Honey Wheat Bread Recipe
Posted Feb 19, 2018, Updated Oct 05, 2021
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This homemade honey wheat bread recipe is an easy to make & perfect for sandwiches and toast. It’s a straightforward, classic loaf of dense, sweet honey whole wheat bread that’s made with only 8 ingredients.
Nothing compares to freshly baked bread (like these homemade dinner rolls and this pretzel bread). The smell, the taste, it’s truly a beautiful thing. Even the process is therapeutic.
From the first rise of the dough to the first slice of the finished product, the whole experience makes a house feel like a home. This Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread is one of our favorites.
I love this honey wheat bread because it’s healthier and tastier than store-bought breads. You know exactly what you are eating and feeding your family with zero preservatives or ingredients you can’t pronounce!
Plus using white whole wheat flour in place of refined white flour is an easy way to add nutrients when you bake because it’s full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
How to make Homemade Honey Wheat Bread
If making yeast bread intimidates you, please don’t write this recipe off! I’m here to show you that it’s easy and fun to make bread at home. And seriously, once you try your hand at this Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread you will never be able to buy store bought loaves again! So here are a few tips on the method to help you on your bread-making journey, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the dough
You can mix the dough in a standing mixer using a dough hook or by hand. It’s very easy to do either way.
Rising.
This honey wheat bread recipe involves two rises. First the dough rises in the bowl and the second time around it rises in the loaf pan. Have patience and don’t rush to the next step before the loaf has properly risen, or you may end up with a dense, short loaf of bread that is yummy but not really what we’re going for in this recipe!
How to shorten rise time:
To speed up the rising process, cover the dough with a moist cloth and put it in the bowl/pan in the oven (while it’s off). Then place two cups of boiling water in an open container near the dough in the oven and turn the lights on. The warm damp environment will make the dough rise much faster! Just be sure to remove it before you preheat the oven!
Keep the crust moist
After you remove the honey wheat bread from the pan, transfer it to a cooling rack and cover it with a towel. This will keep the bread warmer for longer, and it will also help the crust stay nice and soft!
Store/freeze
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
FAQs about Honey Wheat Bread
This bread freezes and reheats beautifully! I often make two loves, one for now and one to freeze for later. Be sure to slice the bread before freezing it! This way, you can pull out the number of slices you need for a given meal instead of the entire loaf
Store this homemade whole wheat bread in an airtight container or plastic bag. If you will eat it within one day, keep it at room temperature to avoid drying out. If you will take longer to finish a loaf I recommend storing it in the refrigerator.
Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread: Substitutions
Here are a few notes about substitutions in this recipe!
- Honey. I have only ever made this bread with honey. I am guessing that another liquid sweetener, like maple syrup or agave, could work well in this recipe. However, since I have not tried it I cannot guarantee results!
- Canola oil. Any neutral oil works well in this recipe. Canola and melted coconut oils are my favorite options. Olive oil, avocado oil, etc. also work great!
- White whole wheat flour. Regular whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour can also be used in this recipe!
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Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water about 105 degrees F
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 TBS yeast
- 1 TBS canola oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (for the top)
Instructions
- In the bowl of your standing mixer, add warm water, honey and yeast. Stir to combine and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is proofed and looks foamy.
- Add canola oil, all-purpose flour 1 cup of white whole wheat flour and sea salt to the proofed yeast mixture in the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the dough hook.
- Stir the mixture with the dough hook, starting on low speed and increasing to medium-high, until combined
- Slowly add remaining white whole wheat flour ¼ cup at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Once the dough has formed a ball that is only slightly tacky and pulls away from the sides of the mixer, transfer it to a well-floured surface and knead until it becomes elastic and smooth.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl covered by a damp towel in a warm place to rise. Let rise until doubled in size (about 1-2 hours).
- After dough has doubled in size, gently press all the air out of it and grease a 9×5” loaf pan.
- Transfer the degassed dough to the greased loaf pan and cover with a warm damp towel.
- Let the dough rise until it reaches the top of the loaf pan, then preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown and the loaf makes a hollow sound when hit with a wooden spoon. If the top is browning too quickly loosely cover the loaf with aluminum foil and move to a lower rack in the oven.
- Remove the bread pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes release the sides of the bread with a knife, and gently flip the pan over to remove the bread. Serve warm or let cool!
Video
Notes
To freeze:
This bread freezes very well! I recommend slicing the loaf before putting it in the freezer!Ingredient Substitutions
- Honey. I have only ever made this bread with honey. I am guessing that another liquid sweetener, like maple syrup or agave, could work well in this recipe. However, since I have not tried it I cannot guarantee results!
- Canola oil. Any neutral oil works well in this recipe. Canola and melted coconut oil are my favorite options. Olive oil, avocado oil, etc. also work great!
- Whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour can also be used in this recipe!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More delicious recipes:
- Try this no knead bread and these homemade dinner rolls!
- Our pretzel bread is always a hit!
- Serve this egg salad between two slices of this whole wheat bread!
- Or try this chicken salad and this avocado chicken salad!
Here’s a fun fact…I don’t remember ever eating store-bought bread as a child. Our dad used to make homemade bread all the time. The only catch was…he never let us cut into the loaf until it was completely cooled. To me, not being able to eat a warm, steaming slice of that bready goodness I had been smelling allllllll day long was torturous.
So, you better believe that the first loaf of bread I made after I got married was cut into and devoured immediately after it was removed from the oven, because being an adult means you can do those sort of fun things, right?! Now I enjoy that first warm slice with my own kids, and am grateful my dad instilled the love of cooking and baking into me at a young age!
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This is the second bread recipe I tried and it turned out amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! Question, has anyone made these into hamburger buns or rolls? Thanks!
I have been making bread since 2020 and tried this recipe today. It was so easy and delicious! The house smelled like a bakery when I was baking the bread and my family couldn’t wait to cut a slice and devour this bread.
Seriously the best! This was the second load I’ve ever made and we can’t get enough. I think after this go around I’ll have to double the recipe to make more… we eat it so quick.
Why did we ever buy store bought bread??
Thank you!!
This was a good alternative to an all white flour loaf. This is the first one of your bakes I found confusing to follow. There was white flour, whole wheat flour, and white whole wheat flour referenced in directions and ingredients. I wasn’t quite sure what to use.
How do you get the oatmeal to stick to the loaf? It looked beautiful going in, but when I turned it out of the Ian the yard fell off leaving foot looking dusty. 😀
It baked a soft loaf, great for sandwiches or toast. Better than store bought.
Thank you Heather! This is an older recipe – I will definitely scrub through it and try to make it easier to follow when I get the chance! I appreciate that feedback!!