Easy Whole Wheat Bread

Are you looking for a delicious whole wheat bread recipe that is also easy?  I don’t know where you are in your bread making endeavors, but it took me a good two years to finally have success.  I still would not call myself a master bread baker, but I have learned a few things!

After many trial and error sessions with several delicious whole wheat bread recipes that just weren’t rising, I went back to the drawing board.  I stumbled upon Sue Gregg’s site (www.suegregg.com) and experimented with her recipe (found in her Soups & Muffins Cookbook).  It was an instant hit in our home!  This has become my standard whole wheat bread recipe (when I don’t use a soaked bread recipe-stay tuned for an upcoming post about soaked grains!).

Note:  I make this recipe in a Bosch Universal Mixer which has a kneading hook.  If you don’t have a good mixer, I would highly recommend looking into purchasing the Bosch!

Ingredients for 2 loaves of easy whole wheat bread:

6 c freshly milled flour (I use even amounts of hard red wheat, hard white wheat, and soft white wheat)

2 ¼ c warm water (110-115)

1/3 c raw honey

1/3 c oil (I prefer Virgin Coconut oil but olive oil or safflower oil is fine, too)

2 tsp sea salt

1 T yeast

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170.
2. In mixer, add water, honey, oil, and salt and mix until combined.
3. Add 3C of wheat and mix until just blended.
4. Add yeast and mix in until just blended.
5. Add remaining flour and mix until just blended.
6. Turn off mixer and set a timer for 10 minutes and let dough rest.
7. Knead for 6 minutes.
8. Turn out into loaves and put into greased pans.
9. Allow bread to rise in the oven for 45 minutes.
10. Without removing bread from the oven, turn the temperature up to 350 and set the timer for 20-25 minutes.  Bread will be done when the bottom of the loaf is golden brown.
11. Loosen the edges of the bread with a butter knife and remove from the pans.  Place on cooling racks on their sides.  Using a pastry brush, lightly butter the tops (this makes for a soft crust!).

That’s it!  This easy whole wheat bread recipe will probably be lighter than most other recipes you’ve tried due to mixing the three different types of wheat.  With only one rise, it makes the whole process pretty simple and less time consuming.

This recipe is also very versatile.  I also use it for pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, and dinner rolls.

Enjoy!

If you try out this easy whole wheat bread recipe, let me know how it goes!