Simple Whole Wheat Bread
PLEASE SEE MY METRIC CHART ABOUT THE FLOUR. Make sure the egg and oil are at room temperature and be sure to aerate your flour before measuring. No mixer? Just mix it in a bowl by hand but knead longer, about 150 turns. (This recipe also works with all white flour) - Jenny Jones
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Makes: One loaf
Ingredients:
- 2 cups (240-260 g) whole wheat flour (Aerate Flour Before Measuring - See How)
- 1/2 cup (60-65 g) bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (1 packet / 7g) instant yeast (or active dry yeast)
- 2 Tablespoons sugar (or honey but add honey after the milk)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (240 mL) milk (reduced fat or whole milk), heated to 120-130° F for instant yeast (or 110-120°F for active dry)
- 2 Tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil (or any vegetable oil)
- 1 egg
- about 1/4 cup additional bread flour
Instructions:
- Place flours, yeast, sugar & salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in milk, followed by oil and egg.
- Beat on high for 2 minutes.
- On low speed add about 1/4 cup bread flour until dough forms a mass.
- Place dough on floured surface and knead 50 turns.
- Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
- Shape dough into a loaf and place in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan.
- Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm spot until it’s one inch taller than the pan, about 35 minutes.
- Meantime, preheat oven to 375° F.
- Bake for 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, I cover the top of the loaf with a foil tent to prevent over-browning.
- Remove immediately from pan onto a cooling rack. Let it cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Problems with this recipe? Click here.
Want to Eliminate the Egg? Try my easy honey wheat bread.
Prefer Rolls? Click here for the recipe.
Want Sandwich Buns? Click here.
I’m guessing a temp of 190f is a “done” loaf? this recipe sounds amazing and sooo easy… and the video has boosted my confidence !! Thank you!!
Yes. I love this because, as the name of the recipe says it is “Simple Whole Wheat Bread.”
I have three loaves rising as I type. This is absolutely my go-to bread recipe. You could work with Bakers Percentages, take the ingrediants out to four decimal places, etc. and in the end, you would have a loaf of whole wheat bread. or you could just throw this together and have a great loaf of bread.
This recipe just rocks!
Happy Baking,
Russel
I let my bread rise in my clothes dryer- prewarmed and turned off – can pre-heat my oven this way
Tip:
I have doubled, and even tripled this recipe. When cool, I cut the loaves in half, double wrap, and then freeze all but one half of them. True, it’s not fresh, hot from the oven, but it is bread, good bread. Still better than store bought.
Why?
There are only two of us. I sometimes find that my schedule and my baking are not always in sync. If I don’t want to run out of bread before I can bake again, I need to have an option.
Also, the mess I make in the kitchen is the same for one loaf or three loaves. Just saying… (grin)
I have not bought store bread in about a year and plan to never buy it again.
Happy Baking and Happy New Year,
Russel
Bread turned out perfectly! It’s especially good toasted!!! I’m wondering if you can provide nutritional value per slice on a regular size, one batch loaf?
Thanks!
Becky:
There are a number of websites devoted to nutrition. Search on nutrition calculator, etc. and enter your ingrediants.
It makes no sense to list nutritional information here when *you* control all the ingrediants and even the size of the slice you asked about.
Regards,
Russel
Wow ! Thank-you for this recipe Have never made bread before yours !
My friend told me to turn on oven 170 ( low heat ) while prepping. Turn off oven and let bread covered with teatowel rise in warm oven This turns out perfect every time . Love all your recipes Video’s are so helpful
Thank-you Jenny
I followed the directions exactly, yeast was not old, checked temperature of milk/oil but it only raised about halfway up pan and stopped.
I have made bread for 30 years every week for my family but in the recent year I have not been successful in getting any of my bread to raise like it should.
Is the yeast different or the flour? I’m so tired of spending the money and time and not having decent bread.
I use a scant tablespoon of vital wheat gluten.
After using this recipe for some time, I started having the same problem with the loaf not rising properly. With a ruling out process, I discovered that the new bag of whole wheat flour I opened expired March 2020. I’m actually making a loaf with fresh flour as we speak and it is rising beautifully.
Try checking your flour and yeast for freshness.
I also preheat the oven to 150 F (lowest setting) while preparing the ingredients, turn the oven off, leave and the oven door open to cool down. By the time I’m ready to rise the loaf, the oven is just right. I put the loaf in and close the door for rising. Works great for me and rises in 30 minutes.
Hope this helps!
@Dixie:
We’ve all been there. My experience says whole wheat likes warmer temps for rising and sometimes takes longer to rise, as stated below. If you decide to use your oven for warming, make sure it does not exceed temps that will kill your yeast. When I use my oven for rising whole wheat, I keep temps under 110F to be on the safe side.
Pan size can also affect the rise. It could be that your dough is rising, but in a larger pan, the rise is not as noticable.
I’m making this recipe again today. My kitched is cold, so I will rise my dough in the oven.
I did this yesterday and had no problems. I gave my bread away, so today I will make this for myself. (grin)
Good luck,
Russel
I had been having the same issue and learned that my yeast was not good. I had purchased two jars of one of the name brand yeasts and suffered through one whole jar before I tried testing it. I think you add yeast and some sugar to warm water and it should bubble (look for instructions on Google) – mine did not, so it was dead. I bought new yeast and it works fine, so my problem was the yeast. Plus, as Bee said, vital wheat gluten helps whole wheat bread rise..
I also use vital wheat protein. And I use a simple old fashioned heating pad to set my pans on for the dough to rise since my house and granite countertop stay cool. Problem I run into is I mill my own flour so have to adjust flour/liquid ratio a bit. Doesn’t quite always rise like the pictures, but still tastes good.
Whole Wheat Flour is a bit of a horse of a different color, especially if you are used to using only White Flour. I knead my dough until I’m tired (about 10 minutes), take a short break and then knead it a second time. Knead it like it owes you money!!! LOL.
I have no trouble getting it to rise. I’ve even reduced the yeast amount by about 1/3 with great results.
I’ve been seriously baking less than a year. I can honestly say I’m still learning, but I can make great bread with a little help from Jenny!
Russel
I can’t believe how good this turned out. Not because of your recipe but my baking skills. You really make it look easy. Thank you.
Can this recipe be doubled successfully?
I am baking two loaves right now. I’ll come back to advise how they turn out and the changes I made.
I just tripled this recipe. The dough and the baker are resting as we speak/type. Last week, I doubled it. It was twice as good!!!
Russel
Just made this and it came out awesome
what is the best way to scale the ingredients up for a loaf pan that is 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75?
Wow! perfect recipe for whole wheat flour!! thanks so much, we all love it! I used king Arthur whole wheat (hard white) so it was a lovely golden color. delicious, and will use as my go to bread loaf recipe!
72 yo male turned baker since May-2021. Yea, I’m a late bloomer!!
I got interested in baking when I brought home some muffins from the grocery store. While I was eating one of them, I read what was actually in them, almost 30 ingredients, and wondered how many ingredients I would actually need if I made them. Turns out to be about 5. So what are all the others for and what effect do they have on my health? I know exactly what is in my baked goods.
Thank you Jenny for helping me to learn and make baking fun. Your recipes are simple and easy for me. They help build my confidence in the kitchen and even inspired my wife and I to become better cooks.
My wife enjoys your pizza and bread recipes very much. Friday night is pizza night, thanks to you. My wife does not have to cook and gets a yummy pizza to end her work week. Even my friends email me to remind me not to forget pizza night. I think they are jealous – and they should be! LOL.
If I can bake, anyone can do it. It’s fun and rewarding.
Regards,
Russel
Your story made my day. You are so right about reading the long list of (mostly unpronounceable) ingredients in packaged food. It should make everyone want to cook at home. Sunday is our pizza night!
What is nutritional information?
Joan:
Would that not be completely dependent on what *you* put in it? Your choice of flours, skim/whole milk, 1%, 2%, large or extra large egg, etc.
You control the final product and therefor you control the nutrition, and that is a good thing.
Regards,
Russel
UPDATE:
I didn’t save the URL, but there nutritional websites that will allow you to enter your ingrediants and the quantieies, then print out the nutrition info.
If I run across those sites again, I’ll give an update here.
Regards,
Russel
I have been searching for the perfect sandwich loaf for over a year. Well over a year… I FOUND IT!!! I am throwing out all the other recipes claiming to make perfect bread. I know the recipes don’t vary much, but the methods do. This is my go-to now! Thank you!
BTW I used almond milk, as that’s all I have. Still, perfection!
Jenny I made the sprouted wheat bread and it was delicious. My question, can I make it in my bread machine? I have a Zojiroshi bread machine and would I use basic or wheat setting.
Oddly enough, I was looking for a sourdough recipe, and your bread recipe popped up… I love it! I’ve made it twice… Great both times, but second time I forgot to warm the milk… I got a blob that would not knead. But, I still let it rest 10 mins, and placed it in pan & 30 mins in warm place. It turned out fine – just didnt rise as much. Tasted wonderful! Thank you!
Experience allows you to recognize a mistake when you make it again!
Being able to recover from baking mistakes is a sign of a good baker, in my humble opinion… and I should know as I make lots of mistakes, but I make lots of great bread too!
Regards,
Russel
I have tried this 3 times and it takes hours for mine to rise. What am I doing wrong? I make other bread and they rise so I know it’s not the yeast.
Did you warm the milk? I forgot to do this once, and it didnt rise very much.
My bread also took longer to rise, but tastes great! Not a problem for me.
To: Michael jean, et. al.
Temperature has a lot to do with how long it takes for dough to rise. In the summer, my kitchen is 78F. But today the temperature of my kitchen is 67.8F. So, I’m going to put my dough a cold oven, along with a covered pan of hot water as a heat source, to raise the temperature. Works a treat, as the British might say.
The down side is I can’t pre-heat the oven. Meh.
There is nothing magic in bread rising in a certain time, in fact, some bread books I’ve read say that a longer rise produces better flavor. That seems to be the theme with sourdough bread.
Like everything else in baking, YMMV, Your Mileage May Vary.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It is easy and delicious. I have made it twice as wheat bread and twice as all white bread. Come out great each time. I would like to know if I can double the recipe for two loaves at a time? Thank you and keep cooking.
I doubled the recipe the first time I made this. Even so, my stand mixer didn’t do well with it, as Jenny said. (Not enough flour or put the flour into the milk?) Next time I make this, I’ll skip the mixer completely.
Besides, getting hands on with dough is relaxing.
Not to brag but, OK I’ll brag this recipe is great the bread was delicious but I was the Reserve Champion at the Newton County, IN Fair.
It’s not bragging, if you can do it. Give the same recipe to 5 people & it may taste great for all 5 but it’ll be a little different for each. CONGRATULATIONS!
Do you have the nutritional values for this recipe?
This was by far the EASIEST bread recipe I’ve ever tried. The bread turned out perfectly soft and slightly sweet. I love watching your cooking videos. You’re not only a great cook but whitty too!
I baked it at 375 but did turn it down to 350 after it looked like it was done. I did take it out about three minutes early and it was perfect.
The recipe says to cook at 375 but every other Whole W bread recipe I have says 350. Cooking this at 375, the edges burn, even when tented.
Is there an error in the temp? If not, why would I cook this bread at 375?
Thanks
I preheated my oven to 375 F, then switched to convection (350 F) before baking. I did not need to tent my bread and all turned out well.
My understanding is that ALL ovens are a little different. Some are warmer/cooler than others. Mine seems to be a bit on the warm side. If you are concerned about it, get a cheap oven thermometer. < $10
Sounds good. I also want to tell you, because of your video awhile back, I can now make bread from scratch.
Than you so much. You are such a cutie.
Wayne
This is my to go to bread. usually make 2 loaves and they go fast. I do sometimes add sunflower seeds, flax and other seeds but it always looks nice and taste awesome. Love it.
Do you just double the ingredients in the recipe? I would also like to make multiple loaves?
do you add chia seeds nancy ? since you said you add flax seeds
I have started adding chia seeds to most all my baked goods, including this bread recipe. I usually put two tablespoons (less than one serving) of chia with four tablespoons of water in the frige the night before to hydrate them. Remember to back out two tablespoons of liquid at bake time or you dough may be on the wet side.
Funny: First time I added chia seeds to pizza dough I didn’t hydrate them first. The resulting dough was about the consistency of cardboard as the chia soaked up all the liquid. LOL!!!
You just forgot the final step: show how it looks inside.
Fabulous bread! I grind my own wheat which makes it even better.
I always double the recipe and use 2x the yeast.
Love this recipe, it is fool proof when I make single loaves but I would like to quadruple the batch, has anyone done that? I am thinking I will quadruple all the ingredients except the yeast, that I will only double. Does this sound like it will work? I have a fabulous Bosch mixer so mixing this much dough won’t be a problem.
Nice recipe, but mine had almost burned edges. I tented at 12 minutes in used an aluminum non-stick pan greased with butter, cooked exactly as shown. I did add about 1/2 cup of walnuts and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Yes, I aerated the flour.
What did I do wrong?
I’d check my oven temp first. 350°F with a conventional oven; 325°F with a convection oven. If that is correct, I pull my loaves when they reach 195°F.
……..195°F internal temperature
Thank you!!
Such a great and easy recipe! Made it with my three sons, 8 and under. Other then letting it rise a little longer then suggested it turned out sooo good! Making more asap 🙂
Has anyone figured out the nutrition info for the Simple Whole Wheat Bread?
I JUST PULLED 2 LOVES OF SIMPLE WHITE BREAD OUT OF THE OVEN A BIT AGO. THEY LOOKED SO NICE ,AND IT IS REALY GOOD. GLAD I TRYED IT ,EASY TO MAKE ,MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW JENNYS DIRECTIONS THANKS JENNY!!!
Really excellent bread. I used the bread machine on “dough,” pulled the raised dough out of the machine, kneaded for about 10 turns and let it rise for about 15 minutes. Perfect and so easy.
I might try substituting a flavorless (grape seed) oil for the olive next time. I added 1/4 cup of toasted walnut pieces. First, I tossed them in flour so they’d mix in well from the start of the recipe. This amount of mix-in did not change the crumb and did add texture and flavor. Has anyone tried using melted butter instead of oil?
So easy. So good.
I just wanted to stop in to let you know how much I’ve been enjoying making bread with your recipe. It has become my “master” recipe since I’ve started milling wheat berries into flour at home. The gram measurements are very helpful. The bread is wonderful. I add vital wheat gluten. I’ve had success adding in a handful of chopped, toasted walnuts, and I’ve had good luck substituteing kamut for part of the wheat flour. Very pleased to have found this recipe. Thank you for posting it!
Hi Ashley,
I have the 2 additional ingredients from your comment and very interested in incorporating them. How much of each did you use of the vital wheat gluten and the kamut that you subbed? Thanks in advance!
Substitute 7/8 cup of whole kamut flour for 1 cup of whole wheat flour, or .875 x the number of grams you want to substitute. I’ve gone up to 1/2 of the total flour substituted with kamut (160 g white wheat, 140 g kamut, don’t use any AP flour). Add 1 tbsp vital wheat gluten. I like to reduce the salt, and increase the sweetener. Keep an eye on it. Mine proofs/rises rapidly.
This is by far the best and easiest loaf of bread I’ve ever made. I’ve tried many recipes over the years with varying results. Hardly any kneading and a quick, beautiful rise. The texture is incredible. I brushed it with egg white and sprinkled with everything bagel seasoning before baking. I will make this again!
I’ve been baking bread for 46 years, looking for a good tasting whole wheat recipe pretty much that whole time. My search has ended – this recipe ticks all the boxes: *very* tasty, easy to make (both process and time-wise), and excellent crumb.
I do use my kitchenaid for the whole process (we’re best buds 😉), with just a few turns on the bread board. Brush with egg white mixed with a bit-o-water & generously sprinkle with everything but the bagel seasoning. My Breville mini-oven is convection so I cook it on 350*. Wish I had this recipe when the kids were still home (but lucky me, my wonderful DIL is now making this, as well as the great crusty rolls from this site).
When making your bread should I adjust the oven temperature if using dark pans? Every time I make it it my whole wheat seems hard and darker on bottom half
This is the second time I have made the whole wheat bread. The first time it turned out great. This time it barely rose. I did proof the yeast and it was good. I used an instant read thermometer to get the right temp. The ingredients were at room temperature. What did I do wrong?
I had similar problem. I decided to let it rise on a warm stove for another hour and it made it to 1″ above the top of the pan. However by the end of the bake it didn’t get quite the additional rise that Jenny’s did.
Wow, me too. The first time I made it, it was perfect. I’ve made it 3 additional times and each time I don’t get a good rise and the edges even get too brown, almost burned. I always make it exactly as written.
Can you use the bread machine on the dough cycle to make the dough?
Yes you can use a bread machine to make the dough. I did and it worked great.
Just took loaf from oven……..ease of preparation….perfection all around. I am a happy camper. Will refer to your website for all baking ideas moving forward
Fabulous recipe! Doubled. Experienced bread maker, so made adjustments as I was kneading for flour amount. Needed a wee bit more. I don’t often come back to the same website for recipes. But the ones I have tried from yours, prove to me that Jenny can indeed cook! Thank you!
Instead of wheat flour, can bread flour be used instead?
Jenny you can cook! I made this bread exactly as stated. This was my 50th plus loaf, and all previous recipes I tried turned out too dense and did not raise well. This recipe was the most fluffy, moist, high rising loaf I have ever made!!!! Needless to say it was quick too!
Really good bread. Like that the recipe is for a single loaf. Great taste, texture and does not break up when sliced. Easy to make.
This was the easiest and best bread i have made yet. tried several different recipes before and they were acceptable but this was by far the best. have given bread to friends and family because it is so easy and always turns out great. Never worried that they would not like it.
Was wondering if you have a recipe for Buckwheat Bread?
Should I use a double recipe to make bread in a wide pan bread?
Hi, this recipe sounds great, but I am a bit confused. The recipe here says to use an 8×5 pan, but the video on YouTube shows a 9×5 pan. So, which one should I use? Thanks.
Either size will work.
Hi Jenny,
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! The bread turned out soft and fluffy. But my bread had a weird smell. Not sure what was it from. Also, my bread stick at the bottom and didn’t come out easily from the pan. I had to run a butter knife and it resulted in a crumbly bread. I think with few trails I would perfect! this recipe. Before trying again I would like to fix these issues. Appreciate your time and patience if you could advise me here.
I made the recipe with white flour since I ran out of wheat. Came out beautiful and delicious. Did you spray your pan? Also give it a few minutes before you take it out of the pan.
We made this bread with our 13 year old son who likes everything from baseball to baking.
As a typical 13 year old boy, his favorite food group is breads and rolls!
We loved this easy to follow recipe and really enjoyed the bread!
Thank you!
Made this with my 8 year old. We doubled the recipe and used 50% white 50% whole wheat flour. It turned out perfectly!
This is a very good recipe for a beginner. I definitely recommend following the recipe as exactly as possible. My bread turned out slightly crumbly so I think I over floured it during the kneading process. Otherwise it was perfect. I am excited to begin making this every week to get better at breadmaking!
I made Jenny’s whole wheat bread today and it is the best whole wheat bread recipe that I have ever made. It is simply delicious. Thanks Jenny. Yes you can cook.
I am so thankful to have found this recipe! It is by far the easiest Wheat Bread recipe I have ever tried! I made a loaf for my in-laws and then at Christmas I made a loaf to go with the meal. My grown kids loved it so much I made them each a loaf last week and dropped the loaves off for them as a surprise! I am making a loaf now for my husband and I. Again, thank you for making the recipe so easy to follow. 😉
Cheese bread! Kneaded roughly one cup of shredded old cheddar cheese into one loaf for my teenage boys and it was a tremendous hit. Fabulous whole wheat bread as per the exact recipe with many ways to adjust if you so desire.
Thank you for the recipe,
Kim
If I want to make 2 loaves do you double everything, even the yeast?
You don’t need to double the yeast. I make two loaves all the time, and two heaping teaspoons of yeast is enough to rise the loaves. If you had more yeast, it might change the taste.
I made 2 loaves last week and made them separately and let them rise together. I had no idea I could make them together by doubling the ingredients! Thank you for the tip on the yeast ♡
Thanks, Jennie. …… for a simple to make, delicious loaf with clear directions &
helpful hints.
I have to say I was skeptical. I’ve been baking many years and the past few years, I have become more “scientific”. But what I have come to realize is that “scientific” isn’t necessarily better. I was tempted to knead the dough with my fancy mixer, adding flour as necessary. But I hate it when people change a recipe completely… and then comment on it not working! So I decided to just go with it. I followed directions, exactly as written. Awesome results! I can tell you that science complicates things!
Boy, isn’t that the truth! I’ve toiled over many an overnight bread recipe only to be disappointed with the finished product.
Wow, Jenny! This bread turned out beautifully! I’ve been searching for a nice wheat bread recipe that doesn’t include honey. This is it!
Very simple to make. Your directions are easy to follow. And I especially like that it makes one loaf. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Can you substitute buttermilk for the milk and if so would I need to add baking soda?
I made this bread yesterday for the first time. It will not be the last! It came out great. Thanks for a terrific recipe and technique.
Just wanted to leave a comment: I love making this bread too! If you like grilled cheese sandwiches try using two slices of this bread and slice up some Old Cheddar Cheese (“real” cheese, not American cheese!). You will be amazed! Slices of this bread also make really good French toast and takes it up a notch!
Thanks again to Jenny!
I’ve been making this bread every few days for my hubby’s lunch for months, & we LOVE it!! This is absolutely the best recipe I’ve found for sandwich bread, so glad I found you, TYSM!! 💟🍞🧈
I’ve made this bread twice now and it is delicious but…the second time it seemed a little dry after baking and when you cut a slice, it tends to fall apart, especially if you cut a thinner slice. I did aerate the flours before measuring. Any ideas?
Weigh ingredients forr consistent results. I also do an egg wash for a nice brown sheen. I love this recipe always makes delicious bread. Works great as a white bread recipe too.
That used to happen to me as well. I was doing the final rise in a very warm spot and I was always happy to see how much it would rise. Well over the inch recommended by Jenny. After reading other references, I realized it was over proofed and there was too much air, thus making in crumbly. Pay attention to Jenny’s directions to only rise to an inh above. Know you’ll still get oven spring and the loaves will be great. Also, pay attention to pan size… there is a rhythm to the reason. Bigger pans make flatter loaves.
I usually add 1 ounce of bulgur wheat to this recipe. It adds texture without making it dry. It is important to soak the bulgur in warm water for 60-90 min in advance.
How can I adjust the recipe to fit a 9X5 Bread pan. That’s all I have.
I just follow the recipe as is and put it in my larger pan. The result is a shorter and wider loaf but works out just fine. No problem!
The bread ? is outstanding I love it
I just made the bread and it turned out beautifully. I’ve always had the best results using Jenny’s recipes and I love her great sense of humour. ❤️?
I just made the bread snd it turned out beautifully. I’ve always had the best results using Jenny’s recipes and I love her great sense of humour. ❤️?
This is the best bread! If I wanted to add some seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame) is there a special way to do so? At what stage?
Thank you so much for your recipes and videos. Its’ given me confidence in making my own bread!