Simply a great-tasting and easy-to-make whole wheat bread.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

(.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

honey

bread flour

butter, melted

salt

whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey.  Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine.  Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.


Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt.  Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour.  Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch.  This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough.  Cover with a dishtowel.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled.


Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves.  Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.


Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake.  Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard.  Cool completely.


Amazing recipe. I bake a lot of bread and this is by far one of the best Wheat breads I've come by. Surprisingly, this recipe is pretty much perfect. I've made it about 4 times now and it's fail-safe everytime. I've also sub sugar for honey and it works fine (use the same amount). This is a very moist, tender, slightly chewy bread. It makes the quintessential sandwich bread and stays moist for at least a few days. To make sandwich size bread, you will only need TWO 9x5" loaf pans.  Exactly 25 min. was perfect for me.  This will be my master Wheat bread recipe. **For variation, I've added 1/2 cup of 10-Grain mix (Bob's Red Mill brand) and 2 tablespoon of whole flax seed for added nutrition and texture. You can also add sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or flaxseed meal for other options. I used a Kitchen-Aid mixer and always end up adding about 3.5 cups whole wheat flour. I knead on level 1 & 2 for about 10 min. then take out and knead by hand for about 1 min. to form a large dough ball before letting it rise. **TIP** For a more chewy bread and higher rise, similar to the store bought ones, add 3-4 tablespoons of powdered gluten.General rule is usually 1 tablespoon gluten for every 1 cup of flour. But for this recipe, I found 4 tbl. was fine. I've also halved the recipe with success - 2 cups bread flour, 2 cups wheat flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup honey, 3 tbl. gluten.

This bread is DELICIOUS! What I did differently was add a mixture of seeds such as sunflower, sesame, and whatever else was in the mixture. Also I add 1 cup of oats. I replace the butter with un-sweetened applesauce, and I don't use as much honey. I think the amount of honey the recipe calls for makes the bread too sweet. This bread does not need to be kneaded on a flour surface. I knead it in the bowl. After kneading, make sure your bowl is buttered so that the dough won't stick when you let it rise.
*** NEW BREAD MAKERS:*** Take 5-8 minutes to knead your bread. It's properly kneaded when it's smooth as a baby's butt.You will know when your bread is done when you insert a thermometer and it reaches 190-200F. If you don't have a thermometer, knock on the bread. If it makes thud noise, it's not done. It should sound hollow. As soon as the bread is done, remove from pan immediately and let it cool on a wire rack. If you leave it in the pan, the steam will make the bread soggy and it'll mold on the bottom!

My family loved this bread.  I took 2 of the dough loaves and froze them after they had risen and punched down.  When needed, you defrost in fridge 24 hrs and place in greased pan and allow to rise the 2nd time and bake as recipe calls for.

This is one great recipe.  I kept making it and kept adding more fresh ground golden whole wheat flour until I made it the other day with 100% fresh ground whole wheat flour and no white flour and it was so yummy and good.  This recipe is very forgiving and turns out well even if you add a little more or a little less flour to it.  It's good for toasting, slicing for sandwiches, and best of all, right out of the oven with butter melted on it.  Everyone should try this recipe.  I wish I could give it more stars even!!!
UPDATE: I am still making and selling this bread made with 100% fresh ground Montana Gold wheat berries.  I make it vegan for customers and sub sugar and canola oil and it still comes out perfect every time.  You just HAVE to try this recipe !!!

This is an awesome recipe! I have a little trick to cut the rising time in half~ if I've just folded clothes and the dryer's still hot, I'll place the covered dough in the dryer & close the dryer door. Of course you don't turn the dryer on, but the heat from it causes it to rise faster.

Wow! I have been baking bread all my life, but my loaves never turned out like this one, it is perfect. I follow the recipe exactly and never have a problem. I have been making this bread for about a year now. It is wonderful to always have fresh bread for  sandwiches, etc. We live in Alaska and bread here is expensive and stale. I will never go back to buying bread from the store, thank you!
One hint I can give for cold climates: I let the dough rise in the oven and turn on the oven light; my bulb puts out just enough heat to make it warm in there but not to hot. Also, I let it rise twice in the bowl instead of just once, it makes the texture even better.

I love this recipe, it's easy and it's always a hit!  I usually make one or two of the loaves into cinnamon raisin bread.  I roll it out, sprinkle a little water on it and then sprinkle about a half cup cinnamon / sugar mixture and lots of raisins on top.  I roll it back up tightly and pinch the ends together.  I also have put a little more whole wheat flour and less bread flour to make it healthier.  It's great to have three loaves, I can give one away and still have two for my family.  It freezes nicely too.  To help the dough rise even faster, I turn my oven on for about 1 minute and then turn it off and let the dough rise in the oven.

This bread is absolutely delicious! I scaled the recipe down to one loaf, and it came out perfectly! This was the VERY FIRST time I made bread, so I made a few mistakes: used water that was too hot, so it killed the yeast; overbaked it, so it came out too dry. But when I finally got it right, it was great! I used a little more honey and yeast than called for. One loaf calls for 2/3 package of yeast, and I just used a whole packet. The rising, however, took longer than the 3 hours indicated in the recipe (even when I only used 2/3 packet of yeast). It took me about 5 hours, so don't start this bread too late in the day! Hubby and I usually eat this bread with breakfast: I wrap it in foil to reheat it (it stays soft and moist!), and I spread butter on it. YUMMY! This one's a keeper!

Superb! This ends my search for the Holy Grail of whole wheat honey breads. Thanks, Nita! I added .25 cup sunflower seeds per loaf, and omitted the butter during baking, though did butter brush the crust. Lovely. (Kitchen Aid speed 2, dough hook, 10 minutes)

made this to the recipe but it just didnt work.

Make this whole wheat bread, which is delicious and easy.

simple whole wheat bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total: 2 hours, 60 minutes

Servings: 3

Cost: $8.17 /serving

Author : Nita Crabb

Ingredients

Instructions

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