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Soft Airy 100% Whole Wheat Bread. This Sandwich bread is 100% whole grain, no refined flour and is soft and delicious. Vegan Recipe Jump to Recipe
A good sandwich bread is a like a dream. Soft, airy, gorgeous crumb, all whole grain, no unknown additives, dough conditioners and most importantly great tasting. Now the last part is the most difficult of the lot.
Most whole grain or grain and seed breads from the market fall a bit short on the taste factor. I don’t know what they do, but the breads are just too sweet tasting and generally have an odd after taste. And they never work out great to make sweet or savory french toasts (they get so soggy). Its not like they make great sandwiches. Grill them, and taste cardboard. On the other hand some of the artisan style breads dislike my teeth. I mean can you ever bite into them without breaking something!
Or maybe I am too finicky. :). Anywho, some of those problems are non-existent with this gorgeous loaf of bread. This bread has just 3 main ingredients, whole wheat flour, water, yeast! No other flour. And it is soft and delicious! And not dense.
Makes perfect sandwiches and french toasts. I add lemon juice and cumin to change up the flavor a bit from the earthy wheat. Try it. Add orange juice instead of lemon. You can add some vital wheat gluten so the bread doesnt make too many crumbs when sliced.
Make this 100% Whole Wheat Bread !
Look at those slices!
More Sandwich loafs from the blog
- Whole Grain Seed Bread Recipe
- White Bean Sandwich Bread Loaf. Vegan Recipe
- Vegan Sprouted Wheat Millet Sandwich Bread Recipe
- Strawberry Sandwich Loaf. GF V
Steps Pictures: Scroll below for recipe.
Make the sponge mixture (see recipe instructions below). Let it sit for an hour. Knead with the rest of the flour. Press the dough into a rectangle, fold the edges. Then fold into a jelly roll. Place in bread pan.
Spray water on top, sprinkle sesame seeds or oats, spray water again. Cover with a towel and let rise.
Once the roll doubles or rises well above the pan edge, bake.
Remove from the pan after 10 minutes. Then cool completely before slicing with a serrated knife. Adapted from Dave’s Whole wheat bread.
100% Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Sponge:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup warm water
- 2.5 tbsp maple syrup or other sweetener of choice
- 3 teaspoon active yeast, (2.25 tsp works as well if it’s new strong yeast)
Bread:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 to 1.5 tsp lemon or lime juice
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp water
- oil or vegan butter as needed.
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients under Sponge in a bowl. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes until a smooth batter and you can feel the gluten forming. It will start to get a bit stringy
- Let the bowl sit for 1 hour in a warm place. (Use a large bowl as the sponge will triple)
- In a stand mixer, add the sponge. Mix the salt into the 2 cups flour and add the flour to the stand mixer. Start kneading. Add in the oil, cumin, lemon juice and water and continue to knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Check the dough to see if it needs more flour or water (it should be soft and smooth. not stiff and not sticky). Add more water if needed. .
- Knead for another 5 to 8 minutes. The dough should not break immediately when a small portion is pulled out. (I knead at setting 2 on my kitchen aid). You can let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes at this point.
- Shape the dough into a fat 9 by 5 rectangle. Fold in the 5 inch side. then roll the longer side like a jelly roll. Seal by pinching. Roll the log a little to even it out in thickness. Place in the parchment lined or well greased bread pan (9 by 5 inch). Spray water on top. Sprinkle sesame seeds or oats. Spray water again. Cover with a towel and let rise for 50 minutes to an hour or until it doubles or the bread domes over the pan edge. (You want to give the bread enough time to rise and get airy. the time depends on the ambient temperature.)Spray water, then spray oil on the top.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180ºc. Bake the bread for 40 minutes.
- Remove the bread pan from the oven and brush oil or vegan butter on top. Remove the bread from the pan after 5 to 10 minutes. Let it cool completely before slicing with a serrated knife.
- Store in a bread container on the counter for upto 2 days or refrigerate for upto a week.
Notes
Add 2 tsp molasses for deeper flavor and color.
Add 2 tbsp orange juice instead of water and omit lemon juice.
Note: If using other flours like white whole wheat flour or chapati atta, you might need a bit more or less water.
If kneading by hand. Knead a few minutes longer. Throw the dough onto the counter a few times between kneading to help with the gluten formation. Nutritional values base on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Troubleshoot:
If the bread dough rises well before baking and the dome falls during baking:
- The dough got over proofed / over risen. Depending on the ambient temp in the kitchen or wherever you leave the bread to rise you might need less time for the bread dough in the loaf to rise to just about double the original dough size. Anything more than double means the bread is over rising and the gluten will not be able to hold the dome eventually.
- Too much moisture. If the dough is too sticky and has too much moisture, the bread will rise but the dome will be too wet to hold its shape during baking
- bread dough was not kneaded enough. Any of the above issues (in small amounts i.e slightly over risen, slightly over moist) can be handled by the gluten if the bread was kneaded enough to form the gluten well. You want to knead the bread till it is smooth (at least 5 to 7 minutes) and when you pull the dough apart, it doesn’t just break off, but gets elastic before breaking.
If the bread dough does not rise much
- The yeast is old or died somewhere in the steps. Too hot water or salt directly added to the yeast will kill the yeast.
- Ambient temperature was too cold. Yeast activity slows in cooler temperature. Let the bread sit for longer time until it is just about double the original dough size before baking.
- Bread dough was too stiff/had less moisture. Spritz water on the dough every 10 minutes during rising to incorporate some moisture and let the dough rise for longer time until it is almost double.
For Softer, more moist bread, add a bit more oil. Let the dough rise for half an hour before shaping into a loaf. Knead the dough really well for good gluten formation, which will help hold the bread structure with more air.
Hi Vegan Richa,
Can I substitute spelt flour for whole wheat flour? Are there any adjustments I would need to make to the recipe?
Thanks
Spelt will not work as well because of the low gluten in it. With spelt you might need to add a 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten for the bread to work well, else it will come out too dense. Or use 1/2 spelt and 1/2 unbleached white flour( all purpose).
Hi, Richa! Great recipe! Can instant yeast be used in this recipe? If can, do I need to warm the water for the sponge? Will there be any difference in the rising time? If yes, how many minutes? Thanks!
You can use instant yeast. Follow the same method. Keep an eye on the bread dough during the second rise. Bake it as soon as it doubles (which can be 5 or so minutes earlier)
I’ve made so much bread in a lifetime but WW was never what I hoped for when I made it. This rose extremely well and was delicious!! I made the flour from wheat berries using the vitamix.
So our 10 month old granddaughter had 100% WW bread from Wheat Berries and Richa she along with all the adults loved it. I grind cumin fresh so it was a bit cumminy but just a great loaf of bread. It will be our go to bread for WW.
Thanks for the fun
Awesome!
Thank you for the great recipe. I made it and the bread is delicious but it did not rise much above the top of the bread pan; I left the sponge in a warm kitchen (around 80 degrees) for an hour but it did not really triple, it seemed more like it doubled. For the second rise (on the warm top of the preheated oven) the bread also did not double in the pan within an hour, and since I already misread the total time as 2 hours instead of 2 hours 45 mins I was up past my bedtime and put it into the oven anyway. I used 1 packet of instant yeast (1/4 oz) — which is supposed to raise 4 cups of flour… Next time I’ll also check the water temp with a thermometer, maybe my water was not warm enough. I did use a thermometer to check for doneness and took it out at 197 degrees, although I probably should have let it get to 205, I just didn’t want to stay up any later. I didn’t cut into the middle of the loaf yet, but hopefully it all cooked! Thank you!
Since this is a whole grain bread, you want it to rise as much as possible. The rise time depends on the ambient temperature and other factors. So it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours for doubling. Err on the side of more rise. Thanks for trying it out!
Thank you, next time I will let it rise as long as it needs! When I typed “whole wheat vegan bread recipe” into Google, your recipe was the “answer,” so congrats! It was also a simpler, faster recipe than others I saw 🙂
A year and a half later (haha, I guess I don’t bake bread often!) I baked this again and I still love your recipe!
Thanks for the feedback, I let the rises go for longer, in a slightly warm oven and it helped! It almost got too warm, next time I need to turn off the “warm” bake sooner.
I came back to correct my temperatures that I wrote above, because it should only cook to a temp of 190 degrees F according to: https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/04/07/using-a-thermometer-with-yeast-bread/
In my oven I think this only takes around 35 minutes, and I slightly overcooked by accident but it’s still lovely. It’s not completely cool yet but I had 2 pieces already =)
Thanks again =)
Oh I forgot to say this time I used 1 packet of instant yeast plus 3/4 teaspoon of a 2nd packet of instant yeast. Probably not necessary, but I’m commenting for my own future reference since I’ll probably find your recipe and be surprised to read my old comments that I had forgotten I wrote, next time I bake bread, probably in the year 2019 lol 🙂 🙂
I have no experience baking bread (I’m much more comfortable with a grill than an oven), but I am trying to move away from processed foods, so I decided to try this. I did not have high hopes, due to my inexperience, but this bread came out AMAZING! Thank you for the easy, yet detailed recipe!
I would like to try and put in some basil and garlic or cilantro and jalepeno in my next loaf. Would I just add those during the kneading? Any suggestion on how much to add?
Thanks again!
thats awesome!! 2 tbsp of chopped herbs or jalapeno. for garlic you might want to slice the bread and add some vegan butter and minced garlic on top and toast it. garlic baked inside the bread isnt as flavorful. You can also use the dough to make garlic knots.
You can add some vegan parm in the dough (start with 2 tbsp) or use it as topping.
Hi Richa,thanks for the recipe, I have couple of questions,can u pl help in clarifying those,
1.Can I use Ashirwad multigrain flour that we get in Indian super markets? Will the recipe holds good for this flour or I have to use organic whole wheat flour?
2.Any substitute for vital wheat gluten? I doubt if we get easily in India.
3. Can I use a combination of wheat flour nd all purpose flour if I have to skip vital wheat gluten and results will be the same after following the above recipe?
Pl let me know,
Thanks,
Hi Smitha,
1. No, the bread will not work with the multigrain flour. You can use a combination of half multigrain flour and half all purpose.
2. You can omit the wheat gluten. Be sure to knead the dough until smooth.
3. Yes, use half wheat and half all purpose and omit the vital wheat gluten.
Thanks
Richa
I have no experience baking breads (I’m much more comfortable with a grill than an oven), but I wanted to try this as I’m trying to move away from processed foods. I was a little skeptical as to how I would do, but this came out AMAZING! Excellent instructions, thank you!
I would like I would like to add some basil, garlic, and parmesan to my next loaf. Would I just add them in during the kneading? And do you have any suggestions on the amount I should put in? Thanks again.
Hi, one question, How many calories in per slice of this loan?
you can plug the recipe into caloriecounter or myfitnesspal and find the nutritional info.
Hi Richa! I really want to use this recipe but I have a few questions: can I just use 1 package (2 1/4 tsps) of yeast? Also, can I substitute white granulated sugar for the maple syrup?
Thanks!
yes you can use 1 packet yeast. use 2 tbsp sugar.
Thank you so much for your quick reply! I think I’m ready to make this, I”ll make this next week. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Richa, I just made your whole wheat bread and I was disappointed with the result. I followed everything exactly, except I kneaded the dough by hand. I kneaded the dough for 20-25 minutes and it wasn’t sticky anymore. The dough was kind of elastic as well. When I pulled the dough, it did break but it stretched a little.
The bread turned out hard and not soft and airy…is it because I kneaded the dough wrong or..??
Did the bread rise well in the second rise and double in size? if it didn’t then it probably needed some more time to rise depending on the ambient temperature and gluten formation. If it did rise well, then maybe the oven is running hotter and over baked the bread. Even with the overbaking, the bread should soften as it cools completely. Is it hard on the inside?
You can make the bread into croutons or breadcrumbs.
Yes the bread rose well…I baked the bread at 350F for 40 minutes..The bread was still dense and not soft on the inside when it was cooled.
Was it because I didn’t knead the bread enough..?
It could be the kneading or just that the bread needed a bit more rise to a bit more than double. sometimes is hard to know what happened.
Also, it is a all wheat bread, so it will be different than white breads (quite hearty whole grain, which makes it feel quite dense compared to white breads). Maybe try the bread with half wheat and half white flour to see how you like that texture. You also want to slice it thinner.
Thank you for taking your time to respond to the comments I appreciated it.
Is it a good idea to redu ce the amount of whole wheat flour? When I made the bread, the mixture was shaggy and looks pretty dry..
Add more water. I think that could have been the problem that the moisture wasn’t enough. There are different wheat and the flours can absorb water differently. you can always adjust the moisture by adding more or using less dry flour.
I don’t know what happened to my dough. I was so excited to make this and actully be able to eat a sandwich. lol
The sponge rose perfectly, but the bread barely rose in the bread pans. ????
The bread is really good and everyone likes it, it just isn’t sanwhich worthy bread.
Hi Nicole,
I am not sure what happened. The dough needs enough moisture and warmth to rise well. This is especially needed because it is a whole grain bread. If the moisture in the dough was less or if the ambient temperature was too cool, it will take longer to rise. If the sponge rose well, then the yeast is good. Let the dough rise for a longer time, as long as another 15-25 minutes until it doubles and then bake. Spray some water on the bread, cover with a towel and keep it close to the warming oven until it rises to about double the original size.
Hope this helps.
Richa