that savings tip is coming up on day 11 of my series. Frugal minds save alike! 🙂 I just started using Vital wheat and it really does make a difference in how bread rises!
"Frugal minds save alike"–haha! I look forward to reading your bread post! 🙂
A friend just gave me a lovely loaf of sourdough bread from an Amish country store. It's delicious, as most homemade bread is! When my sourdough runs out, I'm going to make a few loaves of French bread, just flour, salt, water, a little sugar, and yeast. I love the smell and taste (of course) of fresh bread! It's such a calming ritual for me; when we lived in Italy I made all my family's bread. The whole process is fun, I think! It always amazes me that those ingredients can be mixed together from virtually inedible things, and voila, bread! =}
Mmmm, I love sourdough! That's on my (long) list of skills I'd still like to master. 🙂 I agree with you about the process being calming and also fun. There's nothing happier to me than an afternoon spent making bread!
That's neat that you lived in Italy! I spent almost a month in Paris, and we ate baguettes from bakeries down the street every day for breakfast. Very delicious!
Looks so yummy! What is dough enhancer?
Christina
My understanding is that dough enhancer helps the bread to rise better and makes a lighter loaf of whole grain bread. You can find it at bread/baking supply websites and health food stores. I've always used it, but I'm hoping to eventually find a recipe where this could be eliminated!