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
- 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
- Add warm water, butter, salt and honey to the loaf pan of your bread machine.
- Add flour, and sprinkle yeast on top of the flour.
- Return bread pan to the bread machine.
- Set to desired whole wheat setting – On my Breville Bread Maker I usually use Bake Rapid – Whole Wheat – 1.5 pound loaf – Medium Crust.
- 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 = ______%
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:
If you love this recipe, please give it a star rating or leave a comment below! This helps me to create more content you enjoy!
📖 Printable Recipe
Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoon butter cubed
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 ½ cups unbleached flour
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
Instructions
- Add 1 cup warm water, 2 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon fine salt and 2 tablespoon honey to the baking basket of your bread machine.
- Add 1 ½ cups unbleached flour 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, and sprinkle 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast on top of the flour.
- Return baking basket to bread machine.
- Set to desired whole wheat setting – I usually use Bake Rapid – Whole Wheat – 1.5lbs – Medium Crust.
- Allow bread to cool before cutting.
Notes
Recommended Equipment + Ingredients
Nutrition
Pin this bread machine whole wheat recipe!
I made this on the weekend and it was a huge hit with my boys and hubby! We have a big pail of honey that I bought last week that was begging to be used.
This recipe will be a regular in my house. Thanks Ally!
Ahh! I’m so glad you loved it ❤️
I made this and it was wonderful, despite being a bit overbaked, since my bread machine onlymalliws a 2 lb loaf setting on whole wheat fast rise. I am atempting again today on the regular whole wheat setting.
I used bread flour as advised for the higher protein content. Usually, I jump right to the recipe, but I am glad I took the time to read your explanation of the difference in Canadian and American a.p. flour, I chose non GMO flour, since almost all regular US flour is genetically modified.
THanks for a great recipe my husband loves! (I can’t eat too much bread fue to a gastric bypass issue, but I did try a crustynedge with butter YUM!)
Gina
Awesome to hear! I’m glad it was a hit for your family, Gina!
Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe. Tried it for the first time and it is scrumptious! I’m holding myself back from eating the whole loaf! How do you store the bread? I would like to use it for sandwiches throughout the week! Thanks again!
I’m so glad you love it! I will often slice completely then freeze and remove slices from the freezer as required. The best thing about homemade bread is that it’s sooo yummy, but the worst thing is that it doesn’t store well because there are no preservatives!
Hey, Ally!! I made a loaf today for my family and they ate half of it in one sitting. My almost 2 year old tot just kept asking for more! 🙂 what is the storing time and how wouLd you store it if not using a fReezer? Thanks!
So glad to hear your little one loved it! Unfortunately, homemade bread sure doesn’t last long because there are no preservatives. I would probably halve it, and store in a zip top bag for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for a couple weeks.
Just wanted you to konw that 1 cup water was too less. i used 11/2 cup water.
the recipe has turned out to be excellent with more than expected fluffiness and great taste.
I have Tried several bread machine recipes recently. This one is a keeper! Perfect pb and j bread. I will be making this often.
Awesome to hear! It’s a family favourite here for sure!
Hi Ally! Thank you for the excellent recipe. Im in canada too. Can i use all purpose flour For the white flour? Did i read this correctly? Also you mentioned rapid bake. I have a sunbeam machine which says use bread flour for “express” bake, which is done in like an hour. Can i do this in the regular 3 hour cycle? Thanks for your help.
Yes certainly use all-purpose! I use unbleached AP as a matter of preference. As for the baking settings, my Breville has a “rapid bake” setting that works in conjunction with the whole wheat setting. I use that one out of the desire to have it done sooner, but the full-length whole wheat setting will work the same!
I made this with King Arthur Bread flour and Wegma whole wheat. My bread mac was misbeh and I was only able to use the first white bread sett but the bread came out perfe! this is a keeper! thank you!
Hi there,
I was wondering if you have tried to bake the loaf in the oven? I want to use my bread machine on the dough setting and remove the dough to rise and bake in the oven. Any ideas for timing and temperature to bake in the oven?
Hey Christine, I haven’t! But if I did, here’s what I’d do.
Make the dough as stated in the recipe in the bread maker, once the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough onto a floured surface and form into log/ logs, depending on the size of your bread pans. Place the dough into greased pan (s). Allow the dough to rise in the pan covered with a damp towel for 45 minutes or so. When the dough is about 20 minutes away from being fully risen, preheat the oven to 375f. Bake the bread for 35-45 minutes. The crust should be nicely browned and the underside sounds hollow when knocked.
this was tHe first recipe i used in my bread maker (newbie here!) and it turned Out pErfect…thanks so much! TRying your no knead bread today!
Christine, that’s awesome! Here’s to more success!
I just baked this today. I used your above directions for using the bread machine dough setting and then letting rise in th loaf pan and baking. And it turned out incredible. I followed your reciped and instructions to the t. I wouldn’t change a thing. So darn good. We ate half of it and now I have a second loaf in the machine. I would use my machine to bake it if I had a horizontal baking machine, but I have an older model, and the weird square loaf just doens’t work for toast. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
So happy to hear you loved it! <3 That made my day!
This was fantastic! I can not believe how great this turned out, so delicious and soft! I did have to convert it to a 1lb for my machine and converted to weight measurements. Thanks so much!
I’m new to the whole bread machine thing (love it and love this recipe) do you know what the ingredient amounts would be for a 2lb loaf?
I don’t! I do have a 2 lb white bread recipe that you could sub some of the unbleached flour for whole wheat! Best Bread Machine Recipe
Love this recipe-it’s easy, and so good!
This bread recipe is AMAZING!!! I’ve tried several different wheat recipes and they always turn out dense. We only eat wheat bread so I had given up and went back to store bought. I’m so glad I found your recipe, it was a hit with the family. I’ve made it twice already. This is definitely my go to. Can’t wait to try more recipes on your site.
I love to hear this! Thank you for sharing <3
Has anyone added chia seeds to this recipe?
I made this bread today.
Need to practice a bit more. I needed to make it softer on the inside and add milk to the recipe it was a bit crumbly needs to the milk as a binder). The hard shell came up good holds really soft bread well.
The crumbly inside could be due to measurement differences. When you’re scooping the flour, how are you doing it?
Have a new Cuisinart bread machine and I’m trying to find recipes that work…had a few disappointments but am ready to keep trying! We usually only use sprouted grains flour…I use the Annie brand from BC! Cannot seem to get the measurements adjusted properly!! Bread is great until the last few minutes of the bake then it collapses!!
Thank You!
I am so sorry Emily, I don’t have a lot of experience with sprouted flour. I do believe that sprouted flour would produce a different loaf and crumb than regular flour. If you have eliminated the other alternatives, like weak yeast, bakers percentage, etc, I would say the next culprit would be the flour.
I’m wondering if there are less consumable starches for the yeast in sprouted flour and if less yeast would get the job done. Here’s what I would try if it were me… and this is just shooting from the hip – reduce the liquid by 2 tablespoons, add a bit less yeast, like 1/2 teaspoon less.
In this I add 50 leaves of Rosemary and half cup Shredded cheeze. I use milk instead of water.
Yum! That sounds amazing!
Could I use instant yeast instead of bread machine yeast?
Yes, you can! Use it as directed in the recipe and you’ll be good to go. I have an article regarding bread machine yeast substitutes if you’re interested!
This bread is super yummy and easy to make. My husband and I are going to make another loaf tonight. Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you two love it!
I haven’t made this yet but it looks/sounds delicious! I’m wondering about high altitude changes. Do I just follow regular high altitude adjustments? An extra quarter cup of flour and two tablespoons of water.
Hi Sharlee, I am not a high altitude baker, so I can’t speak to this with any authority, but if that is the standard adaptation, I would be willing to give it a try! If you do, please let me know, I will make a note with your altitude and the adjustments for future bakers 🙂
Turned out perfect this is going to be my go to whole wheat recipe!
Looks yummy
Just made this bread this morning, it is delicious and such a good riser! Followed your directions for baking it in the oven and it worked perfectly. I have an older bread machine and don’t like the way the bread bakes in it, but it works great for mixing and the first rise for bread and rolls. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I just made this following your instructions to the letter (except I didn’t use the Ultra-Fast setting) in my recently-purchased Cuisinart bread machine. The dough over-ran the pan, and the bread didn’t cook in the middle. The taste is wonderful, but the recipe didn’t work for my machine. Will not make again.
Hey Melody, sorry to hear that… Is the capacity of your bread maker high enough for this recipe? That’s the only thing I can think that would make this recipe overflow?