Hello all! How is the week half gone already?!
I published a really exciting post that includes a new 2 week meal plan for eating clean plus some of my thoughts on healthy eating with a family and a budget on Friday. It’s taken me around 2 months to get the post ready and polished and I’ve been excited to share it with you all. Well I’m super pleased to say that it is being received with open arms. You all are pinning and sharing that thing like crazy and I just have to say THANK YOU! It is so rewarding to feel like something I love and was so excited to blog about it something you all are wanting to share and leave feedback on. Weeks like this are what keep my blogging. You all make it so very rewarding.
This is a recipe that goes with my eating clean menu and one that I love. This bread is easy to make, turns out well each time, and is nice and soft and fluffy. I like to make a few loaves of bread and a big batch of easy honey granola the day I start eating super clean again (you know we all fall off the wagon and then have to jump back on now and again). This helps me to have some options for quick breakfast and easy snack and that just seems to help get me off on the right foot. I love this bread with a little butter and honey or I’ll toast a thinner slice and put natural peanut butter on it. My kids love it too!
When it comes to whole wheat flour not all bags are the same. There are different kinds of wheat and those different types are what majorly influence the type of wheat flour it is and how the end product turns out. I grind my own wheat at home from hard white wheat berries on a very fine setting and bread made from it comes out amazing and soft. If you can’t grind your own I’d get King Arthur’s 100% White Whole Wheat flour. This flour is made from the same type of wheat berry that I grind. Most other commercial whole wheat flour is made from hard red wheat which still works but will lend to a slightly more dense bread that tastes more “wheaty”. If you are after a soft and fluffy 100% whole wheat bread then searching out those hard white wheat flour is worth the time.
Now on to that delicious whole wheat bread recipe!
100% Whole Wheat Bread
- Yield: Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 eggs
- 1 T. molasses
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup dry milk
- 1 T. salt
- 1 T. instant yeast
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups additional whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Mix wet ingredients together in the bowl of your stand mixer (or by hand if you are really in the mood to stir!). Add dry ingredients and stir well to combine (just the first 5 cups of flour at this point). Mix in enough additional flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead 5-6 minutes.
- Divide dough in half, shape into loaves and place in 2 greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. I made this in the summer and it doubled in size in about 45 minutes. Plan on a little longer in the winter when the house is colder.
- Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely before cutting. Store bread in an air-tight container.
Notes
This recipe is nice because you don’t have to let it rise in the bowl the first time. The original recipe didn’t have you do it, I tried it as written and loved it. I sure didn’t mind cutting out that step and the bread was great!
No molasses? Just replace it with more honey.
I got this recipe from another blog. I found it via pinterest, made it, and somehow didn’t get the URL saved. I was sure I pinned it to one of my boards but I can’t find it anywhere. If it looks familiar let me know and I’ll for sure cite the source. In the mean time I’ll keep looking!
Mmmm. Now I want a slice 🙂
Again, thank you so much for all your blog support. I hope you enjoy what I do as much as I do.
Thanks for reading.
I’m excited to try this one! Just to clarify the recipe says it calls for whole wheat flour, but above you talked about using white whole wheat flour. Are you supposed to use regular whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour?
Hilary – great question. Did you read the whole third paragraph in the most? So wheat comes in red or white berries – white berries have a more mild taste and softer texture when milled. So whole wheat flour is just about any whole wheat kernel ground and white whole wheat flour is that specific wheat berry milled. You can use either (not white flour… it’s totally different) but I sure like whole wheat flour from the white wheat berries better. Does that make sense?! Please let me know! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
This looks perfect. But what is wheat gluten and where do I find it?
It’s in the baking aisle and it comes in a canister just like oatmeal or grits most of the time. Totally worth finding!!! Good luck 🙂
I am not great at bread. It’s always a hit or miss. I’m going to attempt this bread and I’m curious why some recipes have you raise the bread twice and others once? My grandma always punched it down after an hour, shaped it, then let it raise again. Any ideas?
Wow!!! This recipe is awesome, thank you so much for sharing!! I have tried numerous 100% whole wheat bread recipes, and they either don’t rise properly or have a heavy taste. This one is light and fluffy and rose beautifully. This will be my main recipe from now on. Thank you!!
I thought the SAME thing! I was a recipe hopper until this little beauty… in fact I should make another batch or two today! Thanks for stoppin’ in!
I’ve been thinking about switching my family to clean eating, and I would love to start cooking more from “scratch!” This bread sounds amazing, I’m pinning it for later! I’d also love if you’d stop by and link up at my link party Feed Me Friday
Thanks girl! Happy link partying.
Have you found a whole wheat recipe for bread machines? I’ve been using a bread machine (to save money, initially, after my husband lost his job last year….now because we like it so much and it’s easy!) for the last year, but the recipe I follow doesn’t do well when we move too far past 1 c bread flour and 2 c wheat flour.
If you work with a bread machine I’d love to see what you’ve come up with!
I haven’t done much with a bread machine. I owned one for years and thought the loaves were ugly (lol) and I never used it. I’ll have to pug my sister because I know she uses one! I’ll let you know.
Hi Melissa,
I want to make this right now- it looks so good! I, however, don’t have any dry milk on hand… can I substitute regular milk and if so, how much?
Thanks!
Hhhmm.
I found this link that I thought was helpful-
http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/6820/powdered-milk-in-bread-recipe
You are going to essentially replace part of the water with real milk… and that makes sense to me. If you try it will you let me know what you did and how it turned out. I don’t always have powdered milk either! Thanks so much, M.
what is powdered milk? Would this be considered a processed food?
Thank you for this!!!! I have been looking for a recipe that would be 100% whole wheat but not dry. THIS IS IT! unfortunately I did not have wheat gluten, or dry milk, but even without it was amazing. I added a splash
of milk instead.
This is a great recipe! I just want to clarify that the T’s stand for Tablespoons or Teaspoons. Can’t wait to try this!
Tablespoon! I’ll change that in the recipe 🙂 Thanks.
has anyone tried making this recipe in a bread machine?
I have been searching for an easy ww bread recipe that is soft! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing.
You say mix then knead do you use the paddle then the dough hook for kneading or just the paddle. Looks yummy can’t wait to try it
I just use the dough hook and turn the machine on faster when I want to mix it together. Good luck friend!
I’ve been trying my hand at making bread and so far I haven’t found one we like. This one looks yummy so I want to try it next. Would you mind sharing the size of your bread pans please? Most of the breads I’ve made have been in the bread machine so I wasn’t sure what size pan to get. Thank you!!
I have 2 that are 9 inches by 5 inches and just one that is 4.5 by 8. I generally like that small one better because it makes the loaves rise higher, but either works fine. Good luck, you will love making bread. It’s a pretty tasty hobby 🙂
Holy cow – 1/2 cup of wheat gluten? That seems like a lot, but if it works… (usually, they say to add 1T per cup of flour, which would amount to just over 1/4 C). I’ll have to try making whole wheat bread with more gluten. Maybe it’ll turn out fluffier.
This looks like something I would love to try as this does not need butter, but I am confused about the quantity of wheat flour. Am I supposed to use all of it..7 cups? when do I add the additional 2 cups?
Baked it today and it came out beautiful, finally I have a bread recipe, aah!! But I do feel it was dense(very slightly) in places, I guess I kneaded less. Also I used rapid rise yeast, is it same as instant? IAlso is there a way to skip the egg in this recipe?
Thanks!
WhAt if you don’t use eggs? How do you think it will turn out?
i would love to find a healthier bread and this does look good. however i am a little concerned about the wheat and gluten. can you educate me a little on this bread being a healthy choice. i’m still undecided on the wheat and gluten issues. i know whole wheat is obviously the better choice from white bread…but is there an even better option?
You should check out the book “Nourishing Traditions” from the library. It talks a ton about soaking and/or sprouting your grains before eating them or turning them into bread which breaks down the things that makes them hard to digest. It’s a TON of work and I just can’t keep it up with my current phase of life (so I stick with the homemade whole wheat because that’s the best that I can do right now), but I do think that it is a healthier way of eating grains and bread. I’m out to avoid added chemicals and ingredients so I’m happy with my homemade stuff but if you really want to get into gut healthy then that book is super interesting and something you might want to look into.
I made this bread today and it tastes divine!! Thank you!!