BEST WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE
My Mom put on her apple apron, pulled out the flour containers, and kneaded homemade bread like nobody’s business. There was nothing like the smell of homemade bread straight out of the oven. I would run home from school much faster on those days when my Mom was baking homemade bread. I slathered the homemade bread with sweet cream butter and honey or berry jam. To this day it is still one of the most comforting foods that always reminds me of home.
I haven’t carried on my Mom’s tradition of weekly homemade bread because I have always said that it is way too time consuming. I still love to make it and feel a lot of satisfaction when it comes out of the oven but needed to find an easier way. Let me introduce to you the power of one hour bread!
Our good friend, Shannon Lundin, has finally shared her top secret bread recipe! After not being able to eat gluten, she found that she could eat homemade whole wheat bread made from scratch with zero issues. It is such an amazing discovery and she is sharing her whole wheat bread recipe with all of us. I called her and asked if I could share this with my readers and she was happy to share.
After trying this bread in Texas, I couldn’t wait to follow her recipe and try it at home. I halved her best homemade one hour whole wheat bread recipe. I was in shock that it only took ONE HOUR to make two loaves of homemade bread. Amazing! It is incredible that you can make homemade bread start to finish in one hour.
This Best Homemade One Hour Whole Wheat Bread is made with such simple ingredients — whole wheat flour, warm water, yeast, honey, oil and salt. This bread is filled with all natural ingredients and no sugar! It is healthy, hearty, and delicious.
TIPS on MAKING the BEST HOMEMADE ONE HOUR WHOLE WHEAT BREAD:
- Let your YEAST PROOF. The key is to use very warm water (about 110 degrees). Adding honey to the yeast helps it proof even faster. Let the yeast proof for at least 5 minutes. Remember to always use fresh yeast. You will know the yeast is working when it starts to form a creamy foam on the surface.
- Use WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR or half white bread flour and half whole wheat flour. If you have a wheat grinder, you can grind your own wheat. If not, look for organic whole wheat flour. You can always use half white flour and half whole wheat flour if you like a lighter bread.
- Use a STAND MIXER. This bread recipe is easiest with a stand mixer such as a Bosch. I love my Bosch mixer because it makes this bread so much easier! This is a huge time saver as you knead the bread for 10-12 minutes in the mixer. It saves you from doing it yourself! If you don’t own a stand mixer, you can knead the bread dough by hand. Click here to get a good deal on a Bosch mixer.
- Let RISE in WARM OVEN. This expedites the rising process and cuts the time in half. Set the oven to about 200 degrees and let the bread rise for approximately 20 minutes or until double in size. Here are my favorite loaf pans.
- BAKE until GOLDEN BROWN. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake until golden on the outside. Remove from oven and spread butter over top of loaves to give moisture and shine.
Once you remove the hot homemade whole wheat bread from the oven, remove from pans and spread with butter and jam.
- 3 Cups Warm Water approximately 110 degrees
- 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
- 2/3 cup Honey
- 1/3 cup Oil plus a little extra for hands
- 7 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour may use half whole wheat/half white flour
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- Butter to spread on top of bread
- Heat oven to warm about 200 degrees.
- Place warm water in large mixing bowl. Add yeast and stir. Stir in honey and let proof (start to form a creamy foam) for 5 minutes.
- Add oil, flour, and salt. Begin by adding 7 cups of flour. Start to mix using the dough hook. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour until dough pulls away from sides of mixing bowl. Using Bosch or Kitchenaid, knead for 10 minutes at medium-high speed. If you don't own a stand mixer, you can knead by hand.
- Place a little oil on hands and shape into two bread loaves. Spray loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Put pans in a warm oven to let rise until double -- about 20 minutes.
- Once bread has raised, turn oven to 350 degrees. Leave bread in oven and set timer for 25 minutes.
- Check bread to see if it is golden brown. Once bread is done, remove from oven and spread butter all over warm loaves. Let cool for several minutes before removing from pan.
- Spread butter and jam or honey on warm bread.
- May freeze bread or eat within 2 days.
I can’t wait to see your pictures of your Best Homemade One Hour Whole Wheat Bread. Tag me using #modernhoney or @modern_honey on instagram. I would love to see your creations!
Just making this now. Had to leave it to rise for double time but maybe that has to do with being in Newfoundland! I’m so excited about this bread.
I also did this. It doubled, but took longer than expected. Relatively low humidity where I am.
Hi loved this recipe. The nutritional information that you have, is it for the whole receipe …. whole loaf or a slice of the loaf?
Thanks
I made this bread for the first time today I made a few alterations. One I used 3 1/2 cups whole wheat and then added white to get the consistency I desired I let mine rise the old fashioned way , putting it in pans for the second rise. Make sure you are using 8 1/2 inch pans and not larger pans. I used white flour above to ensure quality rising. Last, I used an instant thermometer to ensure doneness. I took the bread out when it hits 190 degrees. I picked this recipe for it’s ease with ingredients. It’s a winner
Easiest way to ruin this is to kill the yeast with water that’s too hot. Ensure that it’s no more than 100 degrees F to maximize your chance of success.
This bread came out incredible. I did it all by hand- no tools or disposables. I made one loaf in a loaf pan and one large roll on a sheet pan. we devoured it over the last 4 days.
I’m interested in trying to make bagels out of the same recipe or with slight modification, because such versatility in one recipe would enhance it even more. I will experiment but appreciate any pointers. thanks!
This recipe was so easy! I cut the recipe in half to see how it would turn out. Delicious!! I used 1/2 bread flour & 1/2 White whole wheat flour, half the amount of salt & honey & it was perfect. Very dense and sliced beautifully. The only problem is the calories for 1 slice is 184??
34 carbs-4g fiber=30 net carbs. Am I reading this correctly? If so, this is not good for my diabetic hubby. But I love it!
I made this exactly as the recipe said, but it is still in the oven at 200 trying to rise. I have now doubled the rising time and it is still not twice the size. The dough was very sticky. Like one of the other commentators, I don’t like to add more flour because of the density of the dough. Don’t know what the issue is. I will let it rise a bit longer and bake, but not very happy with this result.
The dough did not double in size at 200 degrees for me either but when i turned the temp to 350 after the specified 20 min, it rose nicely and came out perfectly.
I made this today with 100% whole wheat pastry flour (Bob’s red mill), increased the yeast to 4 tsp, replaced 1 c of water with 1 c scalded whole milk, and used 1/3 cup against and 1/3 c honey for the sweeteners. After I proofed the yeast in the water, milk, honey, and dismay, I added all the remaining ingredients and let in mix until combined and then let it rest fifteen minutes before kneading it for 5-6 minutes. I then separated it and rolled it into loaves and let it ride until in was about 1 inch over the edge of my bread pan. It baked for about 30 minutes before it was done.
Turned out delicious and rose beautifully!
Took about 2 hours the way I did it, but that’s at least 1 /2 hours faster than my regular recipe and yielded 2 loaves instead of one!
Will make again!
I use half white and half whole wheat flour and it is amazing! This is one of the best recipes I have ever discovered!
Recipe simply states “oil”. What kind of oil?
I used Extra virgin olive oil but I believe bread recipes can use canola or other types of oil too.
Perfect bread recipe, so quick and easy! Followed recipe exactly as directed. For some clarity, when bread is done rising, leave loaves in oven, set oven to 350 degrees and set a timer for 35 minutes (it takes about 10 minutes for oven to get to 350 degrees plus 25 minutes to bake at 350). Also, if you have a standing KitchenAid mixer, mix at no more than #2 speed or you will burn out your motor.
I had no idea bread with wheat could be this good – or this easy! I am out of all purpose and bread flour and all the stores are sold out. I googled and found this recipe and hold good bread, this was so easy and SO good. I did half the recipe and I used a big scoop of sour cream instead of the oil, perfection! THANK YOU
Have you used instant yeast before with this recipe? Do you use the same amount – 1TB?
I have tried a number of recipes over the last several weeks and this one is a winner! My loaves rose beautifully and did not collapse and the bread itself is delicious. I’m going to try turning the same recipe into hamburger buns today!:)
My eyesight seems to be failing me in my old age. I could not find the size pans we’re supposed to use anywhere. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
If making one loaf instead of 2 do you the same amount of yeast
Absolutely perfect. I’ve made it about 10 times now and it’s been great every time. Some substitutions that I’ve made are a cup of wheat bran for a cup of flour, added ground flaxseed and substituted milk for water. All have been delicious! Thanks for this easy recipe!
What kind of oil?
Yum!! Easy and delicious. I used half white (King Arthur) and half whole wheat flour, a bit less honey and olive oil, halved the recipe to make 1 loaf in case I didn’t like it. Well it is beautiful in appearance and delicious. Start to finish only took under an hour- definitely new go to bread recipe!
Making it now, but it’s not looking right. It doesn’t look like dough. It looks like a cake batter or something. Worried, I just wasted 7 cups of flour… and a half…
Love the texture of this bread–great recipe! However, I did have to add more flour than it called for, and had to add 5-10 minutes to oven time or else it came out doughy in the middle.
To make more nutritious, I added 1/2 c. wheat germ, 2 T ground flax seed, and 1 T. ground chia seed. I also added 1 t. dough enhancer. Just add any or all these ingredients as part of the flour mixture.
So this is the second time I’ve made this bread and a bit perplexed. I followed the recipe except for having a mixer and kneaded the dough by hand. However to get the dough to bread consistency (where it wasn’t loose and sticking to everything) I had to use an additional 2 cups of flour. Also my bread has taken longer to rise (about 40 minutes) and has come out super sense. It tastes yummy but just doesn’t have the fluffy texture I’m use to bread having. Any suggestions would be helpful on how to get it more fluffy and not sooo sticky!! I also am wondering because I’m using olive oil if that has something to do with the stickiness and extra flour required?
This wasn’t a winner for me. I think the rise time is too short as my yeast was definitely alive and active before going into the warm oven to prove. It was rising on it’s own on the cutting board before I put it in. I usually just let it rise at room temperature for longer and have had much better results. Despite leaving the bread in at 350 for a full 20 minutes longer than instructed, it was still dense and under baked inside. Will keep searching for a whole wheat bread recipe.
I don’t know how many times I have made this recipe, but my two loaves of bread come out perfectly each time. With covid, we had to cut down on how much we made this due to a flour and yeast shortage so we opted to get store bought bread instead. It just isn’t the same in any way. I’m new to baking bread and this is one I’m going to keep using as much as I can. Thank you so much for sharing this!
I am trying this recipe now, but the video uploaded in the page is for a cookie. Do you have this recipe video?
I started making this bread on a dare from my husband. I have made few mistakes along the way until I got it just the way I like it. I split the flour between whole wheat and white bread flour because white bread flour has more protein and helps with the proofing. I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. ( I learned the hard way the difference between the two) Instant yeast you need not proof just add it to the flour. I let it rise for about 2- 3 hours covered with a clean hand towel. I prefer to see 1/2” rise from the rim of the pan and then I bake it as directed. It comes out perfect. I have not bought bread from a store in over a year . This recipe is the best. Thank you for sharing your passion for baking.