This bread machine honey wheat bread recipe creates a delicious bread flavored with natural honey. Your family will love this homemade bread. Homemade honey wheat breads are much better than store brands because you can use your favorite honeys to add unique flavor “hints”. For example, you can use orange blossom honey, sage honey, honeysuckle honey or buckwheat honey in order to add slightly different & unique flavors to your homemade wheat bread.
However, be aware that this bread is not a soft fluffy white bread. It is a denser whole wheat bread with more natural fiber, etc.
Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread
Since this honey wheat bread recipe is done in a bread machine, it is simple & easy to make. It should take you only 5-10 minutes to prepare and then you let the bread machine do the rest of the work. You will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.
Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread
Ingredients – Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread – 1.5 lb loaf
- 1 Cup – Milk (lukewarm) – 230 milliliters
- 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (sliced & softened) – 57 grams
- 1/4 Cup – Honey – 58 milliliters
- 1 1/2 Cups – Whole Wheat Flour – 173 grams
- 1 1/2 Cups – Bread Flour – 180 grams
- 1 Teaspoon – Salt – 6 grams
- 1 Teaspoon – Bread Machine Yeast – 3 grams – Not active dry yeast
Ingredients – Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread – 2 lb loaf
- 1 3/8 Cups – Milk (lukewarm) – 307 milliliters – 1 3/8 cups equals 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons
- 6 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (sliced & softened) – 86 grams
- 1/3 Cup – Honey – 77 milliliters
- 2 Cups – Whole Wheat Flour – 230 grams
- 2 Cups – Bread Flour – 240 grams
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Salt – 9 grams
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Bread Machine Yeast – 4.5 grams – Not active dry yeast
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack… and of course, a bread machine.
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Key Ingredients – Honey & Whole Wheat Flour
Instructions – Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread
- Bread Machine Settings – 1.5 lb or 2 lb, Light Color, Basic Bread (not the “whole wheat” setting)
- Unplug your bread machine. Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients to the bread pan, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
- Pour the milk, butter & honey into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together).
- Place the bread pan (with ingredients) back into the bread machine. Close bread machine cover.
- Plug in bread machine. Enter the correct settings (1.5 lb or 2 lb, light color, basic bread) and press the “start” button.
- After the bread machine has finished, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan. Use oven mitts when removing the bread machine bread pan because it will be very hot!
- Remove the bread from the bread loaf pan and place the bread on a cooling rack. Let the bread cool down on the cooling rack for at least 30-60 minutes.
- After removing the bread from the bread loaf pan, don’t forget to remove the mixing paddle if it is stuck in the bread. Use oven mitts as the mixing paddle will be very hot coming out of the bread machine. Or wait until the bread is completely cooled and then remove the mixing paddle.
- Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to solve common bread machine problems.
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Tips – Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread
- The tips are below are designed to help bread machine “novices”.
- Before using your bread machine, you should read your bread machine manufacturer’s instructions in order to use the bread machine effectively and safely.
- Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
- This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Bread Machine Recipes.
- This recipe uses 50% wheat flour and 50% bread flour. The wheat flour adds the natural fiber and the bread flour helps to create a modestly softer & airier bread.
- However, as stated at the top of the page, this recipe does not create a soft & fluffy white bread. This bread is denser than typical white breads because it contains 50% whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour has much less gluten than bread flour. Less gluten means whole wheat breads have a lower ability to trap the CO2 put out by bread yeast (thus less rise & “air” pockets in the bread).
- Use FRESH whole wheat flour or your bread will taste strange (or even bad). Whole wheat flour has been refined less than all-purpose flour or bread flour. This means whole wheat flour has more of its natural bran and germ. Wheat bran & germ are rich in natural oils. Unfortunately, the presence of these oils also means that whole wheat flour is faster to spoil than all-purpose flour or bread flour.
- Whole wheat flour can spoil quickly (turn “rancid”) when left in your pantry at room temperature. Whole wheat flour does not last nearly as long as all-purpose flour or bread flour at room temperature. Whole wheat flour generally only lasts for 2-3 months at room temperature in the pantry. In contrast, white flour can last for 6-12 months at room temperature.
- Optional – If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour. However, the bread will not be as good as one made with bread flour. All-purpose flour breads are less airy (more dense) than bread flour breads. This is because all purpose flour has less gluten than bread flour and gluten helps to provide the “structure” of breads. For more information, you might like this read this Bob’s Red Mill article on “What’s the Difference Between Bread Flour vs. All Purpose Flour?”.
- Do NOT use the “whole wheat” setting on your bread machine to make this bread. This recipe uses the “BASIC” bread setting. The whole wheat setting is designed for 100% whole wheat breads and not for breads that are a 50/50 mix of bread flour & whole wheat flour. If you use the “whole wheat” setting, you are more likely to get a “dried” out bread.
- Enter the correct loaf size (i.e. 1.5 or 2 lb) when entering the machine settings as the larger loaf requires a longer baking time.
- Do not confuse the 1.5 lb and 2 lb ingredient measurements. I have done that in the past (when in a rush) and have accidentally taken some measurements from the 1.5 lb list and some from the 2 lb list. A big mistake!
- If you are uncertain about the capacity of your bread machine, you should start with the 1.5 lb version first. Of course, be aware that there are some small machines that only make 1 lb loafs (and our recipes will not work in those smaller machines).
- Since measuring honey can be a sticky mess, some people prefer to use measuring spoons versus a measuring cup. Therefore, please be aware that a 1/4 cup of honey equals 4 tablespoons of honey.
- Do not add more honey than what is listed in our recipe. Extra honey means you will be adding extra liquid. Adding too much liquid to a bread machine recipe can result in the top of a bread loaf “collapsing”.
- Some people prefer to use honey (instead of sugar) when baking because honey is seen as a more natural sugar because it is less processed than most store brand sugars. Honey also provides unique flavors (i.e. orange blossom) versus regular white sugars, etc.
- Use your favorite honey when making this honey wheat bread machine recipe. Some of the most popular honey “flavors” include acacia honey, alfalfa honey, buckwheat honey, clover honey, leatherwood honey, manuka honey, orange blossom honey, sage honey, sourwood honey and tupelo honey.
- Moreover, according to Wikipedia, “Typical examples of North American monofloral honeys are clover, orange blossom, sage, tupelo, buckwheat, fireweed, mesquite, sourwood, cherry, and blueberry. Some typical European examples include thyme, thistle, heather, acacia, dandelion, sunflower, lavender, honeysuckle, and varieties from lime and chestnut trees. In North Africa (e.g. Egypt), examples include clover, cotton, and citrus (mainly orange blossoms). The unique flora of Australia yields a number of distinctive honeys, with some of the most popular being yellow box, blue gum, ironbark, bush mallee, Tasmanian leatherwood, and macadamia”.
- FYI – If you try to convert your favorite whole wheat bread recipe that uses sugar into a recipe using honey, you will also need to slightly reduce the liquid (i.e. milk) used in the recipe (as honey adds sweetness and extra liquid).
- If you like bread machine wheat bread, you might like to also try our 100% Whole Wheat Bread Machine Recipe. More whole wheat fiber!
- Or if you would like to make the dough in your bread machine BUT you want to bake the bread in your oven (in order to avoid the bread machine mixing paddle hole in your loaf, etc.), you should visit our Soft Whole Wheat Bread Recipe.
- Do not use cold milk. The main problem with using regular milk is that people tend to use cold refrigerated milk and this can slow the yeast growth. Try to use lukewarm milk (or instant powdered milk mixed into lukewarm water). If the milk is just coming out of the refrigerator and thus is too cold, I like to put the milk in my microwave for 20 seconds in order to warm it up. However, you should also be aware that the milk/water should not be too hot because very hot milk/water can kill the yeast.
- If you don’t put in the exact measurements (esp. for the flour & liquids) or your kitchen is too hot/cold/humid, the mixture might be too dry or too wet when the bread machine is kneading the dough. If the mixture is too dry, you can try adding a couple of tablespoons of water (or milk) and see if that corrects the issue. If the mixture is too wet, you can try adding a couple of tablespoons of flour. FYI – The mix shouldn’t look like a desert or soup after roughly five minutes of kneading. It should look like a nice ball of dough.
- If you have a problem with a bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct bread machine settings), you are using the correct amount of an ingredient (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measurement cup or accidentally add a teaspoon when a tablespoon is called for), you are using the correct ingredients (i.e. bread machine yeast versus regular yeast or bread flour versus all purpose flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
- Be aware that some bread recipes may differ slightly between different types of bread machines. Therefore, please read your bread machine manufacturer’s instructions for basic bread recipes (i.e. white bread or whole wheat bread) as these are more likely to work on your individual bread machine.
- FYI – If you want an easy way to sneak some whole wheat fiber into your family’s diet, you might like our Bread Machine Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe. Whole wheat + cheese & tomato sauce = Yum!!
- This recipe uses bread machine yeast (instant yeast). It does not use active dry yeast. Active dry yeast is not an instant yeast.
- When adding the yeast, it should be placed in a position that is separate from the salt (i.e. placed on opposite sides of the bread pan). Close contact with salt can kill or slow the growth of the yeast. I like to make a small “divot” on top of the flour in order to hold the yeast (separate from the salt & liquid) before the bread machine starts mixing the ingredients. Looks sort of like a flour volcano with a yeast crater in the middle.
- For the best results – Don’t use old yeast. For example, if you haven’t used your bread machine or bread maker in a long time, please buy some new bread machine yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Bread machine yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
- Bread machine yeast loses its potency over time. Generally, bread machine yeast lasts for only 3-4 months after you have opened the bottle. However, if the yeast is exposed to air & moisture (i.e. the bottle not sealed tight) or exposed to higher temperatures, the yeast will expire even more quickly.
- Once you have opened the bottle that contains the bread machine yeast, the yeast will last longer if you store the bottle in the refrigerator or freezer. Just make sure the bottle is sealed tight (as yeast will deteriorate quickly if exposed to air, moisture and/or heat).
- Bread machine yeast in a bottle that has never been opened should last until the bottle’s “Best If Used By” date… but only if the bottle has been stored properly (i.e. in a refrigerator, freezer or in a dark, dry & cool spot in the pantry) and the bottle remains unopened.
- My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
- Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine. The bread pan and the rest of the bread machine can get very hot during the baking process. This means that the bread pan and bread machine is likely to be very hot when you attempt to remove a baked good from the bread machine and/or bread pan.
- For more easy bread recipes, you can explore Bread Dad’s main Bread Machine Recipes or Bread Recipes sections.
- Did you make this recipe? Did your bread come out amazing? We would love to see a picture of your baking masterpiece! Please post a photo of it on Instagram and tag it with @breaddadrecipes
If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!!! Jump to comment section
Other Bread Dad Recipes
- Bread Machine Recipes
- Bread Recipes
- Banana Bread Recipe
- Quick Bread Recipes – Pumpkin bread, cranberry bread, etc.
- Cookie Recipes
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Bread Machine
- Wikipedia, Honey
- Wikipedia, Wheat Flour
Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread
This bread machine honey wheat bread recipe creates a delicious bread flavored with natural honey. Your family will love this homemade bread. Homemade honey wheat breads are much better than store brands because you can use your favorite honeys to add unique flavor "hints". Visit Bread Dad (BreadDad.com) for more easy bread machine recipes.
Servings: 12 Slices
Calories: 178kcal
Ingredients
Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread – 1.5 lb Loaf
- 1 Cup Milk (lukewarm) – 230 milliliters
- 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (sliced & softened) – 57 grams
- 1/4 Cup Honey – 58 milliliters
- 1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour – 173 grams
- 1 1/2 Cups Bread Flour – 180 grams
- 1 Teaspoon Salt – 6 grams
- 1 Teaspoon Bread Machine Yeast – 3 grams
Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread – 2 lb loaf
- 1 3/8 Cups Milk (lukewarm) – 307 milliliters – 1 3/8 cups equals 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons
- 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (sliced & softened) – 86 grams
- 1/3 Cup Honey – 77 milliliters
- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour – 230 grams
- 2 Cups Bread Flour – 240 grams
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt – 9 grams
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Bread Machine Yeast – 4.5 grams
Instructions
- Bread Machine Settings – 1.5lb or 2 lb, Light Color, Basic Bread
- Unplug your bread machine. Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients to the bread pan, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
- Pour the milk, butter & honey into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together).
- Place the bread pan (with ingredients) back into the bread machine. Close bread machine cover.
- Plug in bread machine. Enter the correct settings (1.5 lb or 2 lb, light color, basic bread) and press the “start” button.
- After the bread machine has finished, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan. Use oven mitts when removing the bread machine bread pan because it will be very hot!
- Remove the bread from the bread loaf pan and place the bread on a cooling rack. Let the bread cool down on the cooling rack for at least 30-60 minutes.
- After removing the bread from the bread loaf pan, don’t forget to remove the mixing paddle if it is stuck in the bread. Use oven mitts as the mixing paddle will be very hot coming out of the bread machine. Or wait until the bread is completely cooled and then remove the mixing paddle.
- Please read Bread Dad tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to solve common bread machine problems.
Notes
This is a Bread Dad recipe and may not be copied or reproduced. Material on this website is copyright protected under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. For more information, please read our legal disclaimer.
Nutrition data on this page is based on the 1.5 lb bread version. The nutritional information is provided using recipe tools such as WP Recipe Maker. These figures should only be considered as an estimate. They should not be construed as a guarantee of accuracy given visitors may use different serving sizes, ingredients, etc. See our legal disclaimer for additional nutrition disclosures.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 111mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 151IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg
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