Grocery prices just keep rising and we’re all feeling it, so I decided to revisit some of my old bread recipes. Because if there ever was a time to learn how to make homemade bread, it’s now! It only takes a couple of dollars to make this super delish homemade honey wheat bread that is soft, fluffy, flavorful, and perfect for toast or sandwiches. And while it does take some time to make a loaf of bread, most of that is hands-off time that you can use to tend to other business. ;)
What’s in Honey Wheat Bread?
This recipe starts with the basic yeast bread ingredients: flour, salt, and yeast. Then I added a little honey to give the bread just a hint of sweetness and a little olive oil which helps keep the bread (and the crust in particular) nice and soft. I’ve used a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour for this bread to keep the texture light and fluffy.
Can I use All Whole Wheat Flour?
While you can make bread with 100% whole wheat flour instead of a mix of white and wheat, that tends to produce heavier, dense bread. Whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture than all-purpose flour, so you may need to adjust the ratios in this bread slightly. I find that for the best texture, a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour produces the best results.
How to Store Homemade Bread
It’s very important to let homemade bread cool completely to room temperature before storing to prevent trapping steam and creating condensation. Homemade bread doesn’t contain preservatives like store-bought bread, so you’ll need to either consume the bread quickly or freeze it for longer storage. (Or make bread pudding with the leftovers!)
If storing your bread at room temperature, wrap the bread in cloth or paper to allow just enough airflow to prevent moisture build-up. Homemade bread will last about 2-3 days stored at room temperature.
If storing in the refrigerator, keep the bread in an air-tight container. This is my preferred method because I don’t usually eat bread that quickly. Bread stored in the refrigerator will stay good for about 5-6 days.
If you need to store your bread for longer, freeze it. I suggest slicing the bread prior to freezing so you can thaw or use 1-2 slices at a time as needed without thawing the entire loaf. I often toast my slices straight from the freezer for convenience! Make sure to freeze the bread in an air-tight, heavy-duty, freezer-safe container (like a freezer bag).
New to making homemade bread? Try our super easy No-Knead Bread!
Honey Wheat Bread
Servings 12 slicesIngredients
- 1.25 cup warm water ($0)
- 2 tsp active dry yeast or instant yeast ($0.34)
- 2 Tbsp honey ($0.50)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil ($0.36)
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour* ($0.57)
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour* ($0.38)
- 1/2 Tbsp salt ($0.05)
Instructions
- Stir the yeast and 1 Tbsp of the honey into the warm water until dissolved, then set it aside for about five minutes to allow the yeast to activate. A thick layer of foam should develop on the surface of the water.
- While waiting for the yeast to bloom, stir together 1 cup of the whole wheat flour with the salt.
- Once the yeast is foamy, add the rest of the honey (1 Tbsp) and the olive oil and stir to combine. Pour the yeast water into the bowl with the flour and salt, then stir until combined. Add ½ cup more of whole wheat flour and stir until combined again.
- Now start adding all-purpose flour, ½ cup at a time, until you can no longer stir the dough with a spoon. At that point, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and begin to knead all-purpose flour into the dough, a little at a time.
- Knead the dough for about five minutes, slowly adding flour as you knead, or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands, but is still fairly pliable. I used 1.5 cups all-purpose flour total, but the total flour amount will vary with the type of flour used and relative humidity in the room.
- Place the kneaded dough back into the mixing bowl and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise at room temperature for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
- Lightly coat a bread pan with oil. Punch the dough down to deflate, then take the dough out of the bowl. Shape the dough into a log about the same length of your bread pan.
- Place the shaped dough in the bread pan and let it rise for anohter hour, or until it has risen about 2-inches above the edges of the bread pan.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Once fully preheated, add the risen bread and bake for 30 minutes, or until the bread is deeply golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool just a few minutes (to make it easier to handle), then carefully remove the bread from the pan to fully cool.
- Once cool, slice and serve your delicious homemade bread!
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Honey Wheat Bread – Step By Step Photos
Start by dissolving 1 Tbsp honey and 2 tsp instant yeast or active dry yeast in 1.25 cups of warm water. Set the mixture aside to allow the yeast to bloom. It should develop a thick layer of foam on the surface.
While waiting for the yeast to bloom, add 1 cup whole wheat flour to a bowl with ½ Tbsp salt and stir to combine.
Once the yeast has bloomed, stir another 1 Tbsp honey and 3 Tbsp olive oil into the yeast water, then pour that mixture into the bowl with the flour and salt. Stir to combine.
Stir another ½ cup of whole wheat flour into the dough.
Now start adding in all-purpose flour, ½ cup at a time until you can no longer stir the dough with a spoon.
When a shaggy ball of dough forms that can no longer be stirred with a spoon, it’s time to turn the dough out onto a floured surface to knead.
Begin kneading in more all-purpose flour a little at a time. Knead for about five minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands, but is still pliable. I used about 1.5 cups all-purpose flour in total, but the total flour amount can vary depending on the type of flour used and the relative humidity in the room.
Place the kneaded dough back into the mixing bowl and cover it with a towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for one hour, or until doubled in size.
Once doubled in size, punch the dough down to deflate. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a log the same length as your bread pan.
Lightly coat a bread pan with olive oil then place the shaped dough inside. Let the bread rise for another hour, or until it has risen about two inches above the top of the bread pan.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Once the bread has risen, transfer the bread to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is deeply brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
After 30 minutes, remove the bread from the oven. Let it cool for just a few minutes to make it easier to handle, then carefully remove it from the bread pan to finish cooling.
Once cooled, slice and serve the bread, or store it for later!
Yep, the texture is the only thing that should change if you use all whole wheat. Go for it! I hope you enjoy it :)
i only have light whole wheat flour and my boyfriend won’t get any all purpose flour, he says until we use up the flour we have, there is no need to get more, he’s stubborn so i can’t really change his mind haha. so my question is, can i just use whole wheat flour for this recipe, i understand it’ll be more dense but he likes it that way. so can i go for it??
Yes, active dry yeast will work just fine :)
Would active dry yeast work for this recipe as well?
I’m making this bread for the third time today. I love it! I’ll never go back to being happy with store-bought bread.
Sarah, I use Fleischmann’s and have made this bread with both active dry and instant yeast. Make sure the water that you dissolve the yeast in is really really warm (almost hot). If you happen to have a thermometer, it should be between 100 and 110 degrees F. Keep trying! You’ll get the hang of it and then you’ll be able to do it with your eyes closed! :)
My bread didn’t rise..i have so much trouble making breads in general.. what kind of yeast do you use? brand name etc… my yeast never got frothy ..help!
It looks a bit dense :( We’ll see when I cut into it tomorrow. I will try again!
Sarah, you do have to be quite gentle or else it can collapse. It feels strange but you have to cut with no diwnward pressure at all, just drag the knife horizontally. I hope it still tastes okay!
I’m making this now… when I went to cut the top it deflated!! So I let it rise a hair longer before putting it into the oven. I wonder why it did that.
I just started making this loaf and half way through I realized I didn’t have enough AP flour for kneading so I just used some extra WW flour. I hope that it doesn’t come out too dense, but it looks okay. I am just waiting for the first rise now.
Freddie – instant yeast should work fine. IMHO, using all whole wheat makes bread too dense. Although, someone once sent me a link to a page on how to make your own dough conditioners, which should help. Unfortunately the link was broken otherwise I’d pass it on to you! But, I’m sure you could find something similar with a quick google search. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!
I have been making our bread for several months now and I am on the hunt for the perfect loaf of sandwich whole wheat. Do you think this recipie can be made with all ww or do you need to split it so it’s not to dense. I also use instant yeast that should be ok to right?
Great, thanks!
Kayla, I’ve never used a bread machine but I think I understand how you will need to modify the recipe. If you are using bread machine yeast, it does not require being dissolved or proofed in the warm water first. So, just add the ingredients like you would normally in a bread machine recipe. I think that will work! Good luck!