Favorite 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Erica Lea on Dec 5th 2008
We discovered what we consider to be the best all-purpose bread recipe. We try other bread recipes, but we always return to this one.
The original recipe included walnuts and sunflower seeds, but after protests from certain parties, we omitted them. The recipe also called for over 1/4 cup of sweetener per loaf. This produces a very sweet loaf, so I reduced this amount to 2 tablespoons. I also added 2 tablespoons flax meal, which gives a more rustic look. For an extra special touch, I like to brush the top with milk and sprinkle with oatmeal.
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:: 100% Whole Wheat Bread ::
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Note: This recipe makes a very large loaf. I usually double the recipe and make three 9×5 inch loaves.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) lukewarm water
- 3 tablespoons melted butter, coconut oil or olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey, molasses or maple syrup
- 3 1/2 cups (18 3/8 oz) Hard Red (traditional) or Hard White (17.5 oz) Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
- 2 tablespoons flax meal, optional
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
To prepare the dough:
(Hand Method) Combine all of the ingredients, and mix them till you have a shaggy dough. The dough will seem wet, but remember: wetter is better. Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes, then knead till smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 2 hours, or until it’s puffy and nearly doubled in bulk.
(Mixer Method) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine all ingredients and mix them till you have a shaggy dough. The dough will seem wet, but remember: wetter is better. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, then knead by machine until fairly smooth, about 10 minutes. Allow dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 2 hours, or until it’s puffy and nearly doubled in bulk.
(Bread Machine Method) Place all ingredients in bread machine pan and set to dough cycle.
To Shape the Loaves
After the dough has risen, gently deflate the dough, shape it into a log, and place it in a lightly greased large (9×5 inch) bread pan or two small bread pans. Cover the pan with a towel or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow it to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes-1 hour, till it’s crowned about 2 inches over the rim of the pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F about halfway through the rising time.
To Bake the Loaves
If desired, brush top of loaf with milk or egg white and sprinkle with oatmeal, poppy seeds, nuts, etc. Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes or until it turns a deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Yield: 1 large or 2 small loaves.
Mmmm, this sounds wonderful! I will definitely give it a try the next time I make a loaf :o)
Very nice! My favourite whole wheat bread recipe is the same King Arthur Flour one that you based yours on.
Hi there! I read on the link for the vital wheat gluten that it Gives heavy, whole-grain loaves a “boost”. If I were to substitute half of the required wheat flour with usual bread flour. Is it then possible for me to omit this component?
Thanks lots!
Mrs Ergül: Yes, substituting half of the whole wheat flour with white flour will probably give the same results as using gluten. Actually, it will most likely yield an even lighter loaf than if all wheat + gluten were used.
Looks great! And nothing beats 100% whole wheat bread!
[...] 100% Whole Wheat Bread ~ Cooking for Seven [...]
That looks so lovely. I’ve been looking for a whole wheat bread recipe that is well- all purpose. This looks just right.
Hi Erica, it’s me again! I attempted this once using half wholemeal flour half bread flour. Indeed the mix is very wet, there is no way I could have kneaded by hand without adding in loads of breaf flour along the way to dust my fingers.
I’m wondering which method you used? And if you did it by hand, how much flour do you usually add for dusting??
Thanks in advance! Cheers!
Mrs Ergül: I usually knead my bread using the mixer. Sometimes the mixer just can’t handle it (especially when I make a double batch) and after the first five minutes or so I continue by hand. I usually just butter the counter and my hands and don’t use any additional flour.
If you continue to have trouble with a really sloppy dough, you could experiment by adding in a little more flour. Just be careful not to make the dough too stiff. This is very important in getting a soft, light loaf.
Hope this helps!
I made this recently according to the original KAF recipe and liked using 5 tablespoons of maple syrup and didn’t think it was too sweet, but I guess I like sweet. I also didn’t have vital wheat gluten and it turned out just fine. My yeast packet had a little bit more than what is usually used, so maybe that supplied my boost. Either way, I love this bread! Especially with sunflower seeds and walnuts.
Thank you for posting this recipe–I’ve been testing a few whole wheat bread recipes over the past month or so and this was definitely the loftiest and most delicious. I made it by hand, with maple syrup and olive oil as my sweetener and fat. You have a lovely site!
Hi!!
I love this whole wheat bread recipe…it is so nice and rises so well. Your directions are so helpful too, I achieved a wonderful result with my first try!! My boyfriend and I really like lots of nuts and seeds in our bread though. So I tried adding some the last couple of times I’ve made the bread, and it just doesn’t rise as much. Do you have any suggestions or other recipes that incorporate sunflower seeds, walnuts, poppy seeds, millet, amaranth, pumpkin seeds, or the like?
[...] to the post office right now to ship it away. I also made a new “experimental” bread based on this recipe, but using a mix of three different flours (wheat, buckwheat and spelt) and excluding vital wheat [...]
I have made this loaf twice. The first was a little dense and the second unfortunately denser but don’t get me wrong, they were both great! I am new to bread making and refuse to use white flour in my breads (obviously this presents a challenge) but this recipe has brought me the best luck so far. It only lasts about 2 days in a house of 3 bread eaters, so that signals that it’s pretty good. It has great, and let me emphasize this, great, flavor and crust. The inside is chewy and yummy. Thanks so much for this!
Megan: So glad you liked the recipe! I can totally sympathize with the bread disappearing so quickly.
Hope you have better luck with the density! If you have any questions about the recipe, throw them at me and I’ll give you my best shot!
Erica
Hi Erica, it is me again! Today, I attempted this bread again. Made a double batch and forgot to split it into 3 loaves instead of 2. I rolled one of it into a log. For the other, I split the dough into four balls and line them up in the loaf pan. This is the shaping technique I use for the white bread that I used to make. This loaf rose a lot more evenly than the other. Unfortunately, it also sink in the middle more than the other! The finished bread looked like a trough…. I will post the photos up on my blog soon. Hope to receive some pointers from you again! I really want to succeed with this recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that you aren’t giving up! The methog you use for forming the dough sounds interesting…may have to give it a try.
Your problem with the dough sinking makes me think that:
a) Your dough is too wet to hold up during rising and baking.
or
b) There isn’t enough gluten to hold up the dough.
If you think either of these could be the problem, let me suggest these changes:
If your dough seems very wet, first make sure you are adding the correct amount of flour. I find that weighing my flour gives me the most accurate measurement. If the dough still seems very wet, try adding a little more flour. It’s important to achieve that balance between a soft dough and a slack, watery dough.
It may be that your dough does not have enough gluten. Give it this test: gently stretch a small piece of dough. It should stretch enough without breaking apart so that you can see light through it. This is called the windowpane test. To learn more, click here and here. You may wish to try kneading your dough longer, or adding more gluten. Also, which type of wheat do you use? Hard red wheat (traditional whole wheat flour) is a good choice for yeast breads as it contains a high amount of gluten.
If you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Hi Erica, following my failures with this recipe, it is a little daunting for me to attempt it again! Especially since my KA had broken down, if I were to give it a try again, I will have to mix and knead it completely by hand. Below is info on the type of wheat flour that I use:
Ingredients: 100% Certified Organic Hard Red Winter Wheat
Country of Origin: United States
Physical Characteristics: Product is a coarse blend which is light brown in color with a fresh grain odor.
Typical Processing Analysis:
Protein: 12.97%
Moisture: 12.73%
Ash: 1.45%
Falling Number: 300 min
I wish I can fly you over to see what went wrong in my making! haha
What is ‘instant’ yeast?
Hi Erica;
I have tried and failed to be satisfied with countless 100% whole wheat bread recipes. They always come out dense and much too “wheaty” for my taste. Thanks for this recipe though, my search is over! I have made this bread about 5 times now and plan for this to be my permanent 100% ww bread recipe. One question, do you think it’s okay to double this recipe so that I could make 2 loaves at a time? Thanks to advise
Marirose Paul: I am so pleased that my recipe worked for you! I have doubled this recipe many times; I found that it worked really well to divide the dough into 3 loaves - they were still very large. Give it a try!
Thanks so much - I will definitely try this and make 3 loaves out of a doubled recipe. Today! Thanks again!
Would love to see a revised recipe using active dry yeast instead of the instant!
I tried this recipe recently and it came out so beautifully. My husband and I like the texture and crumb. Thanks for your efforts.
Hi Erica:
me again with another question. I have started baking sourdough bread and was wondering if you have any idea as to how I could adapt this recipe using sourdough starter. I just really don’t want to use another 100% whole wheat bread recipe…
Marirose paul
[...] other day I made cooking for seven’s favorite 100% whole wheat bread and liked the results. I decided to incorporate some of her good tips in my own whole wheat bread [...]
[...] to a recipe by fellow blogger from cooking for seven. You can find her great 100% whole wheat bread here, and my post about the changes here. The recipe has also been updated down [...]
HI there,
I was just wondering why there are two rising times in the recipe, would it be possible to replace the 1st rising time with a 10 minute rest because the recipe uses instant yeast instead of traditional?.
thanks!
Katrina
Katrina: To be honest, I’m not sure. My initial reaction is no. Most bread recipes call for two risings. If you’re brave, you could try a single rise. Let me know your results!
When do you brush the top with milk and add the oats? I made this last night in my breadmaker and added during the last rise cycle but I think it made me lose my rise…I’m trying again this morning and not do the oats on top-hope it works out
Made my second loaf, used 1/4 c honey instead of 2 tbls molasses, added an egg and slightly more gluten. Rose perfectly, tastes AMAZING. THank you so much!!
[...] since I’m used to making bread every week anyway. I already have a whole wheat bread recipe that I love though, so I was a bit apprehensive to stray from [...]
[...] bread machine on the left is kneading the dough for this recipe from Cooking For Seven and the machine on the right is kneading and baking the bread for [...]
I’m trying this out for the first time and would like it if someone who has made this bread in a bread machine from start to finish If they could give me a curst color and loaf size (large)and what setting used to bake this on Should I use just a Basic setting being or shoud I use the whole wheat setting? Thank you so much:)
I love your site! I was searching for an everyday ww bread recipe so I don’t have to purchase bread anymore, but I actually found you because of your spice-molasses cookies. I am resting my dough as I type, and I really hope this turns out well because my last recipe failed!
Yours looks deelish! I also am “iced-in” in Ohio and can’t get to the store for the gluten, so I’m hoping that it will work out!
Well, I baked my loaves, and they are delicious, but the crust is still a bit too hard and thick for my kids…. Yours looks so light and airy…. I guess I need to get to the store for that gluten. Any other thoughts on why mine would be so dark and crusty?
It could be that you baked the loaves too long. Also, it is important to have a fairly moist dough to keep the bread soft. Hope that helps!
I have made this bread many times and love it. However, recently I have had the deflating problem once it hits the oven. I looked at the recipe that I believe you based yours on and it calls for 1 tablespoon of yeast. Could this be the problem? Also, I have completely elimated the honey ingredient as I am watching sugar intake, could this cause the deflating? Your thoughts?
@ Lisa - I use the bread machine - I do course 3 with a medium crust. It comes out great
The gluten has helped my deflating problem. My kids love it. We haven’t bought store bread in months. 
Thank you Erica!
Perfection! I’m not going to say how many slices I had for breakfast w/ Nutella. It was a lot.
Hi Erica! I’m super excited to try this recipe. Could you elaborate on what kind of yeast you use? Most of the time when I have recipes for instant yeast, I just use bread machine yeast (which I don’t think is the same thing), but I would love to know where you get it/what kind you select/if you think traditional yeast would work. Thanks so much!
[...] are the ingredients for a 100% whole wheat bread recipe beautifully illustrated by Erica Lea @ Cooking for Seven. Even though I’ve never made “real” bread before (only no-yeast quick breads) [...]
I just had my first slice of this lovely bread, and it’s definitely the best 100% whole wheat bread I’ve tried. For those of you wanting to substitute for the instant yeast, I used regular old active dry yeast on a 1:1 ratio. I thought I might have to increase the rise time slightly, but the first rise took only 1.5 hours, and the second was perhaps 45 minutes.
I absolutely love this recipe. I found this about a year ago, and its definitely my go to bread recipe. I’ve experimented using oil vs butter and honey vs maple syrup and believe the best combo is butter and maple syrup. I, too, make a double batch and then put it into 3 loaves.
So delish!
This recipe turned out wonderful! I didn’t have any buttermilk, nor milk to substitute with, so I used rice milk with a tablespoon of vinegar instead. I also left out the vital wheat gluten and used one package (2 1/2 teaspoons) of yeast.
[...] other day I made cooking for seven‘s favorite 100% whole wheat bread and liked the results. I decided to incorporate some of her good tips in my own whole wheat bread [...]
This recipe looks so delicious; can’t wait to try it! What do you mean by instant yeast? Is that the active dry yeast that comes in the packet or the bread machine yeast bought in a jar? Thanks
Katie:From what I have read, instant yeast is a bit more concentrated than active dry. Here’s a good link on the subject: {link} I’m sure you could use actve dry, just increase the amount and soak it in warm water and the sweetener for a bit.
[...] Chowder with tossed salad, and Whole Wheat Bread [...]
I have tried numerous recipes and this one is by-far my favorite! It’s so moist & perfect for sandwiches. My girls gobble it up & can’t even tell it’s not store bought.
I make it in my breadmaker & it always turns out fantastic! I put all of the ingredients into the bread pan in the order the recipe lists them, making sure that the yeast doesn’t come in contact with the liquids until the machine starts mixing it all together. I then set it to the whole wheat mode & that’s it! So easy & I can have a fresh loaf of bread every other day. Thanks so much for the fantastic recipe!!!
[...] have often heard that bread is the staff of life, meaning that bread sustains life. Bread may be the staff of life, but for me [...]
Just finished making this bread for the second time. I used the bread machine method, and it could not be easier! The recipe is perfect and I always keep all of the ingredients needed on hand, so I’m sure I will be making this time and time again! I read some comments about the dough being very sticky. I too found this to be true, but was not impacted because I did not do any hand kneading. I simply plopped the wet dough into my greased bread pan, and all was well!
Thank you for this great recipe!
Hello! My first time posting a comment on your blog (I love it!)…I have a question….will regular 100% whole wheat flour work for this recipe?
Thank you!
Svetlana
[...] is official! I have made the most awesome bread ever I got the recipe from here and tweaked it just a little bit. I used a new-to-me pan too, a 4 1/2 x 12, which I love. It got [...]
Hi!
Just made this yesterday with whole wheat flour!!! It was amazing, chewy bread!!!!!! mmm The addition of flax really makes a difference!
Svetlana
Me again
I have a question…you said that the original recipe included seeds…if I want to add seeds or walnuts for example, at what stage of kneading do I add them? Do I need to also add more water?
Thank you!
Svetlana: Just through them in with the rest of the ingredients at the beginning!
Thanks so much Erica
This is my first successful bread making and it’s wonderful! My problem is storing the bread. I know it won’t last as long as store bought bread, but how do you store it to keep it from drying out? Thank you!
How do you store the bread to keep it from drying out?
Jill: I usually just store the bread in a plastic bag and use if for toast when it dries out. You can also slice the bread and freeze it. You can just pull out and thaw as many slices as you need. I don’t recommend storing bread in the refrigerator as that can make it stale and dry.
This was my very first yeast bread recipe and I am so pleased! They were out of instant yeast at my Target, so I bought regular dry active yeast. I was a little intimidated, because my mom was scared away from making bread by it, but it came out beautifully! I’m also glad I took a trip down to the health food store for the gluten. It turned out really well, although I think I could have kneaded it more. I will be making instead of buying bread as much as possible from now on! It turned out so well, that I have the confidence to make a double batch next time :]
[...] manifested themselves in this way: after carefully following the steps of two recipes of my favorite bread - one with white whole wheat and one with red whole wheat flour – the white wheat dough [...]
[...] all the time), I’ve been on a mission to find a good whole wheat recipe without sugar in it. This recipe was really easy to make, and tastes pretty good too. Question though. Why doesn’t my bread [...]
Great taste! Mine didn’t rise over the pan, though. I was hoping that it would rise more while baking, but it didn’t. I used active dry - didn’t realize I was not using the yeast called for. Any suggestions before doing it again?
I was browsing the net for some bread recipies as I want to make bread at home. I often make pizza and its bread turns out to be excellent. And substituting all purpose flour with whole wheat flour seems good to me. Its my first time and I have seen a bunch of videos to teach myself. Any suggestions or pointers please?
I made this bread yesterday and it turned out amazing! The first time a loaf of bread (especially 100% whole wheat bread) has risen beautifully and looked and sliced just like the store bought stuff. Of course it tastes so much better and I love knowing exactly what is in it.
I used butter and 2 1/2 T of honey. Had to add a bit more water and it came together beautifully in my stand mixer (kneaded with dough hook on #2 for about 10 minutes). Had to put in the fridge halfway through the second rise since I didn’t plan very well and we had appointments to get to. When I opened the fridge it was well over 2″ above the pan and looked so light and airy. I let it get to room temp before baking and it was perfect.
My husband and almost 2 yr old gobbled it up. My daughter actually was ripping pieces off of the still hot bread on the counter. Now if that doesn’t convince you this bread is special nothing will
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe and tips. This will definitely be a staple in our house going forward!