This honey whole wheat bread is light and fluffy. Easy to make using simple ingredients, this wholesome bread is perfect for sandwiches and toast.
There is really nothing better than the smell of homemade bread rising and baking in the oven. There aren’t too many things that taste better than homemade bread either.
We really love bread in this house and one of my favourite things in the world to do is bake it. There is something so satisfying about pulling a perfect loaf of home baked bread out of the oven, allowing it to cool just enough to handle, and then slathering it with butter.
This honey whole wheat bread is a perfect all purpose bread for toast and sandwiches. It is light and soft and has a nice crumb that holds up well to toasting, or loading with delicious sandwich fixings.
The whole wheat flour adds a nice texture and nuttiness, while the honey adds just a bit of sweetness.
HOT TIP: Make sure you knead the dough long enough so that it becomes smooth and elastic, generally around 8 minutes. Kneading the dough helps to form the gluten and give the bread it’s chewy texture.
How to make honey whole wheat bread
- Begin by adding the honey, yeast and ¼ cup of the water to the bowl of a stand mixer. (If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use a large mixing bowl)
- Allow yeast mixture to sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to become foamy.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix on low until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn out to a floured counter and knead for 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic
- Return to an oiled bowl and let rest until doubled
- After dough has risen, divide into two equal portions (I like to use a kitchen scale, but you don’t have to.)
- Roll out to about 9×12, then roll up from the short end. Tuck ends under and place seam side down into a lightly greased loaf pan.
- Let rest until doubled, then bake at 350 degrees for 35-30 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Slice and serve.
Why didn’t my dough rise?
If you find your dough isn’t rising there could be a few things going on. If it didn’t rise at all then your yeast is likely dead. It could be expired, or it’s possible the water you used was too hot and killed the yeast. To test if the yeast is good add a teaspoon of yeast to ¼ cup of warm (not hot) water and a teaspoon of sugar. If after 5 minutes it is not starting to foam, then your yeast is no longer alive and will not rise.
How long will my homemade bread keep?
This bread will well for about a week if stored in an airtight bag or container. Of course, ours never usually makes it that long before we eat it all.
Can I freeze my homemade bread?
Definitely! Simply allow it to cool completely, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap or store in a freezer bag or airtight container.
This bread is fantastic toasted! Try it with this homemade persimmon butter or this blueberry chia seed jam!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
Soft homemade garlic knots
Flaky buttermilk biscuits
Extra large cinnamon rolls
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- ¼ Cup Warm water
- 2 ¼ tsp Active dry yeast
- ⅓ Cup Honey
- 1 ¼ Cup Warm water
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- 3 Cups Whole wheat bread flour
- 1 ½ Cups All purpose flour
Instructions
- Add the honey, yeast and ¼ cup of warm water to the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to sit for approximatly 5 minutes until yeast becomes foamy.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the mixer and set to low. Mix until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured counter top and knead for 5-8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. If the dough is really sticky you can add 1-2 tablespoons of flour at at time until it smooth.
- Lightly coat a bowl with oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled. This will usually take about an hour. If it is cold out, you can place the bowl in the oven with the oven light on, or use the proof setting on your oven if it has it.
- Once the dough has doubled, turn out onto a counter and divide into two equal portions. I like to use a kitchen scale for this, but you can just estimate if you like.
- Roll the dough out to approximately 9×12 inches with a rolling pin, then roll it up from the short side. Gently tuck the ends under, then place the rolled dough seam side down into 2 greased 9×5 loaf pans.
- Cover with a clean tea towl and allow to rise until almost doubled, approximatly an hour. You can also cover with plastic wrap, but be sure not to wrap it tightly as you need room for the dough to expand.
- Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden and sound hollow when tapped
- Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
- Slice and serve. Store in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for about a week, or you can freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Tried this recipe? Leave me a comment or rating to let me know!
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Nneka
Tuesday 2nd of May 2023
Can I replace some of the flour with rolled oats?
Deanna
Tuesday 2nd of May 2023
I'm sorry, it's not something I've ever tried with this recipe. If you decide to try, let me know how it turns out!
Nathalie
Sunday 5th of February 2023
Hi Deanna, I’ve been doing for quite a while your recipe and it’s so delicious, your bread is my favourite hand up 😊. I would like to know, what can I do so that my bread gets bigger because like you mention « This recipe will make two smaller loaves of bread using 9×5 inch loaf pans. If you want larger slices of bread, you can use one 12×4 inch loaf pan » I’m currently using the 9x5 loaf pans because I cannot find the 12x4 loaf pan, what you recommend so my bread raised a little bit more… thanks in advance
Nathalie
Tuesday 7th of February 2023
@Deanna, I wanted to type a happy smile 😊
Nathalie
Tuesday 7th of February 2023
@Deanna, thanks for the quick reply and will definitely try it 😕
Deanna
Tuesday 7th of February 2023
Thank you so much, Nathalie. I'm so happy you enjoy this recipe. I think the best way to make a taller (larger) larger loaf without using a bigger pan would be to divide the dough into thirds instead of half. Then use 2/3 of the dough for one loaf and roll the rest into dinner rolls or a mini-loaf. There is no way to make a recipe simply rise more without altering the ratio of ingredients. Making a larger loaf you will probably need to increase the bake time to make sure it is baked all the way through. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Emily
Monday 7th of February 2022
I cannot find wheat bread flour near me. I have regular bread flour (in place of AP) and regular whole wheat flour. Am I able to use those two in combination to make this recipe or do I need to add gluten?
Deanna
Monday 7th of February 2022
It should work fine with those flours. I swap often depending on what I have in the pantry, I've never added extra gluten to anything I bake. Good luck!
Angela
Monday 20th of December 2021
This was delicious. Cooking at Colorado high altitude you just never know. But it baked up perfectly. I did omit the 1/3 c. honey instead used same 1/3 c. of coconut palm sugar just to try and not be sweet. Turned out really good. Thank you.
Deanna
Tuesday 21st of December 2021
Great to hear, I'm glad it worked well for you at high altitude as well and that you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!
Nadia
Tuesday 9th of November 2021
I really like this recipe. First time ever making homemade bread. It was a hit. First time I used a smaller, squattier non stick pan I use for banana breads. Loaves came out kinda small when divided into two. Even after rising perfectly. But texture was perfect after baking for 35 minutes. Light n fluffy with a nice swirl from rolling out the dough. Second time I divided dough in two and used my new pans I bought from Ikea. Slightly narrower and longer. Baked for 35 minutes again and they were perfectly golden. I used parchment paper to line pans. Loaves came out tiny. Hence the narrower longer pan. I thought it would be an ok ratio but no. Then I realized something. I am using all purpose flour. Not sure if this makes a difference. But I like the texture. So next time I will use this recipe for 1 loaf in my longer pans. See if I get a larger loaf. I realize in other recipes 4.5 cups of flour is for one loaf.
Nadia
Wednesday 10th of November 2021
I used my Ikea pans and did not divide recipe. Loaf came out perfect! Size, colour and texture. I added half an hour to rising times and baked it for 45 min.