This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
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!
I make whole grain bread every week and I I was looking for a good recipe.
Latest week, I tried your recipe and it was so good!
Of course, I added 1/2 cup water to my final dough.
Thank you for your sharing this recipe!
How would you make this using a bread machine?
Dunno
Thanks for the recipe! It came out softer than other recipes. Just one question,can i add more honey to make it more honey taste and how much to add extra? Thanks😊
Hi Richa ,
The flour that I used is the ashirwaad multi grain flour. I got the yeast just last week and the sponge rose well, so I don’t think the problem is with the yeast.
Is it because of the multigrain flour which contains maize , soy , barley etc.?? Also while I was kneading the dough wasn’t very soft and I wasn’t sure if I needed to add extra water. Do you have a video of this above recipe where I can see the consistency of the dough ?
Yes, it is the multigrain flour. There will not be enough gluten in that flour. This bread is made specifically for 100% wheat flour. Wheat flour is a heavy and dense flour and when used as a direct substitute in a while bread recipe, it would yield a dense result. So i worked on a recipe where it would not be too dense and yield airy, soft bread. This recipe relies on the gluten content of the flour.
Soy, maize are all gluten-free flours and will inhibit gluten formation while kneading. For a multigrain bread with a mixed flour like that, you would have to use a combination of the multigrain flour and all purpose flour and 1 tbsp vital wheat gluten powder (or use more all purpose flour). Without the added gluten, the dough is very likely going to be heavy as there wont be enough gluten formation to hold the structure of the rising dough.
Hi Richa,
I exactly followed the recipe and the procedure but my bread turned out to be a big inedible failure. It was like a hard piece of log and had a very distinct bitter taste like baking powder. The sponge rose well
as you mentioned but the bread in the loaf pan did not rise much. After baking it turned hard and super dense. This was my first attempt and I am so disheartened. Could you give me a few tips and suggestions as to what went wrong?
hmm, there is no baking powder in it, so i wonder what the flavor was. What flour did you use?
As mentioned in the troubleshooting, if the bread is not rising enough before baking, then it will not rise while baking either. Since it is a whole grain bread, it needs all the air else it bakes up dense. It maybe that the yeast is old, or the type of flour.
With the current bread, you can make it into breadcrumbs. Slice and dry out at 250 deg F, then put it in a processor or in a bag and hit with a rolling pin.
Made this tonight and it was absolutely perfect!!! This is now my go to whole wheat bread recipe! Thank you so much!
awesome!
Hi Richa! Your bread recipe looks fantastic and so simple! I’ve not been having a good run with baking breads and I reallly hoping I can lay that yeast monster to rest with your recipe here! Just a quick thing, I live in Bangalore, India and I only have good quality instant yeast on hand. Can I use that instead of the yeast that you mention? If yes, how much of it? Thanks a ton!! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Yes, use the same amount. Keep an eye on the dough, you want it just about double risen and not more, which might be faster or slower depending on the yeast and the ambient temps there.
Hi, can I reduce the amount of yeast as I don’t want it to smell too yeasty? What’s the purpose of the sponge? Is it necessary, can it be sub or skipped and what kind of recipes can it also be used? And I would be using instant yeast, is it possible? Thank you!
You can use 2.5 or 2 tsp. The yeast gets cooked out and there is no yeast flavor. Sponge is to trap the moisture in the mixture. Whole grain breads can easily become dry and dense and the recipe is so it comes out light soft and airy. Instant yeast is fine, use the same method.
I tried it and it had a good rise just like the one in the picture. i followed the instructions but changed it. i used half strong wholewheat bread flour, and half white organic spelt flour, i left out the oil and sweetener and kept the rest of th eingredients and added 1/8 tsp of ascorbic acid powder and i used my bread machine to kneed it, then i baked it in my Halogen oven which i believe it helps it to cook fast and rise better
Thats great!
I’ve tried this recipe a number of times with sprouted whole wheat bread and my loaves have not really risen to the height in your pictures. I follow the recipe with only adjustments of 1 packet of yeast and applesauce in place of oil. The very first time I made it,it came out great. Times after that have been slowly lessening in quality. Not sure what i am doing differently I follow the recipe. Today’s attempt the bread came out very dense, was dense while I was needing after adding ingredients to the sponge mixture. Didn’t rise afterward. Help!
hmm, maybe the yeast is getting old? Maybe the ambient temp is colder and it needs warmer place to rise like sitting inside the warm oven? I havent used sprouted wheat flour before so I am not sure how the gluten content is in it. You can add 1-2 tbsp vital wheat gluten to the flour to help with better gluten formation that will hold the air in better.