With step-by-step pictures and plenty of helpful tips, learn how to make soft whole wheat bread with this easy-to-follow recipe. You can make this bread 100% whole wheat, or you can use a combination of whole wheat and bread flour for a slightly taller, fluffier loaf. It’s wonderfully soft and flavorful either way! If you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
One reader, Vicki, commented: “This recipe can make anyone love 100% whole wheat bread! I made it exactly as directed with 100% whole wheat and it was the softest and loveliest whole wheat bread I have ever eaten! I will be making this regularly in my house—so much better and healthier than store bought bread. Even people who think they don’t like whole wheat will like this. Thank you for sharing your recipe! ★★★★★“
I know there’s major convenience with store-bought bread, but I encourage you to try making it from scratch at least once. (You might be hooked after that!) This whole wheat bread takes a few hours, but most of the work is hands-off while the dough rises. Fresh-baked bread smells incredible and tastes even better—store-bought sandwich bread just can’t compare! Wait until you smell a slice popping up in the toaster.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Whole Wheat Bread
- Chewy crust with soft texture inside
- Flavorful & hearty
- Lightly sweetened with honey
- Makes delicious toast and sandwiches, and can be used in recipes like French toast, breakfast casserole, & sausage and herb stuffing
- Easy to make ahead or freeze
- 8 simple ingredients
Behind the Recipe/Recipe Testing
There are usually 2 key problems when it comes to using 100% whole wheat flour in a bread recipe:
- Because of the bran layer of the wheat grain, bread using 100% whole wheat flour can taste bitter or sour. (Still, always make sure your whole wheat flour is fresh; it can become rancid if stored for too long.)
- Whole wheat flour doesn’t contain the same level of gluten as white flours. This missing gluten can produce a dense and/or flat loaf. Many whole wheat bread recipes call for the addition of vital wheat gluten to make up for it, but I don’t usually keep that in my kitchen… and you may not either.
I experienced both issues in my initial attempts at this recipe. I found that adding a little acid to the dough helped offset the bitterness, and introducing a preferment “sponge” helped give the loaves better flavor, as well as more height. Obviously whole wheat bread will never be as soft, tender, and chewy as white sandwich bread, but this one comes pretty close with my careful recipe & solutions.
Best Ingredients to Use in Whole Wheat Bread & Why:
- Water: Warm liquid activates yeast. I use mostly water in this dough because we need a bread that has structure. Using all milk, like I do for my whole wheat dinner rolls, would yield a flimsy bread without much texture, which isn’t ideal for slicing as sandwich bread.
- Whole Milk: To yield a soft bread, you need fat in the dough, so make sure some of the liquid is milk. Low-fat or nondairy milk works too, but whole milk produces phenomenal texture and I highly recommend it.
- Yeast: You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. If using active dry, the rise times will be a bit longer. I tested it with both.
- Honey: Honey feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and lightly sweetens the bread. In our testing, my team & I unanimously agreed honey was the tastier option over regular granulated and brown sugar. I also use a little honey when making whole wheat pizza dough. If you want, grab a little extra so you can make some homemade honey butter to enjoy on the warm slices of bread.
- Butter: Butter promises a flavorful loaf.
- Lemon Juice: This ingredient may seem strange, but it’s essential for preventing the bread from tasting too bitter. If you don’t have lemon juice, apple cider vinegar is a great substitute.
- Salt: You can’t make flavorful bread without salt!
- Flour: You can use all whole wheat flour, or swap 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of bread flour. The bread is soft either way, but a little bread flour yields a slightly taller, fluffier, and lighter loaf. We enjoy it both ways.
Start With Making the Sponge (It’s Easy)
For the sponge, you’ll use all of the liquid (both the water and milk) and yeast in the dough, plus some of the flour. Mix this all together with a spatula, cover it lightly, and let it double in size for about 60 to 90 minutes.
While this step does extend the total time of the recipe, the sponge is crucial for producing a more complex flavor, and gives the bread a lighter texture. By skipping this step, your bread will be a little flat. (In taste and appearance!)
Once the sponge doubles in size, add the remaining ingredients and begin mixing, which will deflate the air and make way for the final dough.
This is the sponge before rising:
This is the sponge after rising:
At this point, the process follows my sandwich bread pretty closely. You’ll knead the dough, and if you’re new to bread baking, my how to knead dough post and video can help. After kneading, let the dough rise twice. Lesson you’ll learn today: making a delicious whole wheat bread is not a race. We must have some patience here! (A hard ask when homemade bread is the reward…)
Step Photos to Help You
Make the dough: I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment (most stand mixers are sold with it). If you don’t have a stand mixer, mix the dough together with a spatula or wooden spoon (and a little arm muscle!).
Knead the dough: You can continue beating the dough with the dough hook, or you can knead the dough by hand.
1st rise (about 2 hours): After you knead the dough, cover it and let it rise in a relatively warm spot. Whole wheat dough requires a slightly longer rise time than white sandwich bread because it’s weighed down with wheat germ and bran.
Once it has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air.
Roll it out into an 8×15-inch rectangle:
Roll it up tightly starting with the 8-inch side, so you have an 8-inch roll to fit into your greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. (Unlike cinnamon rolls, where you roll up the dough starting with the larger side.)
2nd rise (about 1 hour): Let it rise until it’s about an inch above the rim of the pan. Don’t rush this second rise, unless you want a flat loaf.
And bake! This whole wheat sandwich bread takes about 36–40 minutes in the oven.
Before baking, feel free to top the bread with oats. You’ll need to brush beaten egg white on top of the dough before adding the oats, so they stick. The oat topping is optional.
Success Tips to Keep in Mind
- You can make this loaf of bread 100% whole wheat, or replace 1 cup (about 125–130g) of the whole wheat flour with bread flour for a lighter, taller, fluffier loaf. The directions remain the same.
- Knead the dough for a long time, at least 8 minutes. If you have a stand mixer, use it for this recipe. This is a heavy whole grain dough, so it requires a good amount of kneading to help produce a more elastic structure.
- When kneading, avoid adding too much flour; a slightly tacky and soft dough is OK.
- Use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the baked bread. This guarantees you won’t under-bake or over-bake the bread. It’s an incredibly helpful baking tool! The bread is done when the center of the loaf is 195–200°F (90–93°C).
- If you’re new to working with yeast, please review my Baking with Yeast Guide where I include practical and easy-to-understand answers to many yeast FAQs.
This whole wheat bread is phenomenal when sliced and served warm. The exterior is crisp and crusty, and the interior is hearty, yet soft.
Become a Bread Baker with My Approachable Recipes:
Whole Wheat Bread
- Prep Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes (includes sponge and rises)
- Cook Time: 38 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You need just 8 simple ingredients to make this whole wheat sandwich bread. It’s soft yet hearty and oh-so-flavorful, and store-bought sandwich bread just doesn’t compare! You can use 100% whole wheat flour, or you can swap in some bread flour for a taller, fluffier loaf. See recipe Notes for freezing and overnight instructions. You can also reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Ingredients
Sponge
- 1 cup (240ml) water, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) active dry or instant yeast (1 standard packet)
- 2 cups (260g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled)
Dough
- 3 Tablespoons (63g) honey
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 and 1/3 cups (173g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
- optional oat topping: 1 beaten egg white + 1 Tablespoon whole oats
Instructions
- Prepare the sponge: In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk the water, whole milk, and yeast together. Add the 2 cups (260g) flour and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until a thick batter forms. Cover lightly and allow to double in size at room temperature, about 60–90 minutes. Sometimes this can take up to 2 hours. *I do not recommend a hand mixer for this dough because the dough is too thick and heavy.*
- Add the remaining dough ingredients including the honey, butter, lemon juice, remaining flour, and the salt. With a dough hook attachment, or using a spatula or wooden spoon (and some arm muscle!), beat on medium speed/mix until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. If the dough seems too wet to a point where kneading (next step) would be impossible, beat in more flour 1 Tablespoon at a time until you have a workable dough, similar to the photos above. Dough should be soft and a little sticky, but still manageable to knead with lightly floured hands.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 8–10 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 8–10 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour at a time to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need; you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise.
- 1st rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1.5–2 hours or until about double in size. (For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking With Yeast Guide.)
- Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- Shape the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Lightly flour a work surface, your hands, and a rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 8×15 inches. It does not have to be perfect—in fact, it will probably be rounded on the edges. That’s ok! Roll it up into an 8-inch log and place in the prepared loaf pan.
- 2nd rise: Cover shaped loaf. Allow to rise until it’s about 1 inch above the top of the loaf pan, about 45–60 minutes.
- Adjust oven rack to a lower position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). It’s best to bake the bread towards the bottom of the oven so the top doesn’t burn.
- Optional oat topping: If you want to add the optional oat topping, add it right before baking the bread. With a pastry brush, brush the risen loaf with egg white, then sprinkle the oats on top.
- Bake the bread: Bake for 36–40 minutes, or until golden brown on top. If you notice the top browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. (I usually add it around the 20-minute mark.) To test for doneness, if you gently tap on the loaf, it should sound hollow. For a more accurate test, the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195–200°F (90–93°C). Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool for a few minutes in the pan on a cooling rack before removing the bread from the pan and slicing. Feel free to let it cool completely before slicing, too.
- Cover leftover bread tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Prepare recipe through step 6. Place shaped loaf in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan or disposable loaf pan, cover tightly, and freeze for up to 3 months. On the day you serve it, let the loaf thaw and rise for about 4–5 hours at room temperature. Bake as directed. You can also freeze the baked bread loaf. Allow the bread to cool completely, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then reheat as desired.
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare the recipe through step 6. Cover the shaped loaf tightly and refrigerate for up to about 15 hours. At least 3 hours before you need the bread the next day, remove from the refrigerator, keep covered, and allow to rise on the counter for about 1–2 hours before baking. Alternatively, you can let the dough have its 1st rise in the refrigerator overnight. Prepare the dough through step 3, then cover the dough tightly and place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow the dough to fully rise for 2 more hours. Continue with step 5.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Large Glass Mixing Bowl with Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Rolling Pin | Pastry Brush for optional topping | Instant-Read Thermometer | Wire Cooling Rack
- Milk: Low-fat or nondairy milk work here, but whole milk produces phenomenal texture and I highly recommend it.
- Yeast: I usually use instant yeast. You can use active dry yeast instead, with no changes to the preparation. Rise times will be slightly longer. Reference my Baking With Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Flour: Make sure your whole wheat flour is fresh. Check the date on the package, and don’t store it uncovered. Whole wheat flour can become rancid if stored for too long, and your bread will taste bitter. You can use all whole wheat flour in this recipe, or substitute 1 cup (130g) of bread flour for a slightly taller, fluffier loaf. You can use 1 cup of bread flour in the sponge in step 1 OR save it for the remaining dough in step 2. If using 1 cup (130g) of bread flour in step 2, you’ll also need the 1/3 cup (43g) of whole wheat flour.
- Honey: Honey produced the best tasting bread. In a pinch, you can use regular granulated sugar or brown sugar. But you will miss out on that honey flavor. I have not tested other sweeteners.
- Can I shape this into a round boule? No, this dough needs the structure of a loaf pan. Instead, you may like this no-knead seeded oat bread.
- Doubling this recipe: For best results, I recommend making two separate batches of dough. This is a big, heavy dough and the sponge will take a very long time to rise, and so will the kneading step. It’s best to make 2 separate doughs.
- Whole Wheat Rolls: I recommend my soft whole wheat dinner rolls recipe, or you can try my multigrain bread/rolls recipe instead.
- Adapted from Sandwich Bread and Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Reader Comments and Reviews
I found this recipe yesterday and decided to make it. I did. It came out PERFECT! Thanks to your recipe and the instructions. It was easy to follow and understood. I couldn’t wait for it to be completely cool so after about twenty minutes I sliced it and enjoyed it with my homemade honey butter ( I used Plugra butter). I had the bread again for breakfast and lunch today. That loaf is practically gone now.
I made another loaf this morning and it just came out of the oven less than an hour ago. This one is even more perfect than the one I baked yesterday.
Your recipes always work for me. Thank you for all your hard work! I LOVE your work.
Very excited to make this recipe for me and my family!! I want to add multigrains and seeds like the ones in your multigrain bread recipe. Do you think that would work? How much would be too much haha
Hi Mary, you should be able to knead in some multigrains/seeds when bringing the dough together. I’d follow the instructions and amounts from the multigrain bread recipe and see how it goes–let us know how it turns out!
Memorized the recipe. I make it weekly. Great for grilled cheese and french toast. Such a lovely silky dough puts out a beautiful loaf of healthy, tasty bread every time!
I made your recipe today, exactly as written. Soft, full of flavor and delicious! It was just what I was looking for! Thank you!
Thanks again Sally for for prize winning recipes!!! I entered this wheat bread in two separate county fairs and won FIRST PLACE BLUE RIBBONS for best wheat bread! That was two different counties and two different judges. I have entered other recipes from cakes to cookies to pies and have won Blue Ribbons! Thank you for your time and talent you give to us all. You have made me a better baker!
Can I make this in a bread machine?
Hi Gloria, we haven’t personally tested this recipe in a bread machine, however many readers have reported success doing so. Let us know if you give it a try!
Saw all the good reviews so I can’t wait to try this out! One question as it is my first time making bread, for the sponge, do I mix together the yeast in warm water and then add the other ingredients? What should be the order I put them in? And for adding the rest of the ingredients, do I just dump them in the sponge or mix separately and then combine with the sponge?
Hi Teresa, you mix in the water, whole milk, and yeast together, then add in the 2 cups of flour. After the sponge has risen, you can add the remaining ingredients in step 2 right to the sponge. Hope this helps and that you enjoy the bread!
Hi I am just about to get my new over which has convection. Having used your recipes for baked goods for years, could you possibly list the convection oven temps as well? Thanks!
Hi Aline, We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake. Hope this helps!
Thank you for mentioning convection ovens! I have one and love it but rarely bake breads and such. I will make sure I use the regular bake on this!
First time making bread , followed the recipe exactly as written and came out perfect and tasted delicious!!! Thanks for this recipe ❤️
I’m excited to try this recipe. I have a 10 month old though and infants can’t have honey. I know you said you can sub hungry with sugar but how much sugar?
Hi Sophie, same amount. 3 Tbsp. Enjoy!
Hi! I’ve made the recipe about three times now and everytime it comes out kinda crumbly and just falls apart after slicing. What am I doing wrong?? I can’t figure it out
Hi Angela, This is a soft bread, so a little crumbliness is normal. The bread could be dry/crumbly if over-baked. Also make sure not to add too much flour to the dough (spoon and level or use a kitchen scale instead of scooping). Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
I had this issue as well and left out the acid, and I let the dough knead for 15 minutes without adding any extra flour. This seems to have helped me quite a bit. I use a MockMill and freshly grind my whole wheat flour. This recipe does make a delicious loaf!
Family loves it! Very simple with good quality outcome everytime(6times). I love it because there’s no preservatives or unpronounceable ingredients! Win win for me. Thank-you
Hi! I am venturing out into bread making and am excited to use your recipe! Question for you… in step 1 for the Sponge… if you use active dry yeast, do you need to let the wet ingredients sit for a bit to let the yeast get activated before adding in the 2 cups of flour for the first rise? I can see not waiting if you use the instant yeast packet, but I wasn’t sure about the other type. Thank you for your help!!
Hi Sara, You can use active dry yeast instead, with no changes to the preparation. Rise times will be slightly longer. Enjoy!
This is by far the best recipe I’ve ever come across. Made it with a few changes as I am from India and the weather here is really hot and humid. So I reduced the quantity of yeast to half and used cold water and milk for sponge instead of warm. Also the time for both the rises were reduced to half. It turned out to be awesome. Although I didn’t have patience and sliced the warm bread so the crust fell apart. Will wait for the bread to cool next time I bake it. Wish we could share pictures with comments as well
This recipe looked like it was worth a shot. The instructions were clear and the promise of a soft whole wheat bread was too much to resist. The only difference in my loaf was the use of a cast iron enameled baking pan which seems to bake very evenly all around. When the bread was done I gave the first piece to my eight year old granddaughter with a little butter and she pronounced it the best bread she’d ever had! I have to agree. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hey Sally!
I have made this bread a couple times now and it always tastes great! However, I can never get the second rise to rise tall. The sponge doubles just fine and the first rise rises beautifully! When I roll up the dough and put it in the loaf it only rises part way. It’s getting really frustrating as the bread tastes amazing but turns out too small for sandwiches! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Hannah, it could be that you are rolling it too tight. How long are you giving it to rise? Sometimes I find it needs to take longer than 1 hour to rise 1 inch past the edge of the loaf pan. (If it’s a particularly dry or cold day or my kitchen is cooler than usual.)
I don’t usually leave comments but I have to say THANK YOU SALLY for this recipe. We have a family member with some health issues and as a result, is only allowed products made with whole-wheat flour. Do you know how hard it is to find 100% whole-wheat buns (that don’t contain other things like vinegar, which they also can’t have in their diet!). I love baps (aka Scottish Morning Buns) but the only recipes I found used white flours or a ww/white flour combo. I used your recipe here, increasing the qty of flour and liquid slightly and as a result, got 9 beautiful looking 100% ww baps! They are the perfect color, slight crust exterior and soft on the inside (not little bricks like a lot of ww recipes!). They will be perfect for our family member to use for hamburgers, breakfast sandwiches, or just toasted with butter. Thank you again for this great recipe – I only wish I could share a pic! #oneproudbreadbaker 🙂
OMG this is delicious!! Mine cracked during the 2nd rise and didn’t get as tall as Sally’s pictures, but still baked to perfection and the flavour and texture, just WOW. I did have trouble with the dough – was way too sticky and I had to keep adding big pinches of flour to kneed it – did it by hand, and it took way over 10 minutes. I didn’t have honey, used maple syrup instead (maybe that’s why it was so wet?). Anyway, nothing matters now!! Thanks, Sally 🙂
I’m 66 and have struggled for years to make bread. I somehow found you and following your recipes and watching videos, I can proudly say my whole wheat bread was excellent as well as the cinnamon rolls and sandwich bread. Thank you so much. I can’t wait too try some more of your recipes.
Great recipe, delicious!!! I had started making this recipe and realized I didn’t have enough whole wheat flour. So, I used Irish Wholemeal Flour that I bought from KAF plus 1 cup of bread flour. Turned out great!! This bread is so delicious! My husband pretty much ate the loaf. He loves any recipe I make from your website!! Will make again.
Any comments? I used just a regular flat pan. It smells amazing! I’m gonna bring it to a party! I love all the recipes you make & it’s partly because of the scale measurements! Makes it simple! Thank you!
Waiting for my first attempt to rise! Can’t wait!!!
I am TERRIBLE at making bread. I usually can’t even get a solid dough, let alone a rise. This recipe came out PERFECT! Aside from some user error that left the bottom of my loaf looking less than appealing. But taste trumps beauty lol! As another comment suggested I used molasses instead of honey since it’s what I had on hand after my pumpernickel bun fiasco. I will definitely be using this recipe regularly!
Hi, can I use this in a bread maker machine? Would I need to change anything in the ingredients?
Hi Natalie, we haven’t tested this recipe in a bread machine, but several readers have done so with success. Let us know if you give it a try!
Can I use a Pullman loaf pan for this
Hi Roxanne, We’re not completely sure if this recipe would work in a pullman loaf pan because we haven’t tested it ourselves. It *shouldn’t* be a problem to use it as is, but again—we haven’t tested it. Let us know if you do give it a try!
I just tried your wheat wheat bread recipe and the family loved it. Thank you very much for sharing it.
Wheat bread is not something I would ever want to make but decided to give this a try and boy am I glad I did. It is such a gorgeous loaf and the taste uh-mazing!!! Even my grandchildren loved it. I did the once cup bread flour, now I will try using all wheat. Btw… the loaf is almost gone in less than an hour. Thank you!!!
Hi – Can I make this in a bread bowl instead of a loaf pan? Would I then skip the roll out ?
Hi Sam! This dough works best as a loaf, but let us know if you try it in a bread bowl baker. You may also love this seeded oat bread.
I was concerned about this as well. Would it be a good idea to bake it maybe 10 minutes just so that the structure stays in place before quickly brushing it and adding oats?
I had a great second rise, but when I painted with egg wash it deflated – do I have to make sure the egg wash comes to room temp?
Hi Nicole, I’m sorry to hear that! Was the dough overproofed by chance? That can often cause the dough to deflate when touched or while baking. An easy fix for next time!
My loaf deflated
I live at 6000 feet elevation I cut down the yeast by a 1/4 teaspoon
And is seems to proof quickly
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Hi Sally, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
This recipe turned out quite well for me! The only issue I had was that the bake time at the end seemed to be way too long – I took it out after 20 minutes (when the top browned) and the bottom was quite burnt, though the bread was still delicious! I’m going to try again next week with a lower bake temperature 🙂
Hi Christine, I’m sorry to hear you had a little problem with the bottom over-cooking. A tip for next time: try placing a baking sheet on the rack below the rack with the bread on it, to help shield some of the bottom heat source in your oven. Hope the next loaf turns out perfectly!
Are you using a dark loaf pan, or something other than metal? I ended up buying an aluminum pan after my dark, nonstick pan caused issues with recipe timing, as dark-colored pans, as well as glass and ceramic, can lead to overbaking.