Simple Whole Wheat Bread
This easy one-rise bread is ready in 90 minutes! It’s soft and perfect for French toast and sandwiches. I also use it to make rolls. 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 (260 gms) whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup (65 gms) bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (1 packet / 7 grams) 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 have a love/hate relation with baking bread. So many failures that I gave up for years. Today I thought I would try your recipe since I, like many others, I am sequestered at home. This bread was really easy to make and turned out beautifully! I split the top and drizzled it with a little butter, resulting in a moist, flavorful bread. Thank you, thank you!
Just made my first loaf. Excellent results!! Rise time was almost an hour for me. But tasty bread in 2 hrs is really great. Will be making this one again & again.
Very happy with this recipe! I am trying to minimize grocery trips and use what we have. Had this wheat flour in the cabinet. Found your recipe. This bread will be perfect for sandwiches. Between this and another crusty no-knead bread recipe, I don’t see a reason to ever buy bread again. I won’t need to go to the store for a month! I didn’t have a mixer and just folded 150 times. Turned out great. Thank you for sharing!!!!
By the way, the texture, rise, flavor, moisture, color, consistency….all great! Far exceeded my expectations!
Made the Wheat Bread, used Honey. We are at 8500 ft. Altitude in Colorado and it turned out perfect. Just followed the recipe!
Had a hard time finding yeast but my lovely young neighbour found it for me. Made my first loaf 2 days ago and it was so easy and delish, so tonight I made 2, one for my daughter as she tasted the first and loved it and another for me. The first time that you let it sit under a towel to swell, I let it sit on the counter I made it on. The second 35 minute rise in the loaf pan, as my kitchen was rather cool, I did a trick I saw in a magazine, I put it in top on a low heat setting heat pad which worked brilliantly. Each loaf turned out great and I haven’t made bread since high School and I’m 67, this recipe is so easy. I’m going to try Jenny’s rolls tomorrow. My problem now will be finding flour as everyone is making bread.
Gloria, right you are about everyone baking these days and ingredients are so hard to find. Tried every place from Kroger to Publix, from Walmart to Target, from Whole Foods to Fresh Market, no yeast to be found. Found flour at Costco, but finally found yeast somewhere I had never shopped before, Aldi’s. It’s not Fleishmann’s and its made in Turkey! But here goes. Hope mine turns out as well as yours!
I have also heard that Aldi has things other stores don’t have.
I had the same problem finding flour and yeast. I did find both at the local restaurant supply store – since restaurants are mostly closed they aren’t busy at all. I had to buy a larger than usual size (25# of flour and 16 oz of yeast) but that’s ok
I think it’s crazy that suddenly flour and yeast are a hot commodity. My husband, bless his heart, found German yeast for me and it works great! I guess yeast is yeast no matter where it’s from.
I’m looking at the Simple Whole Wheat Bread recipe. Can this recipe be doubled?
This recipe was fantastic. Easy. Turned out exactly like the video. I do not think I even did 50 turns! Thank you!!
I made this today and it turned out perfect! And it was easy and delicious. Thank you for this great recipe.
I made this today and it turned out perfect! And it was easy and delicious. Thank you for this great recipe.
I should have watched the video before proceeding. I am not a novice baker but the dough is hard. I didn’t add the extra 1/4cup of flour because it was already hard. I used Robin Hood whole wheat and all-purpose flour. I mixed it with a spatula until ingredients were mostly incorporated and then used the hooks on my mixer. I should have added more liquid. It’s now resting for 10 minutes but I think there is no going back. What went wrong?
Thank you so much for putting in weights as well as volume measures – “one cup flour” can vary so widely I’ve had real problems with other recipes. I’ll be trying this shortly – it looks great!
Hi Jenny, I was looking for a whole wheat bread recipe and came across your video, I laughed so hard when you squished the egg in your cleavage, I shared it with family and friends, we all need a good laugh at this trying time. Thank you Jenny, will be making the bread tomorrow looks really delicious. Keep safe
Jenny, thank you so much for a delicious and very simple to make bread recipe! I made three loaves yesterday. They each came out perfect. It is a very easy to follow recipe and my family loved the bread. Especially hot out of the oven with butter. Yummy! You make baking a fun experience. You are the best. Sending you a rose🌹to say thank you.
Jenny, I’ve been baking bread with success for a number of years, but sometimes my bread will turn out too dense or have minimal rise. Now that I’ve used a number of your recipes I have 100% success. Thanks, I’m going to work through all of your recipes. And, love you videos and your cheeky comments from time to time. Keep up your great work.
Jenny made artisan bread for first time. How do you suggest keeping the crust crisp in storage? How to store? Thanks
Please see the “How To” in my blog.
Wow, that was a great looking and tasty bread, a keeper….love your recipes…
Can this bread be made in a bread maker
Love a easy Jenny recipe for Challah bread💜
Okay, I was hoping this recipe would be the one that worked for me. IT IS!!!! I have tried so many recipes, I was beginning to doubt my experience as a baker and cook. It was easy, it tastes good and even worked with my glass loaf pans.
My hubby has been having health issues and the breads we have bought in the past just were not helping him.
This recipe was not hard to follow, was easy to knead the 50 strokes and even rose the way it was supposed to…better yet, I didn’t have to put the egg in my cleavage.
Thank you
LOL !!!
I have a way of figuring the calories in bread loaves, its not perfect, but will give you an idea. Take all the ingredients and then divide by 12 slices. It comes to about l00 cal/slice ifyou cut it into 12 slices. This is a rough estimate.
Whole Wheat flour – 400 cal per cup ——-800
1/2 cup white 200
2 TBS honey or sugar 120
milk 2% 120
2 TBS oil 200
1 egg 70
Total about 1200 cals per loaf
12 slices = 100 calories per slice
Thanks for this. It is helpful. What do you think is the carb count?? I love Jenny’s recipes.
Hi
I used half cups of whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, and harvest grains, and all purpose. Wow it is fantastic!
Thanks Jenny!
Jenny the taste of your whole wheat bread is in a league of it’s own and is far superior to that of the Cuisinart recipe that came with my stand mixer and it included a 1/4 stick of butter. How you achieve such a buttery taste is to be commended. Thank you for all these delicious healthy recipes all at our fingertips! 🙂
Question: Can cinnamon be added to this whole wheat recipe when doing the final roll for baking pan.
I think you probably can. When making cinnamon rolls the cinnamon is mixed with sugar and butter is spread over the dough before sprinkling the cinnamon/sugar mixture and rolling up. I just checked Jenny’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls recipe and the dough ingredients are the same. She uses brown sugar with cinnamon and the rise time is 1 to 1-1/2 hours till doubles. Check it out to compare and see what you think. Happy baking!
You might like this recipe instead: https://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/cinnamon-swirl-raisin-bread/
I replaced the egg with aquafaba (3.34 tablespoons aquafaba per egg is what I use as a substitution.) It turned out great.
Also I made it in a food processor and that saved me some time in the mixing. (I do not have a stand mixer.)
Tip: If you do use a food processor instead of a stand mixer, do not warm the liquids before adding. The blade of the food processor creates more than enough heat and if you warm the liquid beforehand you might kill the yeast.
Awesome that you used aquafaba. Will try that next if the egg works out for me. I am often thinking of how to use aquafab. Not a big fan of those puff desserty things 🙂
Amazing! Almost too easy. Thank you.
Dough hook or regular blade for the mixer,which should I use?
In her video she used the batter blade with rubber edge through the 2 minutes and said she just doesn’t like using the dough hook/doesn’t work for her. After combining and beating the ingredients she prefers to knead the dough on a lightly floured surface saying it’s 150 turns.
She also encouraged using the dough hook if it works for you and it will reduce knead time. Worth a try.
Actually, the video says 50 turns, as does the recipe, not 150. I think that many will make your bread too tough. As well, the blade used is the batter blade without the rubber scraper/spatula. Don’t think that would make a difference, though, like it does when creaming butter and sugar for cookies.
I forgot! This is the 4th or 5th different bread recipe I’ve tried (tired of buying bread). Kid (finally) approves! YAY!!! Thank you, Jenny!
Hello! Used West Soy soy milk instead of regular milk, and 1 tbsp sugar instead of 2 tbsp. Turned out awesome!!! Thank you, Jenny!!!
I used water instead of milk and it turns out great. Thanks JJ!
Just made my first loaf using this recipe. This will be my go to weekly bread. Easy, tasty, made the house smell divine, and best of all can pronounce every ingredient 👍 Thanks Jenny
Great recipe! My bread came out delicious and was so easy to make. Definitely my go-to bread if I need a quick loaf. Thank you!
Would like to make this bread but can’t handle whole wheat will regular all purpose flour work instead and what tweaks or changes are necessary????
Please see my white bread versions.
Step 5 – turn out on board and knead 50 turns – If I’m using my kitchenaid, do I still do this? Or do I just continue kneading in the stand mixer? My bread machine broke down, and I’m trying to adapt my original recipe to the stand mixer – your recipe looks very interesting but I think the flour to liquid ratio will be off for me – I guess it’s different climates/elevations. Thanks.
I changed to the dough hook and kneaded the dough for about 10 minutes with the stand mixer. I found the flour and liquid ratio was fine. My loaf turned out to be great.
I just put a comment here. I did not have bread flour, so used all purpose. That is why I added the protein powder and dough enhancer. Thx
I made your wheat bread and it came out great. Let it raise in the microwave after heating 1 cup water for 2 minutes (dough was not in there when heating the water). Rose well and looks great. I did add a little protein powder and 1 tsp dough enhancer, and had to add a little more AP flour. Other than that, looks like a perfect loaf of bread. Quick and easy. Thank you soooo much.
Does anyone know if this recipe will work well in a bread machine? I have a cold, drafty home so it’s hard to proof things especially in winter. Thank you in advance!
P.S. Jenny, my husband and I are big fans. I’m excited to have found your recipes…..you are the best! He will thank you for my making him new, easy and healthier recipes! I cannot wait to try this and many more of your recipes!
I made last weekend. I have a cold and drafty house, too so what I did was to turn my oven into a proofing box. I followed the recipe and then when it I put the dough into the pan. I put it in the oven and then I put a large casserole with about an inch of very hot water on the rack underneath and I turned on the light in the oven. My bread rose fine to one inch above the pan in the 35 minutes in the recipe. Then I took the risen bread and casserole with water out and preheated the oven to the temperature on the recipe and baked it as instructed. I’m really happy with the results and plan to make it again.
Nice. I use the oven to proof too. I put the loaf/pan covered by a towel in. Turn the oven on at 175F for two minutes and turn it off. I do it the same way for the no knead bread as well. Happy cooking Everyone.
I no longer have a kitchen aid or any other stand mixer(gave it to my daughter who I thought needed it more with 2 boys). Do you think this would work with just a hand mixer as long as I finish by hand? Has anyone done it?
I made it completely by hand, no mixer at all,and it turned out fine.
I mixed it up with a big spoon and kneaded it well. Comes out great.
I’ve made this four times the past month and it has been delicious every time – my family loves it too. The only change I make it to use all wheat flour. When I double the recipe I use my big old Bosch mixer because it’s much easier to mix. This is a really great sandwich bread and it’s now my go-to recipe. Thanks Jenny!
Amazing recipe! I made it with freshly milled fine whole wheat flour and bread flour. I made it with honey. It is very sliceable for toast or sandwiches. I finally found a recipe that will replace store bought bread.
I got a kitchen aid for Christmas this year and it got me in the mood to make a quick loaf of bread! This recipe is simply! Thank you for your videos! Always happy and funny!
God bless you!
I used your Simple Whole Wheat Bread recipe to make bread for our Christmas dinner. Christmas isn’t until tomorrow, but the wife and I had to sample it and Wow!.
Thank you so much and I will not be making any more bread machine bread in the future.
Thank you again and Merry Christmas.
I made my first loaf! It was perfect, simply perfect! I finally found my new whole wheat bread recipe. Easy, fast. fool proof. Thank you, Jenny!
Can you substitute with a gluten free flour?
No you can’t. The gluten is what allows it to rise. There are gluten-free recipes out there, though. You would do better to use a recipe created expressly for gluten-free flour.
Just a tip for those of us that live in very cold climate. I had problem with proofing. I learned a tip how to fix that. Boil water on stove top. Turn on oven light. Do not turn oven on, just the light. Place boiled water in bottom of oven and leave dough to rise. The warmth from the light is enough. With the steam from the boiled water to do the trick. Have not tried technique as of yet. Just a tip I learned.
An even better tip to save energy/dollars is to microwave water in a 16-OZ microwave-safe cup 1 – 2 minutes, depending on wattage. Set bread in microwave after water boils and close door. Microwave acts a perfect proofing box.
this will sound stupid but do you leave the cup in the microwave with the bread?
I agree it’s not clear but it I believe you would leave the cup in the microwave to continue providing steam and heat.
I used the hot water in oven with light on last week and it worked perfectly. I have not tried using the microwave.
Funny half the pleasure is that “smell” when bread is almost baked, and the next half is wondering if Jenny is married?
Do you need to proof active dry yeast first? I would think so but you didn’t say so I didn’t and my dough has not risen after 35 min. I’ll wait longer but think next time I’ll either proof first (maybe in the milk) or get some instant yeast instead. Am sad as I was really looking forward to easy fresh bread.
Either yeast will work without proofing. Please look at these FAQs for a possible explanation. https://www.jennycancook.com/problems-with-yeast-baking/
Kudos. Finally someone that can cook. I do love to try for something new for the holidays and this video was SPOT ON. THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME. Everything flowed nicely. My highlight is that you didn’t spend a lot of time jabbering. Most blogs or recipes sites are horrendous to navigate, not to mention the darn ads. You are my present for the holidays. I can’t wait to see how my bread turns out.
Three beautiful loaves out of the oven. Sent pic to son so lost two immediately. I’m eating the crust before that disappears. I’ve baked a lifetime of bread but this is very special. I need to have your suggestion for storing. I really do not care for plastic so wrapped loosely in foil. Does it freeze well? Thank you. Dziękuję
This should be helpful: https://www.jennycancook.com/how-to-store-homemade-bread/
Storing info appreciated. Two more loaves on the rise this morning so hopefully with 5 loaves I get to have some. Surprises me how heavy dough appears yet perfect after baking. Winner for sure!
Me and my boyfriend have basically zero knowledge of baking, and we managed to make this on our first try. We’re at a high altitude but we didn’t adjust anything and somehow it worked! A great recipe and super easy to follow. Thanks Jenny! We’ll never buy bread again!
How do I double this recipe?
Multiply each ingredient by 2.
hello.. when we let the bread rise is a room of 67 degrees warm enough? my aunt suggested the oven at 200 but that cooked it 🙁 I want to do it again but not sure about how to let it rise.
https://www.jennycancook.com/where-to-rise-dough/
I made this bread twice so far. It’s so delicious, and very easy to make. Thanks Jenny
HI Audra,
I put mine in the microwave free from drafts, do you have one? put a light towel over it as she does in the video, do not turn the microwave on 🙂 set your timer and then pop it into the oven.
I just stumbled on this bread recipe. Boy of Boy looks so delicious, I am planning on trying it tomorrow Morning God willing. tutorial was great and also Jenny is so funny, she had me cracking up ” who’s your daddy”
Just think my Mom owned her bakery for years and I never knew how to make bread. I tried making some earlier this week. I wasn’t sure how to mix the instant yeast, the bread looked pretty, but was like a piece of brick. I had a small piece and put the rest in the trash. 🙂
Thanks so much
Hello Jenny, thank you for the recipe and video tutorial. I tried it yesterday. It was the first bread I ever made. It came out so wonderful.
You seem like a very nice lady, but I am a little offended from you using Our Heavenly Father name in vain. Of course not asking you to change who you are, just my observation.
Love your recipes, keep up the good work.
I’m offended that you would reference a non-existent being. It’s a cooking video. She’s a wonderful and interesting person. Leave Jenny alone.
I agree. No need to use His name in vain. Non-existent? You speak for yourself and your own experience.
Oh my God could be referring to the many millions of deitys out there. I don’t think Shen was offending tithe one you’re referring to you. Sheesh.
The bread came out absolutely awesome. Very talented lady. Look at all those cooking’s and baking utensils lol
Made this bread tonight and for some reason it did not come out of the pan easily a small piece even stuck in pan after I got the bread out. Anyone maybe knows why ?
Thanks
I always spray my pans with a little olive oil and have never had one stick.
Hi Jackie, I dont have a lot of bread making experience. I only made it once. However what I did is used parchment paper with a bit on the sides to pull it out. I worked great no sticking at all.
Letting it cool in the pan for quite some time will help the bread release itself from the pan.
Jenny, I made this bread this morning to give as a hostess gift for a friend. It was SO easy and turned out fantastic. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I make a ton of whole wheat bread, four to six loaves at a time. Decided to try this recipe. Oh my it is incredible!!!! I just finished scaling your recipe to four loaves and will try it-fingers crossed. But so far, there is no better single loaf recipe. Thank you for sharing!!!!
I just made this recipe this morning. First time ever aking bread. The flavor was great and taste so good. The only thing is that when I cut it in slices (after letting it rest about 30 minutes or more,) it kind of crumbles, kind of looks like gaps in the bread and that’s why it crumbles in those areas. Can anyone help me, please? This is the first time I do anything like this, so I have no clue on what to do 🙂 Thanks so much!
My guess is that it was too warm still. 30 minutes may be fine for some breads if they are small enough, but doing that on this size of loaf may be the thing.
The other thing I thought of was that perhaps you needed to knead the bread a bit more aggressively so the gluten structure was stronger. Just some ideas!
I use a round scallop serrated knife (the serrations are rounded instead of most serrated using sharp points) and it works well with warm bread, I’ve have even used it straight out of the oven, I love to test taste the warm heal slathered with butter.
Melissa, I would think that a 30-minute cooling would be enough. My first thought was that perhaps it was the way you “shaped” it before putting it in the pan. When you shape the dough, you should try to reduce air bubbles. Notice the way Jenny flattens the dough, rolls it, and then tucks the ends in. you might try rolling your a little tighter (but not too tight!).
Hi Melissa, I’ve been thinking about this and then my loaf today was a bit too crumbly, also. I was going to have my KitchenAid knead my bread for me, but I ran into some difficulty, so I finished by hand. I googled it and this is what I found, “Too much flour and not enough water can cause crumbly bread – people often do this if the dough is too sticky and they add more flour rather than kneading through it. Other culprits can be overproofing or not kneading enough – the things you need to do to get a good structure.” Hope this helps you.
i would like to triple this recipe, any suggestions?
would i need 3 pkgs of yeast? etc.
thanks !!
You’d probably need a really large pan to do this- I’d recommend making the bread just 3 times. but, if you triple the recipe, triple the yeast too. It’ll be a big bread
Love your videos and tips. How do you get the bread to rise in 30 min? I’ve followed this recipe three times now and it has never risen 1in above the pan even after letting rise for and hour. My yeast is new and my milk was warm so I’m very confused.
Could be altitude or house temp, when I made it it took about 40 min for mine to rise 1in above bread pan. Pan might also be tall
The 90 minute whole wheat bread recipe turned out delicious!! The best bread I ever made. Thanks!
Hello! How come this does not have to rise twice? Meaning, one bulk rise, shape, then rise again in bread pan.