Soft Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

This soft whole wheat bread recipe creates a soft & delicious sandwich bread with lots of whole wheat fiber and plenty of rise. It uses a 50/50 split of whole wheat flour and bread flour in order to produce a bread that is soft enough for kids while still having a good amount of fiber to please parents.

I often use this soft whole wheat bread recipe as a way to sneak some fiber into my kids’ lunch sandwiches. They love the mild taste of this soft bread and don’t even know it is whole wheat bread. Ha. Score one for Dad!

Chicken Salad Sandwich with our Soft Whole Wheat Bread

Soft Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe creates only one loaf. In contrast, a number of online recipes create two loaves at the same time. While two loaves are great for large families, most individuals & small families have a hard time eating or storing two loaves at once. Thus I created a one loaf recipe.

For this soft whole wheat bread recipe, you can use either instant yeast or bread machine yeast (which is an instant yeast). While you can knead the dough by hand, my recipe shows you how to easily make this whole wheat bread with either a bread machine’s dough setting or an electric stand mixer with dough hook. The dough will then be baked in your oven.

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

Whole Wheat Bread Dough Rising in Bread Pan

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 Cups – Milk (lukewarm) – 307 milliliters
• 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
• 1 3/4 Cups – Whole Wheat Flour – 200 grams – Use FRESH whole wheat flour for best results
• 1 3/4 Cups – Bread Flour – 210 grams – Not all purpose flour
• 5 Tablespoons – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 65 grams – If you prefer non-sweet breads then use 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Salt – 6 milliliters
• 1 1/4 Teaspoons – Instant Yeast (or bread machine yeast) – 6 milliliters

Servings – Roughly 18 Slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, cutting board, 9×5 bread pan, oven mitts, oven, wire cooling rack and a kneading machine to make the dough (either a bread machine or electric stand mixer with dough hook).

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Whole Wheat Bread – Before Butter “Basting”

Whole Wheat Bread – After Butter “Basting”

Instructions

• Creating dough with bread machine
• Or Creating dough with electric stand mixer & dough hook
• Shaping dough & baking bread in oven

FYI – These detailed instructions are designed to help beginners.

Instructions – Creating Dough with a Bread Machine

• Your bread machine should be unplugged.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Pour the milk into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Put the bread pan with ingredients back into unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in bread machine. Enter the “Dough” setting on your bread machine and then press the “Start” button.
• When the bread machine has finished making the bread dough, unplug the bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine.
• Now go to the instruction section below on “preparing the dough & baking the bread”. FYI – Ignore the instructions for the electric stand mixer below if you are using a bread machine to make your dough. Skip down to the preparing the dough & baking the bread section below.

Instructions – Creating Dough with an Electric Stand Mixer & Dough Hook

• Your electric mixer should be unplugged.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer.
• Insert a dough hook into the electric mixer.
• Pour the milk into the mixing bowl and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the electric mixer is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Place the mixing bowl back into the electric stand mixer.
• Plug in the electric mixer and use a low speed (i.e. setting 2) to mix the dough. Mix the dough for 7-10 minutes.
• Turn off the electric mixer and unplug machine.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer. Pour the dough into a second large mixing bowl that has been lightly “greased” with olive oil, melted butter, cooking spray, etc.
• Lightly coat the top of dough with vegetable oil in order to prevent dough exterior from drying out. Use a pastry brush.
• Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size.
• After the dough has risen, go to the instruction section below on “preparing the dough & baking the bread”.

Instructions – Shaping the Dough & Baking the Bread

• Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a large cutting board.
• Remove the dough from the bread pan or mixing bowl and place the dough on the cutting board.
• Press down on the dough with your hands and create a “flattish” rectangle with the dough. The dough should be roughly 1 inch high.
• Roll up the dough into a tight “jelly roll”. FYI – Please see the short instructional videos in the tips section below on how to shape the dough if you haven’t shaped bread dough before. It is easier to watch & learn from these short videos versus trying to explain the rolling technique step by step.
• Place the rolled up dough into the bread pan.
• Press down on top of the dough so the edges of the dough press out towards the sides of the bread pan. This should result in little or no gaps between the dough and the bread pan. This helps the bread to turn into a nice loaf shape without any misshapen edges. Make sure that the top of the pressed down dough is roughly level (so one side isn’t much higher than the other).
• Brush vegetable oil on top of the dough with a pastry brush. This prevents the crust from drying out as the dough rises.
• Loosely cover the top of the bread pan with plastic wrap. Set the covered bread pan aside for 60-90 minutes for the dough to rise into a loaf shape. Once the dough has risen 1 – 1.5 inches (2.5 – 3.8 cm) above the rim of the bread pan, the dough should be ready to be placed in the oven. FYI – You want the dough to fully rise during this stage. So don’t try to shorten this rising time. If the dough is still significantly rising while in the oven, you are more likely to see crust/seam cracks or “bursts” in the oven. In addition, the speed of the dough rise will vary in part based on the temperature of your kitchen (i.e. rise faster in the summer & slower in the winter).
• Preheat the oven to 350 F about 20 minutes before you plan to put the dough in the oven. FYI – I like to set my timer to go off 40 minutes after I place the dough in the bread pan. Given variability in the dough rising time, this can be a little early sometimes (but better to be a little early versus being late!).
• Place the bread pan in the (preheated) oven to bake at 350 F for 37-42 minutes. Wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven. Place the bread pan in the middle of the oven.
• Rotate the bread pan in the oven after 15-20 minutes (in order to ensure an even browning of the bread).
• After the 37-42 minute baking period has finished, remove the bread pan from the oven. Wear oven mitts. Optional – Use digital thermometer to confirm that the bread has been fully baked. See tips below.
• Remove the bread from bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Wear oven mitts.
• Optional – Brush melted butter on top of the bread with a pastry brush. This buttery “basting” helps to create a more golden & tasty crust.
• Allow the bread to cool down on the wire cooling rack for 1-2 hours before cutting the bread.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help baking & bread making “novices”. They will enable you to make better oven-baked whole wheat breads. FYI – Intermediate and advanced bread makers probably know most of these bread making tips.
• 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 Recipes.

• This is the “oven” version of our very popular Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread recipe. For this soft whole wheat bread recipe, you will create the dough in your bread machine (or electric mixer) and bake the bread IN THE OVEN. In contrast, our bread machine whole wheat bread recipe makes the dough in the bread machine and bakes the bread IN THE BREAD MACHINE.
• Bread machine users – While it is more complex than baking the bread entirely in your bread machine, there are some benefits for making the dough in your bread machine but baking it in your oven. It allows you to eliminate the mixing paddle hole at the bottom of your bread machine loaves, to create a more “normal” loaf shape versus a bread machine “block” shaped loaf and to add fancy bread exteriors (i.e. an egg wash with oat flakes).

• This soft whole wheat bread recipe uses a 50/50 blend of whole wheat flour and bread flour in order to produce an airy & softer whole wheat bread.
• This 50/50 blend also creates a milder tasting whole wheat bread. This soft whole wheat bread recipe is great for children because some kids do not like the flavor of 100% whole wheat breads.
• Obviously, this is NOT a 100% whole wheat bread recipe because it uses a 50/50 blend of whole wheat bread flour and bread flour.
• I would recommend not using all purpose flour to make this whole wheat bread recipe. This recipe uses bread flour because it has more gluten than all purpose flour. This helps to add “structure” to the bread and capture more of the CO2 put out by the bread yeast. Thus bread flour breads tend to be fluffier than all purpose flour breads. If you make a bread combining all purpose flour & whole wheat flour, it will probably be too dense.

• In most supermarkets, you can find “regular” whole wheat flour. This traditional whole wheat flour is usually made from red winter or spring wheat and has a hearty & slightly nutty flavor. Or you can buy white whole wheat flour. This whole wheat flour is made from white winter or spring wheat. It has a milder flavor and lighter color. However, it can be a little harder to find in the supermarket (but you can easily buy it online). FYI – White whole wheat flour is NOT the same as all purpose flour or bread flour.
• When making whole wheat bread, I usually use regular whole wheat flour because I like the taste of whole wheat and that is generally the flour available in my local supermarket. However, You can also use white whole wheat flour to make this recipe.
• Whole wheat flour generally has 13-14 grams of fiber per cup. In contrast, bread flour and all purpose flour usually have only 3-4 grams of fiber per cup. However, the amount of fiber can vary depending on the flour brand and wheat used. Always read the nutritional label on your ingredient packages for the most accurate fiber information.

• 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.
• For longer-term storage, whole wheat flour should be stored in the freezer or refrigerator in an airtight container (in order to prevent any moisture from reaching the flour).
• FYI – The rancid taste of older whole wheat flour is probably a reason why some people dislike whole wheat breads in general. If someone made bread in the past with old whole wheat flour, this may have ruined their experience with whole wheat breads forever.

• If you are having problems shaping your dough, you should watch the “how to” instructional videos below. These are links to bread dough shaping videos on Youtube.
• King Arthur Baking
• San Diego Artisan Bread School
• Father Dominic – a slightly different method versus the videos above
• Don’t worry if you are a beginner and the bread top comes out a little lopsided. The bread will still taste great. It takes a little while for new bakers to learn how to shape a bread consistently. 
• If you like, you can knead the dough by hand. However, kneading dough by hand for 10-15 minutes is too much work for me!!! I prefer the bread machine or electric stand mixer to do the hard stuff.

• How do you know when the dough has risen enough in the second rise (when the dough is in the bread pan)? After letting the dough rise for 60-90 minutes (and when it is roughly 1-1.1.5 inches above the 9×5 bread pan), you can try the “poke test“. Poke your finger into the dough (going in about an inch). If the poke hole rebounds immediately, you need to allow more time for the dough to rise further (it is “under proofed”). If the hole doesn’t come back at all, the dough has risen too much (it is “over proofed”). If the hole slowly fills over 2-3 seconds, the dough is at the right stage of proofing.
• Unfortunately, the temperature of your kitchen can make the timing for this perfect poke result hard to predict (because there is a faster dough rise in hot kitchens and a slower rise in cold kitchens). Experience with “proofing” will make this easier (but it can be a problem for beginning bakers).
• FYI – If the dough is “under proofed” (hasn’t risen enough) when you place it in the oven, the bread is more likely to burst/crack when baked in the oven (as the still rising dough will push against the hardening crust and “burst” at the seams of the crust). Bakers try to get around this issue via testing for the right “proofing” level (i.e. use the poke test), “scoring” breads (slicing the top of the dough so the cracks occur where you want them), adding moisture inside the oven (so the dough doesn’t harden as quickly), using a dutch oven (in order to trap the dough moisture inside the dutch oven container & not spread out into the oven), etc.
• Don’t overproof the dough (let it rise too long). This occasionally happens when someone forgets about the rising dough and comes back hours later to check. Overproofed dough leads to deflated dough as well as flat and/or sunken bread tops. According to Wikipedia, “Overproofing occurs when a fermenting dough has rested too long. Its bubbles have grown so large that they have popped and tunneled, and dough baked at this point would result in a bread with poor structure.”
• If your dough is “over proofed”, you might like to read the King Arthur Baking article “How to save over-proofed dough” as it gives tips on how to save the dough.
• For more information on dough proofing, please read this MasterClass article “Baking 101: What Is Proofing?“.

• Don’t use cold milk because that will inhibit the growth of the yeast. The milk should be lukewarm in temperature. If you use cold milk, your bread may have trouble rising properly. You can use a microwave (for a very short time) in order to warm the milk. However, don’t make the milk too hot as excessive heat can kill the yeast.
• Optional – If you do not have milk, you can use lukewarm water as a substitute. However, I think that whole wheat bread made with milk has a slightly better flavor (than whole wheat bread made with water).
• Optional – If you do not have light brown sugar, you can use white granulated sugar in this soft whole wheat bread recipe. However, light brown sugar adds a richer flavor and helps to modestly tone down the whole wheat flavor.
• You should use only 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar if you prefer less sweet whole wheat breads.

• Optional – For a more “natural” look to your whole wheat bread, you can coat the dough with an egg wash and sprinkle some multigrain or old fashioned oat flakes on top of the dough (just before putting the bread in the oven). The egg wash creates a sticky surface for the multigrain or oat flakes so they don’t fall off.
• Optional – Or you can “baste” the top of the finished bread with melted butter right after you remove it from the oven. This creates a shinier & buttery top for your whole wheat bread. Of course, this is for a bread without the egg wash/multigrain/oat flake coating (mentioned above).
• Optional – Some of our visitors like to add a “1/2 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten” to this recipe (thanks Jeff). Vital wheat gluten is sometimes added to whole grain/whole wheat breads in order to improve the texture and elasticity of the dough. FYI – I do not include this ingredient in my recipes because most beginning bakers do not have this ingredient in their pantries.
• If you are looking for more whole wheat bread recipes, you should also try our recipes for Bread Machine 100% Whole Wheat Bread, Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread and High Fiber Bread. Or for even more whole wheat-based recipes, you might like to try our Whole Wheat Banana Bread (with Chocolate Chips) or Bread Machine Whole Wheat Pizza Dough.

• This soft whole wheat bread recipe uses instant yeast or bread machine yeast. It does NOT use active dry yeast.
• Active dry yeast is different from instant yeast & bread machine yeast. Instant yeast & bread machine yeast are added directly to the recipe’s ingredients. In contrast, active dry yeast must be activated in water/milk before being added to a recipe’s ingredients. Many bakers find it quicker to use instant yeast because you just add it to the dry ingredients. With active dry yeast, you need to spend roughly 10 minutes “proofing” (activating) the yeast with a liquid & sugar.
• Cooler home temperatures in the winter can cause rising problems for bread dough. Ideally, your room temperature should be around 75-80 degrees F. Colder winter room temperatures can significantly delay the rise of the dough. You will need to raise the temperature of your kitchen (if you like a cold house in the winter) or find a warm spot for the dough to rise. I often put my dough (covered of course) next to a heating vent in the winter to make sure it is getting enough heat.
• Conversely, dough can rise faster than expected in a very hot kitchen.

• Kitchen humidity can also impact a recipe. A winter kitchen tends to be drier due to your heating system drying out the air. In contrast, a kitchen in the summer can be much more humid. This change in humidity impacts baking as flour can soak up humidity from the air. Therefore, you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid in the winter if the dough is looking too dry. Or you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of flour in the summer if the dough is looking too wet. If your kitchen is very dry or humid, you might have to add even a little more (but start with 1 teaspoon at a time until you achieve the right consistency).
• Of course, excessive kitchen humidity or dryness can impact a recipe at any time during the year (not just in the summer & winter)!
• Other factors that can impact the rise of the dough include old or expired yeast, contaminated yeast (i.e. the yeast was left in an open jar & air moisture contaminated it), water that is too cold or too hot, using heavily chlorinated tap water, placing salt next to or on top of the yeast (salt can kill yeast or inhibit its growth), not covering the dough during the rising period (as the exterior of the dough can dry out & limit the ability to rise), etc.

• The flattening & shaping of the dough and the press down of the dough in the bread pan is the “punch down” phase.
• If you don’t do this punch down phase, your bread will have large air pockets (trapped bubbles produced by the yeast). Large air pockets are fine for ciabatta-type breads but not ideal for sandwich bread.
• This soft whole wheat bread recipe calls for the use of a 9 x 5 inch bread pan. You can also use a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan but the “crown” of the bread might come out too tall (or overflow) if your yeast is very active.
• It takes roughly 15-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with some variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• Optional – Use an oven thermometer as your expected oven temperature may be different than reality. Some ovens can be 25-50+ degrees F hotter or colder than the number you set with your oven dial. An oven thermometer (which usually costs less than $10) is an easy way to measure the actual temperature inside your oven.
• Optional – Use a digital bread thermometer to test if your bread is completely done. The interior temperature of the bread should be 190-200 degrees F. This inexpensive tool can save you from underbaked breads.

• You should let your bread cool down for 1-2 hours on the wire cooling rack before you cut any slices (or the slices will be “gummy” and not taste as good as expected). Excess interior moisture is released (via steam) during the cooldown period.
• If you have not made bread in a long time, please buy some NEW bread machine yeast or instant yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• Once you have opened the container that contains the 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).
• Like making dough in your bread machine and finishing it in the oven? Then you might also be interested in our Buttermilk Bread, Cranberry Walnut Bread, High Fiber Bread, Greek Yogurt Bread, Multigrain Bread, Oatmeal Bread or (extra buttery) White Bread recipes. Similar to this whole wheat bread recipe, these oven-baked recipes help you to create delicious homemade breads… where you make the dough in your bread machine (or electric mixer) and finish it in your oven.

• 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, hot oven, hot bread pan, etc.
• For more easy bread ideas, please check out Bread Dad’s sections for Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes.

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Whole Wheat Bread Questions

Why is my whole wheat bread so dense?

If your whole wheat bread comes out too dense, it is likely due to one of the following reasons; You are using old or stale yeast, using a cold refrigerator temperature liquid as an ingredient (cold liquids slow yeast growth), baking in a cold winter temperature kitchen (yeast likes kitchen temps of 75-80 degree F), using all purpose flour (versus bread flour as called for in the recipe), placing salt on top of or next to the yeast (salt kills yeast so it must be placed away from the yeast in the bread pan), not following the ingredient measurements exactly (don’t just eyeball ingredient measurements), etc.

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Bread
• Wikipedia, Bread Machine
• Wikipedia, Wheat
• Wikipedia, Whole Wheat Bread
• Wikipedia, Whole Wheat Flour

Your fantastic comments motivate us to write more easy & delicious recipes. Also beginning bakers learn a ton from your helpful suggestions, tips and amazing recipe variations. Thank you!

Related Recipes

• Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread
• Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread
• Bread Machine 100% Whole Wheat Bread
• High Fiber Bread
• Oatmeal Bread (Oven baked)
• Multigrain Bread (Oven baked)

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