Hopefully it isn’t too late to squeeze into Joy of Desserts‘ Bread Recipe Roundup.  My access to the internet has been quite limited lately, so I didn’t have a chance to post yesterday.  Maybe this one for homemade whole wheat bread can nudge its way in.

The following recipe, a honey wheat bread, is our everyday bread. You can make it with white flour if you like, but I wouldn’t recommend it – white bread isn’t good for you.  It is a white wheat bread, though, the way we make it.  (You can use red wheat, but we prefer white, because it has a much milder flavor.)

Family Favorite Honey Wheat Bread

Our Favorite Bread

Rachel Ramey

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Prep Time 3 hours hrs

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Bread

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups warm water
• 2-3 cups freshly-ground whole hard wheat flour (white wheat recommended)
• 1/4 cup oil We use extra-virgin olive oil.
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 scant tablespoon instant yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon salt We use RealSalt.
• 2-3 more cups freshly-ground whole (hard) wheat flour (white wheat recommended)

Instructions

 

• Combine the water, first several cups of flour, oil, honey, yeast, and salt. (If I am making it by hand, I use a whisk up to this point, then switch to a wooden spoon. Nowadays, I usually use a heavy-duty stand mixer, though.)
• Add as much of the flour as necessary to make the dough the right consistency. (By hand, this means it isn't too sticky anymore - it will pull away from the sides of the bowl. In the DLX, it is just a tad sticky.)
• Knead until the dough springs back when pressed. (If you're doing it by hand, do this on a well-floured countertop.)
• Cover (if in a mixer) or place in a greased bowl and cover (if by hand), and let it rise until doubled in size. This usually takes about 45 minutes for me, but it will vary based on the temperature, humidity, etc.
• Uncover, punch it down, and shape it into loaves.
• Place in greased loaf pans, cover, and let it rise again.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.
• When the loaves curve just over the tops of the pan, uncover them and put them in the oven.
• Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and turn out onto racks to cool. (If you cover them with a towel while they cool, they will stay softer.)
• Makes 2 loaves.
• If you prefer to make rolls, then form the dough into rolls and put them into 2 round cake pans. Let rise until doubled and bake for 20 minutes.

Homemade Whole Wheat Breadmaking Notes

I like this recipe because it’s very simple.  It has the necessary ingredients and nothing more.  You can add 1 tablespoon of dough enhancer or conditioner (or vitamin C), lecithin, and/or wheat gluten, and/or 2 tablespoons milk powder.  Any or all of these will add to the bread’s softness (softer “crumb”) and elasticity.  I prefer to keep it simple, but it’s up to you.

The wheat must be hard wheat.  Hard wheat has a higher protein content than soft wheat, which is necessary for success with yeast-based recipes.  But red and white are interchangeable.

Red can be delicious if you’re serving the bread on its own; it has a rich, wheat-y flavor.  This same strong flavor, though, makes it less appealing (at least to us) for sandwiches and things like that, so our standard choice is white wheat.

If you eat a lot, I recommend you do as we do, and double it.  Baking bread, ‘though not difficult, is a bit time-consuming (not hands-on time, but start-to-finish time), but it doesn’t take much more effort to make four loaves than two, so doubling it is a more efficient use of time.  My mom has pictures of the whole bread making process here.

Originally published 16 Oct 2008. Updated 14 Jan 2021.