Honey Wheat Bread Recipe is a super simple way to use everyday ingredients to create delicious, hearty whole wheat bread. This Wheat Bread Recipe is perfect for beginner bread makers.
Homemade Honey Wheat Bread
Nothing beats the smell of fresh bread straight from the oven, right? This Honey Wheat Bread is a staple at my house! It reminds me of my favorite little shop my mom and I used to go to while growing up- Great Harvest Bread Co. We’d go in to get a few loaves of bread and they would always have warm bread slices to snack on. Their wheat bread was the only wheat bread I liked!
I love how hearty this bread is, it can handle honey, jam or even soaking up the last bits of gravy. This bread is versatile and delicious!
Wheat Bread FAQ’s
What Ingredients are in Whole Wheat Bread?
No special ingredients needed in this recipe! You’ll need: dry active yeast, warm water, honey, melted butter, salt and whole wheat flour.
How do you proof yeast for homemade bread?
One of the trickiest parts of baking bread to someone who hasn’t ever done so before is working with the yeast. It can be hard to know whether it is alive and kicking or not in some recipes. For this reason I always proof my yeast before mixing it in with my flour and other ingredients.
To do this, you will add your yeast (in this case, 1 pkg or 2 1/4 tsp) in a small amount of warm water (approx 90° if you have an instant read thermometer) with some sugar (or honey!). They yeast will feed on the sugar and will activate. The yeast will become foamy, at this point, you will know your yeast is alive and well!
Tips for the perfect loaf of Honey Wheat Bread
When kneading the dough, the dough will be slightly sticky. The dough will stick to the bottom of your mixing bowl, but you should be able to pull a small part of the dough off and roll it into a ball without it sticking to your fingers much.
After rising the dough until double (approx 1 hour) punch the dough down and shape into a loaf by rolling into a log and then folding the ends under. Now, slap the loaf while rotating the dough to remove any air bubbles in the dough.
Lightly coat the bread pan in vegetable shortening, this guarantees an easy release every time!
Allow the bread to rise for an additional 30 minutes, while the oven is preheating.
To make the crust absolutely finger-licking good, brush butter onto the crust during the last 5 minutes of baking. Try to let the bread cool for 15 or so minutes before slicing, but I don’t blame you if you can’t wait. 😉
How to keep Homemade Bread Fresh
Once the bread has cooled completely, I like to store mine in a bread bag. They’re great for keeping bread fresh and for freezing.
You can also slice the bread and then freeze in individual zip top bags. Then you can remove the bread as needed, you can even toast it straight from the freezer for breakfast!
More Homemade Bread Recipes you will LOVE!
- Homemade Buttermilk Bread
- Easy Homemade Bread Recipe
- Homemade Hawaiian Bread
- Honey Oat Bread recipe
- Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Fabulous French Bread
- Homemade Hawaiian Bread
- Potato Bread Recipe
- Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
AVOID SUNKEN BREAD
The easiest and best way to avoid sunken bread is to use a cooking thermometer to check the inside of the loaf. Fully cooked bread will register 200°F on a thermometer. My all-time favorite thermometer is the Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly durable. Another great cooking thermometer is the ThermoPop which is a more basic version that works just as well!
Honey Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 1 pkg dry active yeast
- 1 1/4 cup very warm water divided
- 1/4 cup + 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp butter melted
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Combine the yeast, 1/4 C of warm water, and 1/2 tsp of the honey to a small bowl. Let the yeast proof. This means to wait until it is bubbly, to show you that the yeast is alive and kicking!
- While the yeast is proofing, add the remaining bread ingredients (remaining water, remaining honey, butter, salt and flour) to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Once the yeast has proofed, pour it into the stand mixer and begin mixing slowly with the dough attachment. Once all of the flour is combined, knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky, but you should be able to pull off some dough and roll it into a little ball. If it is too sticky for that, add a little extra flour.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until double in size.
- Shape dough into a loaf by rolling the dough and tucking in the ends and place in a shortening coated bread pan. Cover with plastic wrap and rise for an additonal 30 minutes.
- Turn on the oven to 375°.
- Bake at 375° for 25 - 30 mintues. Brush the top with butter during the last 5 minutes of baking if deesired.
- Cool for 15 mintues before slicing.
Nutrition
Instant or Active Dry Yeast for Making Bread
If you use instant yeast, you can add it directly to your other dry ingredients when making bread. If you use active dry yeast, you’ll need to first dissolve it in warm water before using it in a recipe. I buy my yeast in bulk from Costco and it’s active dry yeast.
Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe is an easy description on how to make bread. This delicious, hearty whole Wheat Bread recipe is perfect for any time of the day and any type of meal.
Gaije says
I love this bread! I make it all the time, and even my super picky husband makes it. It’s so much better than the hone wholewheat from a local bakery that used to be our favorite!
Sharon S. says
Easy to follow recipe and my apartment smells great! 😀 Bread is delicious! I used wildflower honey produced here in Colorado and am very happy with the results. I’ll definitely make this again.
Alison says
Thanks so much Sharon! I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
Melinn says
I love this bread! I did get a bread machine for my birthday and would love to know if I can just add the ingredients to the machine in the order the manufacturer suggests? Any adjustments to measurements and any suggestions on length of time to set on the bake cycle? Thank you so much!
Jessica says
Yes- this will yield a 1-lb loaf!
Sonya says
Hi Sharon. I just started baking breads during quarantine. While their bread tastes great, I feel it is a little flatter than ideal. Do you know why my bread might not have risen tall enough? I thought I followed all the instructions properly. Thank you!
Jessica says
Hi Sonya,
There are several reasons why your bread could have not risen.
1) Yeast is too old
2) Yeast was killed by using water that was too hot (I aim for 95-105 degrees F)
3) It initially rose for too long, then collapsed in the oven. Bread should first rise for 30 mins- an hour, then 2nd rise for about 15-30 minutes- longer isn’t necessarily better.
4) Ratio/ measurements of yeast to flour was off. Too much flour turns bread dense and crumbly. Make sure you dough is tacky- stop adding flour right when you achieve this consistency.
5) You house was too cool. Bread dough will rise in cool temps but it will take a LONG time. I like to do the 2nd rise in my oven. I simply turn it on 350° F for 1 minute, then turn it off. Place bread pan inside and let it rise. When it’s time to bake it, just preheat the oven with the pan inside and decrease bake time by 3-5 minutes.
Cecilia says
I love this bread! I made it for the first time today. I used my KitchenAid Stand mixer to mix and knead the dough. I used about 3 1/4 cups total of whole wheat flour. I followed the recipe as provided and it came out perfect! Delicious warm with a little butter and also toasted with butter. I recommend this recipe. Easy to follow recipe and came out perfect!
Alison says
Thank you so much Cecilia, I hope you continue to enjoy this recipe!
Jeromy says
Can this be doubled to make 2 loaves?
John says
Fantastic and fantastically simple recipe. I had to let the yeast proof for quite some time, and the first proofing of the dough stretched out to almost two hours, but I chalk that up to the fold dry January air in my apartment. Perfect flavor, perfect texture and I love that it’s all whole grains. This is my new weekly bread recipe.
Alison says
I love this is your new go-to John! Thanks so much for sharing!
Emily says
My husband adores this bread. I don’t even bother buying bread any more because he always asks for this bread. This recipe has the perfect hint of honey and you can’t beat the smell of home baked bread filling the house.
Sue says
Mine rised first time then it didn’t really rise when put into loaf pan for 30 min actually let it rise like 45 min in loaf before putting in oven, it rose a little but not much so bread baked but came out small and no rise 🙁
Jessica says
Sounds like something didn’t go quite right! Here are some ideas:
There are several reasons why your bread could have not risen.
1) Yeast is too old
2) Yeast was killed by using water that was too hot (I aim for 95-105 degrees F)
3) It initially rose for too long, then collapsed in the oven. Bread should first rise for 30 mins- an hour, then 2nd rise for about 15-30 minutes- longer isn’t necessarily better.
4) Ratio/ measurements of yeast to flour was off. Too much flour turns bread dense and crumbly. Make sure you dough is tacky- stop adding flour right when you achieve this consistency.
5) You house was too cool. Bread dough will rise in cool temps but it will take a LONG time. I like to do the 2nd rise in my oven. I simply turn it on 350° F for 1 minute, then turn it off. Place bread pan inside and let it rise. When it’s time to bake it, just preheat the oven with the pan inside and decrease bake time by 3-5 minutes.
Emily Hickman says
I wish you said how much yeast you use- I also use yeast from Costco which doesn’t come in little packets but must be measured
Chris O says
I started baking bread during the pandemic and had vg results with white bread: my next exetcise was to make brown bread but i heatd whole wheat flour and baking wad trickier to achieve hood results. NOT SO with this recipe. I have made it several times now and it is reliable and tadty and outstanding everytime. Definitely no more blandish white breads gor me. This is my once a week go to brown bread recipe from here on in. I HIGHLY recommend it. Thanks for an easy teliable great recipe😊
Jessica says
So glad to hear, Chris!!
Candace says
This bread is so wonderful! It has turned me into a wheat bread fan! 😋❤
Caitlin says
I’m a novice bread maker (as in this was the first bread I’ve ever baked myself) and I was able to nail this recipe with my stand mixer and dough hook attachment. I used quick rise yeast and slightly adjusted the amount per a quick google search, and omitted the 1/4 c of water used to proof regular yeast. This bread is so delicious that it’s going to be hard to ever buy the stuff at the store again! I plan to make this as often as I can to keep us stocked! I’m wondering if I can make rolls/buns with this recipe? Also if the honey can be easily omitted for a regular whole wheat bread (maybe additional water or butter would need to be added?) Thanks for this wonderful recipe!!
Jessica says
So glad to hear Caitlin! If you want to omit the honey, I’d add 2 TBSP sugar in place. Yeast likes a bit of sugar!