Easy Whole Wheat Bread Recipe (100% whole wheat)

Last updated on February 11th, 2021 at 06:34 am

Easy Whole Wheat Bread Recipe – The BEST 100% whole wheat bread you’ll ever make that is so soft and delicious. Made with milk this bread loaf will give white sandwich bread a run for its money!

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This bread has been a family favorite for a while now. Although looking back I have been trying to make a perfect 100% whole wheat bread bread loaf for so many years. Not continuously or religiously though; I used to try once and give up. I would then try again after a long time and when I don’t get the results I had in mind I would put the thought of making whole wheat bread in the back on my mind.

It is very unlike me to do that; I usually try a recipe back to back until I get it right. Probably had my expectations too high for this 100% whole wheat bread and mostly because I was aiming to get the loaf similar to store-bought loaves. You know light and too airy.

Fortunately one day I realized that was silly of me. Bakeries here obviously add bread improvers, preservatives, and probably very little whole wheat in their whole wheat loaves. So I kept aside all those loaves away from my mind and made a loaf combining two of my recipes which I use for making white sandwich loaves of bread.

With a little experimentation with gluten development, I’ve got a perfect easy whole wheat bread recipe for you all! I have been overwhelmed with poll responses I got from you guys on my Instagram stories, I thought I’ll post this recipe without procrastinating.

Before you bake this bread…

I need you to completely forget about those so-called “wheat” bread you get from stores, especially the supermarkets. Because let’s face it we cant generalize bakeries as there are actually so many good bakeries that bake the perfect whole wheat bread.

I’m asking to forget about those because those light and airy “whole” wheat loaves of bread probably only have about 25% whole grain wheat flour in them. And there is a whole range of add-ins like Bread Improvers and Bread Stabilizers and preservatives. This is why you can’t compare the loaves you make at home sans any such improvers with those from the stores.

Also, you need to remember the nature of whole-grain and why all-purpose flour came into usage. Whole grain flour is naturally dense and flavorful. Which is why almost all wholegrain flour needs more hydration. Because of these, your resultant loaves are gonna be dense and heavier than the bread flour/ all-purpose flour made loaves.

Nonetheless, this easy whole wheat bread recipe will give you super soft, airy but not light slices and delicious. Each slice would definitely weigh much more than a regular slice because of whole wheat. Now that you’ve tricked your mind to not compare, let’s see how to make it!

Easy Whole Wheat Bread Recipe:

I’ve never been overly conscious about eating white refined flour/ all-purpose flour. One of my relatives who is a food blogger as well avoids all-purpose flour at all costs. She bakes and cooks completely with whole wheat flour.

I haven’t been that strict in avoiding it altogether. But ever since my daughter was born I admit I’ve found ways to avoid it too but not completely; just now and then. Which was when I started to think of making whole wheat bread.

I’ve been baking half and half loaf, you know with half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. Until I made this super easy whole wheat bread recipe which is THE bomb. I’ll probably always pick whole wheat when given a choice. Hey when you can make a 100% whole wheat bread that tastes and looks good, why go with mixing it up with refined flour right?

So, what goes into this bread?

Simple ingredients go into this bread-like Whole Wheat Flour (obviously lol), instant yeast, milk, water, sugar and salt go in. You’ll have these any day in your pantry. One other ingredient that isn’t that common is the Vital Wheat Gluten powder.

Vital wheat gluten is isolated gluten and is all gluten without any starch. In baking, it is added to flours that otherwise have less gluten like wheat flour for example. Rye flour and millet flour are other examples. If you’re unfamiliar with wheat gluten, read more about it here.

Why this recipe works:

Like I said before, after several trials it struck me to try this bread with an added roux. It is a water roux made with water and some whole wheat flour. Adapted from the Tangzhong technique which is used in Japanese Milk Bread. This is why this loaf turns out so soft.

This roux locks in all the moisture and gives us a wonderfully soft loaf. I’ve tried making this easy whole wheat bread recipe without this roux and it was definitely not this soft. The added gluten would give you a bit of structure and provides some elasticity but roux adds softness making it the BEST soft sandwich 100% wheat loaf!

Serving Suggestions:

You can use this 100% whole wheat bread just like you would use any other sandwich loaves of bread. Make a sandwich with it or simply toast it with butter for a classic wholesome Peanut Butter Sandwich.

I have also tried making it bread pudding with this bread and it turned out super delicious. If you have leftovers from this bread loaf, you can make breadcrumbs with it. Like I said use it however you want, this bread is good for it.

Storage instructions:

This bread stays well at room temperature for about a day. Any more than that and you have to keep it in the refrigerator. You have to ensure that the bread is sealed in an airtight Ziploc or a container. When kept in the refrigerator this bread stays well for 2-3 days. Since we don’t use any kind of preservative, the shelf life isn’t long which is great right?

This 100% whole wheat bread can also be frozen. Wrap it in a cling film and then place it in an airtight contianer before you pop it in the freezer. It will stay good for up to a month. To use it, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then keep it in room temperature until it cools down.

Special Diets and Allergen Information:

This has wheat obviously and gluten. This easy whole wheat bread recipe also contains milk and yeast. But since this is made with whole wheat flour, it is perfect for low GI diets. And there aren’t any eggs so this is a vegetarian bread. However not vegan because it contains milk.

Variations and Substitutions:

If you aren’t keen on 100% wheat, or if you don’t have vital wheat gluten, you can swap half of the wheat flour with all-purpose flour.

If you want a vegan version of this easy whole wheat bread recipe, skip the milk and use equal quantities of water instead. Alternatively, you can go with vegan milk like unsweetened oat milk, soy milk, or almond milk.

How to make this bread:

This is an easy recipe that requires easily available ingredients. It takes a bit of time for the rising part but you won’t be in the kitchen working at it for more than 30 minutes for this anyway!

To make this you need the following ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Flour – 3/4 cup or 90 g
• Water – 3/ cup or 160 ml
• Whole Wheat Flour – 5 3/4 cups or 704 g
• Salt  – 2 tsp or 16 g
• Sugar or Honey – 6 tbsp or 100 g
• Vital Wheat Gluten – 6 tbsp or 50 g
•  Instant Yeast – 2 tsp or 14 g
• Milk  – 1 1/4 cups or 280 g
• Water – 1 1/4 cup or 280 g
• Vegetable Oil – 1/4 cup or 56 g – (I like to use Olive Oil)

Method:

Prep work:

• Roux: In a saucepan, mix together 3/4 cup whole wheat flour with 3/4 cup water. Place it on heat and cook it for a few minutes, just until the mixture thickens and forms a dough and changes color a bit. Make sure to stir it continuously to avoid burning at the bottom.

• Wet Ingredients: Mix the wet ingredients: the water, the milk and the oil together and heat it up to the lukewarm stage.

Making the Bread Dough:

• In a clean bowl mixing bowl, add the rest of the whole wheat flour, the salt, and the sugar. Give it a mix. Then, add the vital wheat gluten and the instant yeast. Mix it thoroughly.
• Pour in the wet ingredients and stir once. Add the prepared roux to it. Mix everything using a spatula or your hands to bring it all together. Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes to let the flour absorb all the moisture.
• After 5 minutes, transfer the dough to a counter. Gently knead the dough by stretching and folding for 10-15 minutes* by hand or in a stand mixer for 8-10 minutes. Dust with whole wheat flour as and when required but not too much; just enough to prevent it from sticking to the counter.
• The dough should be tacky* and supple.
• Brush some oil inside the mixing bowl. Transfer the kneaded dough to the mixing bowl, cover with its lid or a cling film.
• Let it rise for about 1 hour or until it doubles in volume.
• After it has doubled in the bowl, gently punch it down and form it to a uniform dough. Then, divide it into two equal portions*.
• Shape* each portion into sandwich loaves and place it buttered loaf pans. Brush some milk on top and sprinkle some multigrain* over it.
• Cover loosely with a cling film and let it rise for 40-50 minutes or until it rises to an inch and half above the rim.
• About 30 minutes into the rising time, preheat the oven at 440 F / 230 C for 20 minutes.
• Place the loaf pans in the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes. Turn to broil mode for the last 5 minutes to get that golden crust on top.* The bread should sound hollow when tapped.
• Remove the pans from the oven, cover with a cotton cloth, and let it completely cool down. Once cooled, run a flexible knife through the sides and gently remove the loaves from the pan.
• Slice as per your choice using a serrated knife!

Notes:

• This easy whole wheat bread recipe gives you 2 medium loaves. To make one loaf adjust the servings in the recipe card to get the ingredients.
• Vital wheat gluten provides a bit of elasticity to the whole wheat flour and helps with the rise. You can choose to skip it if you like. Or you can skip the vital wheat gluten and use half and half all-purpose flour instead.
• Roux: This makes the bread super soft. I highly recommend it. Skipping it is ok too, you might not have a very soft bread but if you don’t want/like a loaf of soft bread, you can go ahead and skip the roux.
• Storing it: You can store it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and at room temperature for about a day. Keep it in an airtight container or Ziploc at all times.
• Kneading: I do it with my hands on my counter. It is important to knead for at least 10 minutes but you can go up to 15 minutes. At the end of the kneading time when you pinch a small portion from the dough, it should break but with some resistance. This would indicate that the gluten has developed.
• Kneading in a stand mixer: You can use a stand mixer to knead it. Put on the dough hooks and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes in lo1-medium speed.
• Tacky Dough: A tacky dough is when dough sticks to your hands or a surface but easily pulls away leaving few to no dough on the surface. Whereas a sticky dough would leave a lot of dough behind.
• Dividing it: I use a kitchen weighing scale to divide it into equal portions. You can eyeball it if you want.
• Shaping: After I divide it, I just roughly shape it into logs and put it into loaf pans. You can also do a sandwich shape by folding and rolling it.
• Broil mode: To get the crust golden brown on top, set the oven to broil mode. But keep an eye throughout so that it doesn’t burn.

Made this? Got doubts? Let me know what you think in the comments below!