Easy Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This is the easiest way to bake delicious Honey Whole Wheat bread. Use your bread maker to mix the dough and then finish baking it in your oven. You can use all-whole wheat bread flour or a mix of all-whole and all-purpose flour. There is minor cleanup, and you keep your hands and kitchen counter clean.

Why Use a Bread Maker to mix the dough vs your mixer

When our kids were young (1986), my mother-in-law gifted me a Bosch Mixer and a Magic Mill, which I still have; they both work perfectly fine and do use once in a while when I want to bake five loaves of bread at a time. I find the Bosch easy to use but a pain to wash. Since our household is smaller now, I prefer using the dough cycle on my Zojirushi Bread Machine to mix the dough, then bake the loaf in the oven, either in a glass bread pan or the small Pullman Bread Pan. I have a Kitchen-Aid mixer, but I never seem to get the dough right, and I wore out one mixer already.

This new method of using the Bread Maker and baking the bread in the oven is a game changer. There is no mess on the kitchen counter. I’m just washing two bread pans, so it’s no problem. You can even make a loaf of bread at home or on a Sunday afternoon. I usually bake a loaf on Sunday, then again on Wednesday, or as needed.

You can use this bread for sandwiches and toast in the morning, especially with peanut butter and honey, and even topped with sliced banana. After making this bread, you will not want to return to store-bought bread. My husband and I both find that store-bought bread has an unpleasant texture and can have a chemical taste. Yes, there are a few good choices at the store, but I’m not willing to pay over $6.00 for a loaf of bread when I can make it for way less and pronounce all the ingredients.

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Bread Flour – I use organic whole white wheat flour from Azure Standard.

Unbleached All-Purpose Flour – I use Organic All-purpose flour from either Costco or Azure Standard

Dry Active Yeast – I think any baking yeast will work

Honey – Can be substituted with maple syrup or sugar. If using sugar, I would add an extra tablespoon of water

Avocado Oil

Salt

Vital Wheat Gluten (optional)

Water

Jump to Recipe

The recipe card below will include a complete list of ingredients and exact measurements.

Instructions and tips on how to bake Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Layer in your bread maker the ingredients in this order:

Water, honey, oil, salt, flour, yeast, and vital wheat gluten if used. When adding the yeast, make a small well in the flour so the yeast does not come in contact with the water. I added salt with the liquid ingredients since salt and yeast are not friends.

Place the dough pan in your bread maker and set it on the dough setting. Once your dough is ready to be baked, spray your bread pan with cooking spray, a glass pan, or a Pullman pan, and place your bread dough in the oven, with the light on, to rise for 45 minutes. Once 45 minutes have passed, remove the bread dough from the oven and turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Once your oven has been pre-heated, bake your bread for 35 minutes. When you remove your bread from the oven, dump it out of the bread pan and cover it with a towel to let it cool.

If you prefer a lighter loaf of bread, use 2 cups of the Whole Wheat Bread Flour and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour.

Tip

I prefer to bake the bread in the oven because I feel the bread maker bakes the bread too done, even when setting the crust to light, not dark. I also think the loaf has a better texture when baked in the oven.

Enjoy the dazzling aroma of freshly baked bread for hours. There isn’t anything else like it.

Some people like to take a stick of butter and slather it on the top of the bread right when it comes out of the oven. I have never tried this, though. I have read that it keeps the bread softer, but my bread always comes out soft and stays soft for days.

Where to purchase your ingredients for the Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Where I purchase our ingredients has been a game changer. I buy many of our bulk ingredients, such as organic rolled oats, honey, bread flour, beans, wheat berries, and yeast, from Azure Standard every three months or as needed. They have drops all over the country, where the truck stops at the pre-designated spot; we all help unload the truck, and it’s a wonderful community that I look forward to visiting. There is no charge to sign up and become a member. Most drops are monthly; when you sign up, you can choose the drop closest to your location. If you would like to join, here is my link: https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=aecd8c2fe1