Honey Whole Wheat Bread

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An easy whole wheat bread machine recipe that has the rich flavour of whole wheat, the delicate sweetness of honey, and the soft fluffiness of white sandwich bread. This irresistible homemade honey whole wheat bread is simply the best.

Here's the problem tonight: I realized I forgot to buy bread.

Normally that's not a big deal. But dear reader, tonight it was.

My son Zen requested his favourite school lunch: cucumber and cheese sandwich. He would not be swayed, he's stubborn like his father.

You know, maybe he got some of that stubbornness from his mother, too. I was determined to give him that sammy, so I whipped up a batch of my favourite whole wheat bread machine recipe, just in time for school tomorrow

This whole wheat sandwich recipe is dedicated to cucumber sandwiches!

Jump to:

• Whole Wheat Bread Tips + Tricks
• Ingredients
• How to make whole wheat bread in the bread machine
• Flour matters
• 📖 Printable Recipe

Whole Wheat Bread Tips + Tricks

• No. 1 --> use local honey. Supporting your local economy is good, but the best reason for buying local honey is that the flavour and freshness can't be beaten.
• No. 2 --> this recipe mixes whole wheat and all-purpose unbleached flour - I found it gives a perfect mix between fluffy white bread and the flavour and heartiness of whole wheat bread.
• No. 3 --> 1.5 lb - this recipe is for a 1.5lb loaf of bread. Please ensure your machine has the capacity to handle a 1.5lb loaf!
• No. 4 --> Join my bread machine jump start email series!

Ingredients

• warm water - I always start my bread machine recipes with warm water, I find this helps to get everything off to a good start and give a tender, fluffy crumb.
• butter - I like to use butter in this recipe, that said, it's easily swapped out with oil. Just use the requested amount.
• salt - the kind of salt doesn't much matter in this recipe, but I do recommend using coarse ground salt. If you're using table salt, reduce the amount of salt your using to avoid an over salty loaf.
• honey - the yeast needs something to feed on to give us a quick and active ferment. If you don't want to use honey, swap that out too! You can use maple syrup, brown sugar, or even granulated sugar. I prefer honey or brown sugar as they add more flavour than a granulated sugar would.
• unbleached flour - yup. Busted! This is a half and half recipe. I prefer to use half whole wheat flour and half unbleached flour.
• whole wheat flour - whole wheat flour gives a lovely fleck and body to this bread recipe. Not to mention the much deeper flavour profile. I'll always prefer whole wheat to basic white bread.
• bread machine yeast - also called quick or instant yeast.

How to make whole wheat bread in the bread machine

1. Add warm water, butter, salt and honey to the loaf pan of your bread machine.
2. Add flour, and sprinkle yeast on top of the flour.
3. Return bread pan to the bread machine.
4. Set to desired whole wheat setting - On my Breville Bread Maker I usually use Bake Rapid - Whole Wheat - 1.5 pound loaf - Medium Crust.
5. Allow bread to cool before cutting.

Flour matters

CANADIAN flour is different than American flour. By law, Canadian flour is bound to have at least 13% protein content and this can cause discrepancies between my recipes (I'm a Canuck!) and your results if you are using American flour, which doesn't have a protein requirement.

Now that we know the differences between flours, I recommend anyone using American made flour to use Bread flour - I linked to two flours that passed the protein test in the recipe card below- or any flour with 12-13% protein.

What's my protein content?

The easiest way is to look at the nutrition label and do some quick math!

Grams of Protein / Grams per Serving = _________ X 100 = ______%

In this image, the protein percentage of the flour is: 4/30=.1333 = 13.3%

Adapting this whole wheat bread machine recipe for your bread machine:

Every machine has it's quirks and has a ratio it likes best. This recipe is perfect in my machine, and with the tips in the flour section above, it should be in your machine too.

That said, take a peek at your dough during the first kneading cycle - 10 or so minutes in. The dough should be smooth and forming a nice ball.

If the dough is sticky, you may need more flour (or to check the Note On Flour Section above). If the dough is lumpy and shaggy, then you may need more liquid.

Check out my bread machine troubleshooting guide for more information.

More bread recipes:

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