Honey Whole Wheat Bread

By: Cassidy Stockton | February 24 2016

Some of the best things in life are the simple things. Take, for instance, this whole wheat bread. It's a pretty simple recipe, but one that yields a beautiful loaf of bread perfect for toast, sandwiches, and just enjoying with butter and jam. We chose to use a combination of half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour for a bread that is wonderfully chewy, but not overly dense. Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread, and we hope you enjoy this loaf as much as we do. Happy baking!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Pour water into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle yeast over top. Let sit until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in milk, honey, and oil. Add all purpose flour and whole wheat flour and stir by hand or with a dough hook until a dough forms, about 1 minute on low.
  2. Add the salt and knead dough until it is smooth and springy, about 10 minutes on medium speed.
  3. Form dough into a ball and place in a large bowl lightly coated with oil. Turn dough to coat with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  4. Transfer dough to floured surface. Divide dough in half and form into two balls. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Gently press and shape each ball into a 9 x 9-inch square. Fold into thirds, like folding a letter. Pinch the seam closed and place loaf seam-side down in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 40-60 minutes.
  5. During this final rise, preheat the oven to 425°F.
  6. Make three angled slashes on top of each loaf with a knife and place in oven preheated oven. Immediately reduce heat to 375°F and bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on wire rack.

23 Comments

  1. Mike
    Made this bread the other day. It was great. I will be making this often, as it was deemed to be fantastic, warm with dinner.
    Reply
  2. Diane
    20190122 1st time. I put the flours in the KA 575W bowl, added a heaping tablespoon of Malted Flour, the milk, honey, oil and ½ cup of the water. Mixed on 3rd speed until combined, then autolyse 1 hour. I then dissolved 10g yeast in the other half cup water and added to the levain, mixed a bit then added the salt, 10g vs 1T.(A lot of salt!). Had to help the mix combine after adding yeast, by stopping the mixer and folding with bowl scraper. Rise times, in a 70deg environment, were a bit longer than the directions. Not much. 2nd proof was quite frisky, though I did not preheat the oven until about 30 minutes into the rise. I rubbed just a little butter on the crusts after they came out of the oven. Delicious bread. Oh la la!
    Reply
  3. Susan
    How much extra wheat bran can I add to this recipe?
    Reply
    1. Whitney Barnes
      Hi Susan, we haven't tested that in this recipe specifically; however, you can typically substitute up to 20% of the flour called for in a recipe with Wheat Bran.
      Reply
  4. Laura Powell
    Question more than a comment; the 4th paragraph of the recipe is confusing. Is the baker supposed to preheat the oven, then let the dough rise for up to one hour in the preheated oven (seems unlikely)? This is unclear and if the dough is not to rise in an oven of that temperature for an hour (which would probably ruin the bread), I wonder why the oven would need to be on for this period of time until you are ready to actually bake the bread (at 375). It does not take an oven an hour to reach 425...
    Reply
    1. Whitney Barnes
      Hi Laura - thanks for bringing that to our attention. The instructions have been updated for clarity.

      While the shaped loaves are rising at room temperature, preheat the oven to 425. Ensuring that you have a very hot oven is key to great loaves here, the initial high temperature encourages a great oven spring which results in proper texture and height. Enjoy!
      Reply
  5. Jana
    I also found the step 4 confusing - Pinch the seam closed and place loaf seam-side down in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 40-60 minutes - no idea what I have to do here. Another question, can I replace the white flour for other flour type?
    Reply
    1. Whitney Barnes
      Hi Jana - After you fold the dough into thirds, the outer edge of the dough will be exposed. In order to keep the shape and stop the dough from unrolling, pinch the exposed seam into the dough, essentially "gluing" it into place with your fingers. This pinched line, or "seam" should be placed facing the bottom of the pan, leaving the top smooth. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise.
      Reply
  6. Judith E Stemple
    I'm in the process of making your Honey Whole Wheat Bread. I'm using my KitchenAid stand mixer. The instruction manual for the mixer says, "Never exceed Speed 2 when using the dough hook." However, the recipe says to knead the dough until it is smooth and springy, about 10 minutes on medium speed. I did that and my dough was hard to get out of the bowl, was sticky and stringy, and all over my hands. Should I have kneaded the dough for a longer period of time?
    Reply
    1. Whitney Barnes
      Hi Judith, it may have needed a bit more kneading time. If you find yourself in that situation again, you can pinch off a small piece of dough and perform a "windowpane test" to check for proper gluten development. I've also found that adding just a tablespoon or two of additional flour down the interior wall of the mixing bowl (while it's running) can help a sticky dough come together and be easier to shape.
      Reply
  7. Sally Jean
    I am going to make this bread in a breadmaker. The instructions for the bread maker says to add the yeast last. So I am confused. The instructions say to first add liquid ingredients, THEN dry ingredients and the yeast MUST be last. Which way do I do this. Your way is adding the yeast to the liquid. Please advise. thank you,
    Reply
    1. Elisabeth Allie
      Elisabeth Allie
      Hi there! This recipe, as written, is meant for a conventional oven. If you're going to adapt it for a bread maker, we recommend following the manufacturer's instructions. :)
      Reply
  8. R Winkler
    is the One Tablespoon of salt correct? and not one teaspoon ? just want to make sure
    Reply
    1. Elisabeth Allie
      That is correct!
      Reply
  9. Nancy
    Made this today and it was the best whole wheat bread recipe I have tried. This is the keeper, this is the one! The spongiest, fluffiest, lightest, whole wheat recipe ever! I only subbed the honey for maple syrup and 15 minutes into baking covered the loaves with foil to slow the browning and prevent burning. I weighed the flours at 120 grams/cup so 330 grams of each type. At the 10 minute mark of kneading on the machine it was perfect just as it is written. I will definitely check out more recipes on your website here.
    Reply
  10. Melody
    Once the loaves are in the pan covered to let rise, it seems to vary, but how big should they be?
    Reply
    1. Elisabeth Allie
      Until they have approximately doubled in size!
      Reply
  11. Michelle Lavinio
    Michelle Lavinio
    Hi ya how would you recommend to store these after baking to keep them soft and fresh? I do not own a bread bin!
    Mahalo
    Reply
    1. Ashley Morris
      Hi Michelle, wrap the unsliced bread with wax paper, a beeswax or linen bag, or even a dishcloth would work. A plastic bag would also work but will keep the bread very soft from the trapped moisture.
      Reply
  12. Michelle Lavinio
    Michelle Lavinio
    Hey ya again!!
    My load came out no where the size like in the picture above it did rise well. Maybe could have given it a little longer in the second rise. If I didn’t split the dough and used a bigger pan would I get a bigger loaf like in your picture/ more store size?
    Many thanks
    Reply
    1. Ashley Morris
      Hi there! Please reach out to customer service who can better advise you and help trouble shoot. You can email them at [email protected].
      Reply
  13. Aimee Polega
    What are the nutrition facts for this bread? Calories? Servings?
    Reply
    1. Ashley Morris
      Hi Aimee, if you can provide us with an email address we would be happy to send over the nutritional information or you can reach out to [email protected]. Thank you!
      Reply

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *