Name: Honey Wheat Bread Recipe
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 270 min
Ingredients: 1 cup warm water; 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten; 3 tablespoons honey; 1 cup whole wheat flour (spooned and leveled (113 grams)); 2 tablespoons warm water (105-110 degrees F); 1 tablespoon active dry yeast; 1 teaspoon granulated sugar; 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt** (not a typo. (Use 2 teaspoons if table salt is all you have.) ); 3 tablespoons shortening*** (I like butter flavored shortening); 2 tablespoons mashed russet potatoes (freshly boiled and mashed, no seasonings); 1 cup whole wheat flour (spooned and leveled (113 grams)); 1 cup bread flour (spooned and leveled (113 grams)); up to 1/2 cup bread flour (spooned and leveled (57 grams)); 1 tablespoon oil (for greasing the bowl and bread pan); butter (for rubbing on the baked bread)

HALLELUJAH! I have finally found the secret to whole wheat bread that is SOFT and FLUFFY! It is bouncy, tender, rises higher than a kite, and is super easy to make. This whole wheat bread is sweet with a touch of honey flavor, plenty of salt so that it doesn’t taste flat, and a secret ingredient that keeps the crust soft for days. Perfect for sandwiches, toast, or the best PB&J of your life!

A slice of whole grain bread with creamy butter spread on top, surrounded by a honey dipper, jam, and a butter knife with more butter.

Charlotte, who is a sophomore, had a bunch of friends over last weekend. These kids have all known each other from church since they were kids, but still hardly talk to the opposite gender.

I think they are starting to figure it out though. When left to themselves these days, bored teens start doing social media challenges. The biggest hit of the night was the Tortilla Slap Challenge (this is exactly what it sounds like, but add a mouthful of water. The rule: no laughing.)

There was ice cream, there was giggling, and eventually one kid got tossed in the pool, which made ALL the kids jump in the pool (fully clothed.)

If you are worried about kids these days…don’t. They are awesome!!

Several slices of oat-topped bread are stacked on a wooden cutting board, with a small bowl of oats beside them. The bread looks freshly baked and golden brown.

Bread bread bread

While the teens learned how to be teens this week, I’ve been busy making 12,000 loaves of wheat bread.

My friend Jackie asked me the other day, “How do you know when you are done working on a recipe?” She knows that I spend a long time testing recipes (not every recipe, but for some it’s necessary, especially with baking.)

I said “Oh, that’s easy. I know it’s done when I would make the recipe for my family again.” There are too many good recipes out there to make crappy ones. So I keep testing until I bring a recipe to the point that it’s the one I want to make for my family again and again. Will I want to make this recipe again in 2 months? 2 years? 20 years? Or will I be tempted to tweak it or look for a new recipe?

Now, of course I’m ALWAYS tweaking recipes, just for fun. But I know when I am “done” developing a recipe when I’m excited to tell my friends about it, have no disclaimers to make when someone eats it in front of me, and would happily share the recipe with the tens of thousands of you who subscribe to The Food Charlatan. (I won’t lead you astray!! It’s got to be good.)

A close-up of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut in half on a wooden cutting board, with peanut butter and jelly oozing from the sides.

This wheat bread was a DOOZIE for me though, guys. I don’t claim myself to be an expert bread maker. I feel like that’s a lifelong process, and at 39 I’m still too young 😂 But I am working on it.

I had a goal: I wanted whole wheat bread that was healthy and full of whole grains. (and not just white bread with a tiny bit of whole wheat flour to make it tan.) I wanted it to be light and fluffy. I didn’t want it to have any weird ingredients. Weird like dough enhancers, emulsifiers, soy lecithin, or enzymes. (I have nothing against these ingredients in moderation; I’m a loyal Orowheat bread buyer. But if I’m making bread at home, I want the ingredients to be simple, and I especially want them to be easy to find at the grocery store.)

Ten loaves of wheat bread are lined up on a kitchen counter, with a modern kitchen featuring white and green cabinets, a tiled backsplash, and hanging pots in the background.

I made about 18 test loaves in the course of a week and a half. I actually wish I was joking! You should see my freezer. It’s full of bricks of dense wheat bread with one test slice out of each one. (My poor kids are going to be eating it for their sandwiches all year probably…) None of them were absolutely terrible. I nailed the flavor I wanted pretty early on.

But I could NOT get a decent rise, not to save my life. It would either fall in the oven (usually a result of over proofing) or just not rise to my satisfaction. I wanted FLUFF. So: research.

A close-up of toasted bread spread with melting butter and red fruit jam, placed on a wooden surface.

What is whole wheat bread, anyway?

The thing about whole wheat bread is that you need whole wheat flour to make it. And whole wheat flour has all this STUFF in it. Stuff that’s good for you, but stuff that literally gets in the way of a decent rise:

Bran (the sharp outer layer of the wheat kernel)
Germ (the heavy, nutrient-rich embryo)
Endosperm (where the starch and most of the gluten-forming proteins live)

Normal all-purpose white flour uses only the endosperm. Without the bran and the germ getting in the way, the gluten is able form it’s ladder-like structure, where the gas released from the yeast has the perfect space to get caught in, pushing the bread up and making the loaf light and fluffy.

When you use whole wheat flour, the sharp edges of the bran literally cut through the gluten. The germ is heavy. This makes it really hard for the gluten to form into that ladder. Without the gluten ladder, the gas from the yeast is able to escape out of the bread. The remaining loaf ends up dense and heavy, womp womp.

Close-up of a sandwich on whole grain bread, filled with lettuce, tomato slices, pickles, ham, cheese, and mayonnaise, secured with a wooden pick.

The solution

So, what to do? How do we get whole wheat bread that will actually rise?

Add extra gluten (to help build that ladder)
A sponge step in the beginning to soften the bran and the germ and make them not so sharp.
Secret ingredient: a little bit of mashed potato! Potatoes are almost all starch. Starch feeds the yeast, making it like, Super-Yeast, with a cape and everything. The starch in the potato also absorbs water and helps the bread stay soft for days.
And finally, instead of dough enhancer (the enzymes and lecithin that factory breads use to get whole wheat bread to rise) we are using about a cup of bread flour.

The bread flour addition technically makes this bread NOT 100% whole wheat. It took me a while to make peace with this! I really wanted a 100% whole wheat bread made at home. But my family just didn’t like it. And I knew I wouldn’t make it again.

But I actually feel pretty good about the compromise. This recipe has 2 full cups of whole wheat flour in one loaf, and zero chemicals/additives to help with the rise. It has all the health benefits from using the whole grain of wheat. And it rises perfectly, thanks to the bread flour (which adds more of the endosperm, providing more gluten-ladder forming structure to make a fabulous rise.)

A close-up of a loaf of whole wheat bread on a wooden board, with two slices cut and some butter and jam visible in the foreground. Oats are sprinkled on top of the loaf.

Red wheat vs White wheat

When you go to the store, you will notice two types of whole wheat flour.

Hard red wheat is what people think of when they think of the flavor of wheat bread. It is nutty, earthy, and has a rich, deep flavor that is quite distinctive. It is a whole grain with tons of fiber and nutrients in the bran and germ.

Hard white wheat is it’s cousin. It is simply a different variety of wheat. It is lighter in color and texture. It is still a whole grain, and has all the great nutrients from the bran and germ that red wheat has! But it lacks the distinct flavor that you dream of when you think of hearty brown wheat bread.

Bread made with white wheat (King Arthur labels it “Golden Wheat”) will rise a lot better than bread made with red wheat, because the bran in white whole wheat is milder and less rigid. It’s much easier to work with. But it will not taste quite the same, and it won’t be a “brown bread.” It will look only slightly darker than bread made with regular all-purpose flour.

So why not just use White Wheat for our wheat bread, if it’s easier to work with and rises better? For me, it’s about the flavor. I LIKE the way red wheat tastes. It’s nostalgic and delicious to me. There is nothing quite like it! Either type of wheat will work really well for this recipe!

A close-up of a hand holding a slice of whole wheat bread, showing the soft, textured interior. — Look at this gorgeous squeeze!

Why do we need a sponge step?

The sponge step in the beginning is there so that the water in the recipe can soften the bran and germ parts of whole wheat flour. It makes our bread taste better, and makes it rise higher!

Why does wheat bread take so long to make?

Whole wheat bread takes longer to make than normal white bread. Our poor gluten is working so hard to form those ladders! It has to be kneaded longer to get this result.

The first rise is 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours. (Normal white bread is just 1 hour) It takes a while, because the bran and germ get in the way of the gluten trying to form. The gluten ladder is what forms the little pockets for the carbon dioxide being released by the yeast to go. So give it some time! It’s worth it!

A close-up of several slices of freshly baked bread arranged in a row on a wooden surface, with a loaf in the background and a small dish of jam partially visible beside them.

Ingredients you should know about

This is a basic recipe, but there are certain things that will make or break your bread, so pay attention!

Whole wheat flour is of course the star, and make sure to get red wheat for that distinctive flavor and dark color. (You can totally use white/golden wheat if you want! It just won’t taste as much like wheat bread.)
Vital wheat gluten may sound like a super weird ingredient, but basically it’s just more of the gluten (a group of proteins) naturally found in flour that gives bread its signature springy, chewy texture. As opposed to white flour, whole wheat flour has bran and wheat germ that cut the gluten strands. In other words, its a lot harder for the bread to hold it’s shape and stay risen, and can be too dense and tough. Adding in extra gluten adds the structure and springiness back in. Yay!!
Mashed potatoes OH YEAH baby. I’m telling you right now that you will never have softer, more pillowy wheat bread than when you make it with a russet potato in it. The starch helps the bread rise beautifully, and keeps the bread soft for days. Boiling one potato doesn’t take long, I promise.
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt not only brings flavor (the bread will taste flat, flat, flat without it) but it actually also plays a role in adding structure to the loaf by strengthening the gluten strands and slowing down the fermentation of the yeast so the bread doesn’t rise too quickly and then collapse! You can use table salt if you must, see notes.

How to make whole wheat bread

Here’s our line up! Easy, grocery store items.

Various bread-making ingredients on a countertop, including flours, honey, yeast, butter, a potato, a glass measuring cup, and containers of salt and sugar.

First, make the sponge. Add some vital wheat gluten to some hot water in a bowl.

Two images show a hand adding ingredients to a glass bowl: first, a spoon of flour, then a spoon of honey. A bag labeled Gluten Flour is in the background. A dough ball is in the bowl.

Add in some honey for the best flavor! There is something special about honey and whole wheat together.

Here is how to spoon and level flour. Scoop it into your measuring cup…

Two images: Hands scoop flour from a red paper bag with a copper measuring cup, leveling the top with a flat edge. Background includes blurred kitchen items.

Then level it off. Don’t pack it in!

You can also make this bread by weighing the flour. 1 cup of spooned and leveled flour is about 113 grams. Even when spooning and leveling though, you’l still probably end up with a little more flour than if you weighed it. So keep that in mind, whatever method you choose.

Top: A glass bowl of flour on a kitchen scale reading 113g. Bottom: Flour being mixed with wet ingredients in a glass bowl using a spatula.

Stir it up and let it sit for a hot minute.

A glass bowl of brown batter is partially covered with plastic wrap. A white and wooden spatula rests inside the bowl. The bowl sits on a white surface.

Now it’s time to boil a potato! Didn’t you want some mashed potatoes for lunch?? It’s your lucky day.

Two images: diced potatoes on a cutting board with a knife and peeler; below, the potato chunks soaking in water in a metal pot.

Boil the potato until it’s fork tender. Then put some on a plate and mash it up. You don’t need all of it!

Two white plates: the top plate has several chunks of boiled potato with a fork, while the bottom plate shows the potatoes mashed with the same fork, both resting on a white surface.

If you have anything in your kitchen that has colander-ish size holes, press your potato through it. We really don’t want potato chunks in our bread! A sieve is too small. This is the strainer to a gravy separator I have. It’s not that big of a deal, just use your fork if that’s all you have, and try to do a really good job mashing.

A hand uses a green spatula to mash potatoes through a black ricer over a white plate; below, riced potatoes rest on the plate.

Set this aside. Once your sponge has rested for about 30 minutes, it’s time to proof your yeast. Add some yeast to warm water with a bit of sugar, to feed it.

Two images: Top, a hand holds a spoon over a measuring cup with foamy liquid. Bottom, the same cup now shows bubbly, risen yeast mixture. Flour bag and bowl are blurred in the background.

Look at these bubbles! It’s perfect 🥹

Add 3 tablespoons sugar to the sponge.

A hand pours sugar into a mixing bowl of batter in the top image. In the bottom image, a spatula rests in the bowl with butter, sugar, and batter.

Add in the shortening. If you have a hate-hate relationship with shortening, use lard! If you are also a lard hater, use butter! But your bread won’t be as soft. Butter is not 100% fat. Shortening and lard are. You can use oil (also 100% fat), but you will have to add a bit more flour while kneading, because it’s liquid at room temp. You do you!

Now add in a full tablespoon of kosher salt. Yes, 1 tablespoon! Use less if all you have is table salt. But I promise, if you have the right salt, it’s perfect, and doesn’t taste salty. The salt just acts as an amplifier to the other flavors in the bread.

Oh and you can see here I added the yeast mixture to the dough here:

Two images show hands holding measuring spoons above a mixing bowl containing a brown batter and banana slices; the top spoon has sugar and the bottom spoon has flour. A spatula and wooden container are nearby.

Now add in your mashed potato! Soft, soft, fluffy potatoes makes soft, soft, fluffy bread!

Add in 1 cup whole wheat flour:

Two photos: The first shows flour being added to wet ingredients in a mixing bowl. The second shows the combined, textured dough in the same bowl, being mixed with a white spatula.

And stir it all up. At this point I moved it to my kitchenaid. (You should do the whole thing in your kitchenaid. The glass bowl is just better for pictures.)

Two photos: The top shows thick brown batter being poured into a mixing bowl. The bottom shows flour in the same bowl with a wooden spoon partially mixing in the brown batter.

Now add in 1 cup of bread flour!

And start kneading, either by hand or with the dough hook.

Two images show whole wheat dough in a stand mixer bowl, with a dough hook kneading and lifting the dough. The texture appears sticky and elastic, indicating the dough is being mixed.

It starts out pretty sticky. Keep adding the last bit of bread flour called for until your dough is cleaning the sides of the bowl. The dough should feel MORE sticky than regular white bread at the end of kneading.

Two images of a stand mixer with wheat dough stuck to the dough hook, showing the dough being kneaded and some dry flour in the top image. The mixer bowl and hook are metallic.

Here she is! Your dough should be stretchy and elastic after 10 minutes of kneading.

Top: Brown dough on floured surface with a dough hook nearby. Bottom: A hand with red nail polish kneads the same dough, pressing down firmly.

I find it’s best to hand knead the dough at the end, just to get a feel for how it’s doing. Can you stretch it like this, with no breakage? If it breaks, keep kneading.

A hand with pink nail polish stretches whole wheat bread dough on a white surface, showing its elasticity in two close-up views.

Once it’s smooth and elastic like this, it’s ready to go. It should be sticky but not so much that it sticks to the counter a ton. If you shape the dough into a ball and it slowly starts to flatten into a pancake, it needs more flour.

Now get a bowl all ready for rising. Add a lot of oil!

Top: A hand pours oil into a clear glass bowl. Bottom: A ball of brown dough rests in the oiled bowl, ready to rise.

Smooth out the dough and turn it over in the bowl so that the top is oiled.

Then cover carefully with greased plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled! This takes a while. You can’t rush whole wheat bread. Depending on the temperature of your house, it could be 2 hours, or up to 3 hours. You want it to double in size.

A glass bowl of risen dough is shown. In the bottom image, a hand presses down on the dough, deflating it.

Pull it onto a work surface that has been dusted lightly with bread flour.

Top: A ball of brown dough on a floured surface. Bottom: A hand with red nail polish kneads the dough on the same surface.

Knead it a few times to get out any air pockets.

A two-part image shows a round ball of bread dough on a floured surface in the top half and the dough shaped into a rectangle next to a bread pan in the bottom half.

Shape it into a rectangle. The short end should be a little smaller than the length of your 9 inch pan.

Use your hands to press the dough into a longer rectangle. The goal is to get out all the air pockets. Use a rolling pin if that’s easier for you!

Two photos: A hand shapes a rectangle of dough on a floured surface, then begins to roll up the dough from one edge.

Then, start rolling your dough. I like to pinch it as I roll like this, to help avoid air pockets. Air pockets create big holes in your bread, not what you want.

Two images show hands with red nail polish folding brown dough on a light surface, shaping it for baking.

Keep rolling…

until you have a cute little loaf.

A hand rolls up brown dough on a white surface. In the top image, the dough is mostly rolled, and in the bottom image, the hand pinches the end to seal it.

I like to pinch the edges down to make a smooth end.

Two images: a hand pinching the seam of a loaf-shaped piece of dough; then placing the dough in front of a metal loaf pan, ready to be put inside. Both images focus on bread-making steps.

Then, transfer it to the pan, tucking in the edges neatly.

A loaf pan with unbaked bread dough inside, shown from above and from the side on a white surface.

Look at how low it is…

And look at how high it rises!! This second rise is a lot faster, it only takes 30-45 minutes.

Two side-by-side images of bread dough in a loaf pan. Top: dough rises under plastic wrap. Bottom: dough after the wrap is removed, with a ruler measuring its height.

DON’T over proof your dough at this point. It will make your bread fall in the oven! You want your dough to rise about 1 and 1/2 inches above the edge of the pan.

Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes…

Two images: Top, two loaves of bread baking in loaf pans in an oven. Bottom, one loaf partially covered with a sheet of aluminum foil while still in the pan and oven.

then lower the temperature and cover with foil to keep it from getting too brown. The initial high heat helps boost the dough to rise really high really fast, then we lower the temp and cover it so the top doesn’t burn.

Your bread is done around 205 degrees! Sadly, there aren’t that many reliable tests when it comes to knowing when bread is done baking. I ALWAYS use my thermometer. The edges should be pulling from the pan, and it will sound hollow if tapped on the bottom, but I find those cues to be quite elusive. Have you ever done the hollow tapping thing?? Sounds like a nightmare with burned hands.

Top: A thermometer checks the temperature of a loaf of bread in a pan in the oven. Bottom: The finished golden loaf rests in the same pan outside the oven.

Pop it out of the oven and start rubbing it with butter!

Two images: a hand rubs butter on a loaf of bread, first while its in a baking pan, then after its removed and placed on a cooling rack. The bread has a shiny, golden-brown crust.

Remove the bread from the pan within 2 minutes of taking it out of the oven. Use hot pads!! This will keep the crust from getting soggy.

A loaf of bread covered with honey sits on a wooden board, with a honey dipper and a pat of butter nearby.

I like to rub then ENTIRE loaf in butter, top, bottom, and sides. It helps the crust to stay nice and soft for days! Just look at this gorgeous loaf!!

Ways to use your whole wheat bread

Obviously, the BEST way to eat this bread is still slightly warm, freshly sliced, and smothered in butter and possibly jam. Mmmm… but if you’re looking for more ways to serve up this bread, here are some great options!

Slice and use in the morning as toast with butter, or avocado toast, or even Egg in a Hole!
It’s the perfect bread for every day sandwiches. Lunchmeat, chicken salad, pb&j… they’re all amazing, trust me
Cut slices to your desired thickness and use to make classic French Toast or even this Savory French Toast with Hollandaise
Cut into larger chunks or pieces and dip into this Extra Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip or this Easy Hummus Recipe
If you happen to get any dried out pieces or the bread is older than a few days, it would be a great option for making Stuffing, or homemade croutons or breadcrumbs

How to store your bread

Let the bread cool completely before storing, or you’ll get a lot of condensation which will turn to gummy bread. Unless you know you’ll be using it all pretty quickly, it’s best to not pre-slice the bread as it will dry out much faster that way. If this bread is something you’ll be making on the regular for your family, I highly suggest buying plastic bread bags. You can get them on amazon or even at places like Walmart or Target, and then it’s just like having a loaf of bread from the store! If this will be an occasional thing, then I recommend you cut off what you plan to eat and storing the rest in a ziplock.

A close-up of whole wheat bread topped with a dollop of butter and drizzled honey, showing the breads texture and the melting butter blending with the honey.

Can you freeze it?

YES! It’s the best. Sometimes I double the recipe and stick the extra in the freezer so when I want some I can skip the work, pull out the loaf, and say “thank you former self!” To freeze, wait for the loaf to cool 100% , then wrap the entire loaf really well in two layers of plastic wrap. Once it’s covered well in two layers, wrap the whole thing again in foil to help prevent freezer burn. Or use a ziplock! To thaw, set the loaf on the counter for 1-2 hours before slicing.

A slice of toasted bread topped with melting butter, next to a loaf of bread, a honey dipper, and a spoon with dark fruit jam on a wooden board.

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More delicious breads to love

I never regret it when I put in the work to make homemade bread! It’s so much better than what you can get at the grocery store. Here are a few of my favorites!