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
Can I use salted butter.
Hi Sandy, You can use salted butter without any changes here.
Hello, I have just baked this bread. I used a 100% whole wheat flour. The last rise wasn’t great though. I left it for nearly 50 mins. What could have gone wrong? I am yet to taste it.
Also, is it recommended to place a small bowl with water in the oven while baking bread ?
Hi Kratika, the dough may have just needed more time to rise, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. We don’t add a bowl of water in the oven when baking this bread. Let us know how it tastes!
Best bread recipe ever!
I started making Artisan sourdough bread during covid and got proficient at it. But I never made a good WW sandwich bread…… until now. This easy to follow recipe is a hit every time. Family loves it! thank you!
I made this and it was amazing! I have a friend who has to have an extremely low sodium diet, can the salt be removed or decreased?
Hi Kiera, you can reduce the salt a bit, but don’t omit completely. You’ll lose some flavor. So glad you enjoyed the bread!
For the past 5 years or so, I’ve been into sourdough bread baking. I’ve experimented with different flours, but have just never been completely satisfied with whole grain wheat. On a whim this morning, I looked up whole wheat bread recipes and this was the first that I saw. I am so thankful; this is a wonderful whole wheat bread recipe! It’s easy and delicious!
I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
This bread really wowed me! And surprised me because it grew so much I had to divide it into 2 loaves! 2 big loaves! I used whole wheat and bread flour and it resulted in lovely bread that I will be making again.
Hi y’all! Love this recipe– have only made it once before. But! But, my bread texture didn’t quite turn out like Sally’s. My question is this: how would I know if I have over-kneaded the dough? I suspect I did– I did watch Sally’s how to knead dough recipe, and the force she is applying to the dough is much less than what I was using (sorry, I’m not trying to be rude! I just was muscling through it the way I do when I’m making whole wheat tortillas and things like that. Didn’t give it much thought). My dough didn’t have the complete rise on it like the white sandwich dough kneading video, but I would think that because whole wheat tends to be more finnicky, that might be expected? Thanks in advance for any insight y’all might provide.
Hi Jezzie, you probably didn’t over-knead if you kneaded by hand. If you used all whole-wheat flour (as opposed to the version with some bread flour), the bread will be a little denser and won’t rise quite as high. So that may be the reason here!
Thank you! Can I still do a window pane test with the whole wheat? Or is that only for all purpose/bread flours?
Hi Jezzie! Whole-wheat dough doesn’t perform quite the same for a windowpane test because of the bran.
Sally,
Best whole wheat bread I have ever made. Started the sponge in a bowl, added it with the other ingredients to my bread machine and let it make the dough. Rolled it up and put it in a regular size loaf pan, raised it and baked it in the oven.
Magnificent. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Sally, I’m a big fan of all your whole wheat recipes. I tried this one and it was largely successful for a first attempt. The bread ended up being a little heavy/dense and as I stored it in fridge even more so. I used whole wheat flour (without barn) which I typically get in Indian store for making roti for our meals. I added about 4-5 tbsp extra flour in the mixer and kneaded for 10 mins after removing. I added 4 tbsp butter instead of 3. Was it due to these slight deviations it became like that or did I make the dough go dry? I also proved it per recipe, should I go for more? I want to go for a second batch today. Would love your advice to fix any mistakes and produce a softer one this time.
Hi Nazia! Thank you so much for trying the recipe, and I’m glad it was mostly successful on your first go! The extra flour and added butter were likely the biggest contributors to the denser texture. Even a few extra tablespoons of flour can dry out whole wheat dough (which is already prone to being dense) and make the loaf heavier, especially since whole wheat flour absorbs liquid differently depending on how finely it’s milled. The dough should be slightly tacky but soft after kneading, not dry. Refrigeration will also make bread feel firmer, so that part is normal. Next time, try the recipe as written, avoid adding extra butter and extra flour unless absolutely needed, and let the dough rise until doubled rather than watching the clock. That should help you get a lighter, softer loaf.
Thank you so much for your detailed reply, Sally!! I’m also following you on Insta and reached out there while waiting here :)!
I have got this box of 4g cubes of butter, didn’t know to precisely take a gram out, will find a way out. I’ll share how the second batch turns out. In case the dough accidentally turns out drier than what I need it to be, is there any workaround, or I just discard and repeat all over or settle for a denser loaf, haha ;)?
I have tried many recipes for whole wheat bread and this one is superior. Great recipe, tips and directions. this will be a staple for my family. Thanks for your website!
I’ve been using our bread machine to make whole wheat loaves with great success but for some reason it started producing dense, squat loaves, so I decided to try this recipe out.
It is definitely NOT short and squat. In fact, it rose significantly higher than the loaf in your photo. It doubled in size during the shaping rise (sticking out a good 3 or 4 inches above the pan) so I took it out, degassed it again and reshaped it, and it still turned out huge. I think it’s going to be good, but I’m curious about why it would have risen so high and so fast. Our kitchen is at 71 degrees, just for reference.
My husband is now on a low
Sodium diet. How much per slice does this bread have? I made it
today! Waiting for it to cool!
Hi Juliette! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Hi Sally, can this recipe be adjusted to a bread making machine?
Hi Gail, we haven’t tested this recipe in a bread machine, but several readers have reported success doing so. Let us know if you try it!
This bread is ridiculously good! Nothing at all like the heavy bitter flat whole wheat bread. I made it exactly as directed. I only wish the recipe was bigger. I’ll have to double it next time . this is bread worthy of the time and effort
Perfection.
This is not true sourdough when there is yeast in it is it?
Hi Colleen, this is not a sourdough recipe.
How many slices to a loaf? And would you know the macros on this?
Hi Cynthia, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 Exact number of slices will depend on how thick you slice the bread.
What adjustments would you suggest for a 10″ loaf pan?
Hi Rhys! We haven’t tested it, but we’re sure you could use your pan with no changes to the recipe. You can just shape the loaf to be a little longer. It won’t rise quite as high.
I’ve tried it and it came out just perfect and fluffy .
I would like to make this recipe, however I don’t have whole wheat flour, would spelt flour work as a substitution? Also, since it doesn’t dry as much as whole wheat could I use water in place of milk?
Hi Abigail, You can certainly try it, but the results will vary. We fear the bread will be quite dense, but let us know if you test anything.
I made this bread yesterday following the recipe exactly. It is the best whole wheat bread I’ve ever made! It’s soft but has crispy crust and very tasty. I wouldn’t alter anything. My suggestion is to make sure to monitor the proofing process because the times vary. Highly recommend
Can I use white whole wheat in this recipe. I have a bag of that in my kitchen, but I love this recipe.
Hi Charlotte, it should be fine to use that here. Enjoy!
I made this bread for the first time today. Bread baking is a bit intimidating for me. To my surprise this recipe was easy! I had no issues with any of the steps in the recipe. The bread baked beautifully! I’m excited to make it again.
Hi Sally,
I accidentally commented on the wrong bread recipe. I recently made this recipe but I am wondering if I can sub sugar for the honey? I’d love for my baby to try this but cannot have honey.
Hi Nicole, You can use the same amount of granulated sugar instead, or some readers have reported success using agave or molasses, too.
Everything about this bread is perfect. I have been doing it for close to a year before switching to sourdough baking. I have now come back to it and the yeasty taste seems to be a lot stronger. I don’t know if it in fact is just normal, and the problem is just my taste buds that are not used to yeast anymore, but is there a way to lower the taste of the yeast? It tastes very strong to the point I cannot enjoy the bread as much anymore… Thank you in advance!
Hi Linda, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Is it possible that the dough was over proofed in the first rise? When that happens, it can cause the dough to collapse when baking and come out a bit more dense and less light/fluffy. It can also cause a yeasty taste. An easy fix for next time!
Hi! I’m new to bread baking – my loaf turned out flat 🙁 what did I do wrong? I tried to follow the recipe as written but I did notice on all three rises (sponge + 2 rises) it just didn’t want to double in size…on the final rise it rose almost an inch above the pan. I decided to give it a few extra minutes to see if it would get the full inch but then it seemed to fall and ended up almost level with the top of the pan 🙁 I had it inside the oven with the light on, oven off, but maybe it was still too cold?
Hi Michelle, 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!
Hello! Am I able to bake this into 2 smaller loaf pans?? Or does it have to be in the 9in pan?
Hi Elmetina, we haven’t split this into 2 smaller loaves but that shouldn’t be a problem. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a very close eye on the first batch.
What a great loaf. This is now my favorite recipe. The only thing I did different was add 3 tablespoons of molasses with the honey.
I followed your instructions, the bread came out so soft and good. I sliced it when the bread was cooled down, but it collapsed on one side. Can you let me know what I need to do after finish baking. Thank you.
Hi Angela, Sounds like your dough over-proofed, so a shorter rise time should prevent this next time.