With step-by-step instructions and helpful tips, learn how to make honey whole wheat sandwich bread that is melt-in-your-mouth good and uses no refined sugar or flour. It’s foolproof and easy using 100 % whole wheat flour but is light and soft inside with a chewy buttery crust that will hold all of your favorite toppings. This recipe is for two loaves because trust me, the first loaf will be gone the day you bake it, but you can easily half the recipe for one loaf if you wish.
Homemade sandwich bread is a must, but it can be tricky to get a whole wheat bread recipe to turn out light without a ton of crumbs, so I don't make this claim lightly when I say this is the best whole wheat bread recipe ever. You can use store-bought whole wheat but I'm here to tell you that until you have it with fresh ground flour, you've no idea what you're missing out on. New to home-milled flour? Get my guide to Grinding Flour at Home here, and my favorite places to find grains in bulk here.
This Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe is:
- soft whole wheat bread with a chewy golden outside crust
- free of refined sugars
- made with just 7 wholesome ingredients
- easy to make
- simple to freeze
- slightly addicting and perfect for any topping or sandwich
- one of the best grinding your own flour bread recipes I have
Fresh Ground Flour Tips:
Baking with freshly ground flour is quite a bit different than store-bought. Use less flour in your bread recipes when using fresh ground. Home milled fresh ground flour absorbs more moisture than store flour and can be overworked. When you first mix in the flour, it will seem too wet. Let it sit. It will absorb the extra liquid.
How to Make Honey Whole Wheat Bread
- Proof yeast and make the dough. Read below for more tips on proofing your yeast and making the dough
- Let dough rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Knead dough for another 5 minutes.
- Cover and let dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size for 1 hour.
- Punch down dough and divide into two equals parts and form loaves, place in 9×5 loaf pans (I ONLY use these cast iron loaf pans, they create the BEST crust).
- Allow loaves to rise and double in size, about 1 hour.
- Bake at 420 degrees for 4 minutes. Lower oven temp to 375 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
When using fresh ground or ancient grains (especially Spelt) it can be harder to get as high of a rise, the higher temperature during the first 4 minutes pushes the loaf higher, creating a better texture and rise.
As shown in the photos below, 100 whole wheat bread dough should be slightly sticky and tacky when forming. Kneading is broken up by a rest period to allow the fresh ground flour to absorb the moisture AND to help the dough from being overworked and dense.
Always proof your yeast when using dry active yeast (instant yeast doesn't require proofing) by adding the yeast to the warm water.
Honey Wheat Bread Ingredients
You only need 7 basic ingredients to make this bread.
- Water. Warm water activates the yeast, preferably 110 to 115 degrees F for dry yeast.
- Milk. The fat in milk helps create the texture of soft whole wheat bread that is often missing when people use all whole wheat. Use whole milk, or better yet, buttermilk!
- Yeast. I use dry instant yeast, which is why the proofing is an important step. Store your yeast in the fridge to prolong the shelf life.
- Honey. Honey helps to feed the yeast but also improves the bread texture.
- Butter. Softened or melted butter is what gives this bread (any bread) delicious flavor and the fat helps to create the perfect crumb texture we're after.
- Salt. I use sea salt for added nutrition but salt is what brings the flavor to town and can't be left out.
- Flour. This recipe is truly versatile and you can use all-purpose or bread flour, Spelt, or fresh ground hard white wheat, they all produce a scrumptious loaf, but you will need to see the recipe instructions below and adjust the amount of flour used by which type you have on hand.
If you want to use Spelt flour (an ancient grain) you'll need to increase your flour amount. On average, you'll need 1 and 1/4 cups of spelt per 1 cup of regular flour in a recipe. Spelt has more protein and less gluten than regular wheat and it has not been hybridized like modern wheat, making it an excellent choice in your baking recipes.
Uses for Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread
- toast with butter and jam (especially my low sugar no pectin strawberry jam)
- sandwich (why not with this easy homemade creamy peanut butter that takes less than 5 minutes!)
- grilled cheese (my favorite is smoked gouda)
- Old-fashioned Peach and Blueberry Crumble
More Easy Homemade Bread Recipes
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Easy No-Knead Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
- Traditional Hot Cross Buns – Easy Recipe from 1950
- Grandma’s Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls (With Fresh-Milled Flour)
- How to Make Homemade Indian Fry Bread
- Grandmother’s Date Bread Recipe from WWII
- Sourdough Chocolate Bread From Scratch
- How to Store Homemade Bread (Stays Fresh Longer!)
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 4 & 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
- 1 & 1/3 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 6 Tablespoons melted butter
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 8 cups freshly ground hard white wheat or use 9 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour or 10 cups spelt
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt
Instructions
- Add yeast, warm water, and honey to a mixing bowl and mix. Let proof for about 5 minutes. (proofing means water turns frothy and yeast is active) Add in the rest of the ingredients until dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl. Knead with kneading attachment for 4 minutes.
- Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Knead for another 5 minutes. Grease a large glass bowl. Put dough inside and cover with tea towel. Place in warm area and allow to double in size, about 1 hour.
- Punch down and divide dough into two equals parts. Place in greased 9×5 loaf pans and cover with a tea towel. Allow to double.
- Bake at 420 degrees F for 4 minutes. Lower oven temp to 375 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and immediately take a stick of butter and rub over top of bread.
- Allow bread to cool on racks for at least 30 minutes before slicing. (if you slice bread before it's cooled you can have a gummy center)
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Bake bread, allow to fully cool (at least 3 hours), freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze the loaves whole or slice and freeze slices. I prefer to freeze slices so we can grab just the amount we need.
- Thawing Instructions: Thaw whole loaves and/or slices at room temperature. To thaw slices FAST, place on lowest toaster setting and toast frozen, slices will be soft and warmed through, but not toasted just like they'd thawed on the counter but faster.
Want to learn how to bake all your homemade bread and goods for your family? Check out my Homemade Bread & Baking e-Course here
Hi Mellissa!
Wonderful blog, which i chanced upon when you got featured on Human who grow.
Really admire and appreciate your efforts in the garden and kitchen.
Have a small query for this recipe: I have read that heating honey makes it give out toxins, is there a substitue for honey in the recipe?
You can use sugar and increase the water slightly or maple syrup. So nice to meet you!
I made it and it tasted like hay I don’t know what happened
How about using regular whole wheat flour only?
I haven’t personally tested it with store-bought whole wheat because I grind my own, but I’d follow the instructions for the fresh ground flour.
Did you try this with regular store-bought WW flour?
I also want to know about using purchased whole wheat flour only.
I haven’t personally tested it with store-bought whole wheat because I grind my own, but I’d follow the instructions for the fresh ground flour.
Curious Jean if you tried the recipe with store-bought WW flour.
Do you have weight for wheat? I am starting to grind my own and it is easier to weigh it. Thanks
I’m making it right now with part fresh ground cracked wheat and organic flour I just weighed it out in gram weight I did 120 grams so 9 1/2 cups x120 its rising now so I will let you know how it came out, it feels like the right amount, 120x 9=1080 grams +60 for the 1/2 cup = 1,140 grams of flour
I have just started using my sourdough starter to make bread. Can this be done with sourdough starter vs dry yeast, which I avoid, for food sensitivity.. Thx! Evelyn
Yes, you’ll use one cup starter and decrease both the liquid and flour by 1/2 cup each. Let me know how you like it!
Would like to confirm to reduce milk and water down by 1/2 cup each if using sourdough starter.
Yes, that’s correct.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I was wanting to tackle this, but curious what size mixer you are using for this 8C of flour. I have a 4.5/5qt stand mixer. I know I can probably knead by hands but have tendonitis in both wrists which make that a bit difficult. Thanks
It’s a 6 quart Kitchen Aid so you should be fine!
I’ve made this twice now, and both times my bread fell. It still tastes wonderful. I mill my own whole wheat flour. Any idea what would cause it to fall?
It’s over proofing (no yeast left when it hits the oven) try shortening the rise time.
Love your pod cast…tried out recipe that you listed..yeast was good, raised well but loaf up being crumbly for no better terms…I followed everything exactly. I have no problems with traditional white bread with store bought flour but when it comes to me grinding and using it 100 percent it always seems to fail. Any suggestions because mine did not even come out looking close to your picture
It may have needed more moisture, try a little bit less flour next time and make sure you’re letting it cool fully before slicing. I’d start with the hydration first.
Wanted to use einkorn flour from my local organic grain mill. Thought since it is mill ground and relatively fresh, I should cut back the amount a little. BUT, it is also an ancient flour, like spelt, so then I was thinking I should add a little more flour. What’s your suggestion?
Einkorn is its own beast so I’d start with 1/2 the liquid and leave the flour the same if using all Einkorn, mix all ingredients, let sit for 10 minutes (don’t knead it, Einkorn’s gluten strands are too fragile), then form your loaf. It should feel sticky, so don’t add too much flour.
thank you! The info you gave me explains quite a bit some of the troubles I’ve had when I used the einkorn in other baking recipes! You are a trove of information! 🙂 Have an awesome day and God bless you and yours!
Melissa I have been praying for your family knowing where you live. We are also on lock down. Our right yr old G-Granson is home for rest of school year.
We now are home schooling, he has problems from a abusive home so it s different.
I fell at age 88 dislocated shoulder and I thought put our garden on hold, my s-i-law worked the dirt like you said and Joshuah learned to plant our fewer plants so now we have a smaller garden than planned. So thankful.
We are prepared living in a hurricane area until six years ago and learning how to prepare without electricity in all needs. So thankful for your site.
Have not had the time needed at this time to keep up with your videos.
Together we will get through this and be better prepared with the guidance of our Lord. Please do not try to be macho and take chances. Gigi
Would I be able to use my bread machine to do the initial mixing/kneading?
I don’t have a bread machine so I’m not sure, but you’ll need to turn it off to follow the kneading times with the whole wheat and fresh ground so it doesn’t get tough
I only had hard red winter wheat so I used half wheat and half King Arthur bread flour because I was afraid it would be too coarse and heavy. I used some of my bee’s (crushed & strained) raw honey and it proofed very well (maybe better than the raw sugar I usually use when proofing).
I never used the bread hook on my mixer before so that was a new adventure. It worked fine but hand kneading is the best therapy, especially in these interesting times. I halved the recipe just to make sure this was going to work. The first thing I noticed was how quickly and prolifically the bread rose. After taking the bowl out of the oven from the first rising, Ivwondered if my loaf pan could handle it. I punched it down and fit in the loaf pan and it looked a little lost. After 30 minutes it was practically jumping out of the pan. It baked beautifully and is sitting on the cooling rack as I write this. The house is permeated with the wonderful aroma of fresh-baked bread. Heaven.
Thanks to your grain-buying recommendations, I ordered some wheat berries from Palouse and should get it next week. I don’t know if I will have to clean the husks off it or whether it’s already done. I ordered a 40 lb. bucket of organic wheatberries from Pleasant Hill Grain out of Nebraska about 10 years ago. It was 100% clean and never had to worry about bugs, chaff, etc. in the grain. It wasn’t cheap to ship though. Palouse works thru Amazon and ships for free. Not organic but non-GMO, so I’ll try it and compare. Living in the northeast, there’s not a lot of grain options here. What you can buy is more expensive than buying from someone out of state. Those that grow and sell it locally, look to sell wholesale. Grain CSA’s are not cheap here.
Wish I could post a pic of the loaf – it’s picture perfect and suspect it will taste as good as it looks and smells. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay so happy to hear it worked well for you!! And the grain from Palouse does come husked so you should be good to go.
Do you have a weight for hard white wheat, so i can weigh before i grind? Thanks
I have my first loaf going in the oven now. I am new to fresh ground flour so I appreciate all of the tips. One note: under your ingredients list, #3 where you say you use dry instant yeast, i think you mean to say active dry yeast. That is why proofing is important for you. Thanks again for sharing this recipe.
Melissa, I have fast rise yeast. With all the ‘shortages’, how would I substitute that for active dry yeast? Thank you!
Yes, just skip the proofing stage.
Hey Melissa! I love this recipe. It’s the only bread I will make now. Do you think anything would need to be altered to make rolls?
Did you use active dry yeast or instant yeast in your recipe? I’m wondering if my yeast type is why my whole wheat recipes are not turning out right. My bread is always very dense and doesn’t seem to rise the second time.
I use active dry yeast. If it’s not rising on the second rise very much shorten the rise time on the first rise.
What adjustments are needed for high altitude?
Shorten the rise times, use less yeast (some sites suggest 1 and 1/2 teaspoons if over 3,000 feet) and keep the dough on the stickier side.
Is the serving size of 24 servings per loaf or total for 2 loaves? I’m writing down the nutrition information because I have a nephew (child) that is a diabetic and I need to know exact serving amounts for when he’s here at the house. Thank you and have a blessed day 🙂
Yes, it’s per 2 loaves, assuming you cut each loaf into 12 slices. Depending on how thin/thick I slice sometimes I get a few more.
So incredibly pleased with this recipe. This is the first time I have had true success with grinding my own flour!
I did want to share that I am allergic to whey (cow’s milk) so I subbed the buttermilk with 1/2 cup almond milk plain yogurt and 1 1/2 oat milk (what I had on hand).
Perfect texture, flavor and rise. Thank you!
Thanks for the tip! After a tick bite, my husband developed an allergy to all mammals, so no milk or butter or mammalian meats at all. I was trying to figure out how to sub the fat content of the milk. There are plenty of vegan butters but the alternative milk don’t typically have a high fat content. I’ll grab some cashew yogurt and try that!
I used unsweetened Silk soymilk (1, 3/4 cups milk curdled with 2 Tbsp each lemon juice and vinegar to fill up to the required 2 cups buttermilk), and Brazil nut butter in place of the melted butter. Worked like a charm.
Hi Melissa,
I want to use my sourdough starter instead of using yeast and I’ll be using all 100% whole wheat KAMUT flour. Can you tell me the correct flour measurement and water measurements and any differences in mixing/kneading in the stand mixer. Also will rise times differ.
Thank you so much,
Dyane
I haven’t used kamut so I can’t give you the differences, but this is my sourdough bread recipe https://melissaknorris.com/best-beginner-sourdough-sandwich-bread-no-yeast/
Do I need to sing up again for membership?
Thank you Melissa. I’m back to grinding wheat. You are a tremendous resource. How do you store your bread? I bought bread bags, but I can’t get past the smell of them and I worry about my bread taking on the plastic-y smell. Also do you store on counter, refrigerator, or freezer?
Bummed this doesn’t have an answer yet. I too ma wondering if plastic bags or linen bags are best for homemade bread storage.
Hey Kim,
Sorry I didn’t see this comment earlier. I store on the counter or freezer in a gallon size ziplock. I’ve tried cotton bags but it dries out too fast. I’m going to be experimenting with linen but for now use a plastic ziplock bag (I resuse it over and over).
I’m making it right now with part fresh ground cracked wheat and organic flour I just weighed it out in gram weight I did 120 grams so 9 1/2 cups x120 its rising now so I will let you know how it came out, it feels like the right amount, 120x 9=1080 grams +60 for the 1/2 cup = 1,140 grams of flour
Making this today. I am curious about vital wheat gluten to your WW bread. Do you ever add it to lighten the loaf?
No, I tried it about 10 years ago but found if I adjusted the hydration levels I didn’t need it. I haven’t used it now in years.
Can I just use milk made sour with lemon juice or vinegar for the buttermilk?
Yes, you can.
I made this with freshly ground sprouted hard white wheat. It was delicious! Super soft. My family loved it. My Kitchenaid is kneading more as I type this. Thanks for sharing!
Just made this today and it’s looking great! Letting it cool. How should I store the loaf we will leave out to be eaten tomorrow?
For the past 4 months, I’ve been TRYING to create soft, fluffy bread with fresh-milled flour…it’s dry. It’s crumbly. Or it dimples. Or it sinks. I can never seem to get it right. Sometimes I thought it might be our elevation (2100 feet), but funny enough I made the same recipe at my friend’s house (not your recipe, but another) and it was like baby-angel-bottom softness. I have no idea. Perhaps it’s my oven? I don’t know. We used the same recipe. Sigh!
Anyway, whatever advice you can give me before I try your recipe (anything made with buttermilk is better!) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Grace look at some of the previous posts and see if that answers your question it did me. God Bless
I made this last week, for the first time. The bread fell in the oven, so I will adjust my rise time for the next loaf. I’d like to add some whole grains to the mix, if I add a cup of whole grains, would I remove a cup of flour?
Hi Melissa, My husband and I have been watching a lot of your videos and I’ve tried several of your recipes we are new to all this. I’ve been trying to buy better ingredients and cook from scratch and also had my first garden this past summer which will grow a lot next year. Anyway I have made several recipes of bread so far and I made this one tonight. I cut into it and to my surprise my loaf had a big hollow hole through the center. The flavor was great and they looked beautiful but what did I do wrong?
It sounds like you didn’t form the loaf tight enough. Watch how the loaf is formed in this recipe https://melissaknorris.com/best-beginner-sourdough-sandwich-bread-no-yeast/ (it’s in the video and pictures), but I roll it out with a rolling pin to force out extra air bubbles, then roll it up and tuck it with tension on the top to help it keep the correct form as its rising.
Oh my goodness, is this a super recipe! It has answered some of the bread baking questions I’ve had, such as how to deal with freshly ground flour versus store bought, and how to have un-crumbly 100% whole wheat sandwich bread without using gluten flour. Since I am a whole foods, plant-based eater, I substituted homemade soymilk, curdled with lemon and vinegar in place of the buttermilk, and home made Brazil nut butter for the melted butter. I put an iron skillet on the bottom rack while heating the oven, and just before putting the risen loaves in to bake, I added a cup of ice cubes to the skillet and quickly shut the oven door on the bread and steam. Perfect! Thanks again for sharing your “Trad Mom” recipes.
Thank you for this recipe! 4.5 months ago I completely stopped buying store bought bread and exclusively use this recipe. It’s Fantastic. It has Never failed me! I can’t thank you enough!!
Can anyone tell me if sandwich bread does not crumble after refrigeration? My dh takes sandwiches to work and puts them in the refrigerator; when he bits into them at lunch time the bread just crumbles. I am just trying to find a tried and true homemade bread that works for that type of situation.