Whole Wheat Bread
Discover the perfect whole wheat bread recipe! The best ingredients for the best texture, sweetness, and flavor. Soft, tasty, and easy to bake.
Ingredients
Step 1 (See Instructions)
- 3 Cups White Flour
- 3 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1/3 Cup Honey see notes
- 3 Cups Warm Water ~110° F
Step 2
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoon Melted Butter see notes
- 5 to 5 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
Instructions
- Add flour, yeast, honey, and warm water to countertop mixer. Let proof about 10 minutes, foamy bubbles should be formed.
- Add salt and butter, then slowly mix in 5 cups of whole wheat flour by adding 1 cup at a time and turning the mixer on for a few seconds, then leave the mixer on. Add in additional 1/2 cup flour as needed, until not real sticky - just pulling away from the bowl, but still sticky to touch; mix approximately 8 minutes.
- Remove dough from mixer. Shape dough into a ball and put in lightly greased mixing bowl. Turn dough to coat in oil and cover with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel. Let rise in a warm, draft free area until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
- Punch down, shape into flatted ball, cut into 2, 3, or 4 equal chunks (use a scale to get even sizing):For 9x5 loaf pans, make 2 loaves (approximately 2 lbs each). For 8x4 loaf pans, make 3 or 4 loaves (approximately 1 to 1⅓ lbs each).
- Shape each chunk into loaves, rise in lightly greased loaf pans for about 45 minutes. About 30 minutes into second rise, preheat oven to 350°F
- For 4 loaves, bake for 25 minutes.For 3 loaves, bake for 30 minutes.For 2 loaves, bake for 35 minutes.Bread should reach an interal temperature of 190-200°F.
- Remove from oven and cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
- Package into preferred bags. For a soft crust, let cool for 20 minutes, then place as many loaves as you wish into a plastic bread bag, and leave the ends open for 30 minutes to 1 hour before closing.
Notes
Recipe notes: I have successfully used sugar in place of honey, and a variety of oils including olive, peanut, and sunflower oil, in place of the butter, but the best flavour and texture will be found by using honey and butter.
Nutrition facts below are for the ingredients stated in the recipe and are PER LOAF - if you cut your slices fairly evenly, just divide the numbers below, by the number of slices. For example: if you get 10 even slices from one loaf, you can find the calories for each slice by dividing 1093 by 10 (~109 calories per slice).
Nutrition
Serving: 1LOAFCalories: 1093kcalCarbohydrates: 217gProtein: 35gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 1839mgPotassium: 803mgFiber: 23gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 277IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 83mgIron: 11mg