Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread You Won’t Hate

You want to make a nice whole wheat sandwich bread, but every time you do, it’s dense, and everyone just wants white bread. Well, your problems are over. This recipe is soft and yummy while remaining 100% whole wheat, thanks to honey and vital wheat gluten. Please keep in mind that no wheat bread recipe will give you the super soft and fluffy texture of white bread. But we will do our best. 😊

You can alter this recipe by substituting some white flour until it’s more to your liking. You can also substitute some wheat flour in a white flour recipe, but do it slowly, starting with about a quarter of the flour.

Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need

The vital wheat gluten helps strengthen the dough, giving us a better rise and a lighter, fluffier loaf. And the honey helps to add moisture since whole wheat needs more hydration.

I do recommend a stand mixer for this, as the gluten in the dough is very slow to develop, and kneading by hand takes forever! You’ll never regret a Bosch mixer if you make bread a lot.

This will make one loaf, but I suggest you make more and freeze the loaves for later. To double or triple this recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Equipment

• Stand mixer
• Loaf pan

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1¼ cups water, warm or room temperature
• 2¼ teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten, optional, for improved rise and texture

How to Make Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

It’s important to note that the texture and rise of your whole wheat bread will inherently be different from white bread. Whole wheat bread will have a heartier texture and a richer, nuttier flavor. A lot of people like that! Some don’t.

Step One: Mix The Dough

Put flour and salt in a big bowl. Add the wheat gluten if you’re using it. Pour in the oil, water, yeast, and honey. Stir until it comes together. Add a little water if it’s too dry, or flour if it’s too sticky.

Step Two: Knead It

This takes longer than white bread – about 10 minutes in a mixer or 15-20 minutes by hand. Keep going until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Shape it into a ball.

Step Three: First Rise

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it double in size. Takes about 1 to 1½ hours. Whole wheat is slower than white bread, so be patient.

Step Four: Shape The Loaf

Fold the dough into thirds, then roll it up. Pinch the seams closed and put it in a greased 9×5 loaf pan, seam side down.

Step Five: Second Rise

Cover and let it rise for 45-60 minutes. Heat your oven to 350℉ near the end of this time.

Step Six: Bake

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. It should sound hollow when you tap the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Serving & Storing

We love using this for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for back-to-school lunches.

Once it’s completely cool, wrap it in plastic wrap or put it in an airtight container. It’ll stay good on the counter for 3 days.

If you want to keep it longer, slice the whole loaf first, then freeze it in a freezer bag. You can pull out just what you need and toast it straight from frozen.

Don’t put it in the fridge – that actually makes bread go stale faster.

Questions and Troubleshooting

More Sandwich Bread Recipes

Once you start making your own loaves, it will be hard to go back to store-bought.

• This is the cheapest bread recipe and uses only six ingredients!
• We make this honey wheat bread recipe every August for back-to-school sandwiches. It’s a nice blend of wheat and white flour.
• Once you’re ready to try something new, I’ve got a sourdough sandwich bread for you.

Printable Recipe