Note: We spend a lot of time researching all of the content on our website. Links to products included in our articles are to products we have personally used and extensively researched. If you purchase these items using our link, we might earn a small commission — at no added cost to you. This helps make it so we can continue to deliver quality content!
Baking your own honey wheat bread is not only easy but is also a great step to take to control what you eat and incorporate whole grains into your diet. This is important because research suggests that people who consume two to three servings of whole grains daily experience reductions in health issues, like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.1
A problem with bread is that it often contains refined sugar, or even high-fructose corn syrup, as it takes something sweet to activate the yeast. By using honey instead of white sugar, the yeast will have a good source of food. Plus, you’re harnessing the power of a substance that’s been used as food and medicine for longer than the documented history of the world, with a cave painting in Spain from about 8,000 years ago even depicting the harvesting of this golden elixir. 2
Read on to learn how to make honey wheat bread with only six ingredients!
How to Make Honey Wheat Bread
To make honey wheat bread, you’ll only need six simple ingredients: water, yeast, honey, salt, oil, and wheat flour. It takes about 30 minutes of active preparation and another 25 to 30 minutes for your bread to bake. Plus, you’ll need to allow one to two hours for your bread to rise before you bake it. Although it takes a little patience, you’ll have two gorgeous loaves of honey wheat bread fresh from your oven in three hours or less.
Ingredients
This homemade honey wheat bread recipe uses only six simple ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups warm water (110 degrees F or less)
- ½ cup honey
- 1 ½ Tbsp active dry yeast (or one packet of yeast)
- 1 tsp salt (we use this pink Himalayan sea salt from Azure Standard)
- ¼ cup oil of your choosing (e.g., vegetable oil, avocado oil)
- 6 to 7 cups wheat flour (our favorite is Azure Standard’s 100% whole white wheat flour)
Directions
Once you’ve gathered the six ingredients you’ll need, follow these directions to make two loaves of honey wheat bread:
1. Mix the Water, Yeast, and Honey
Combine the warm water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl and let it sit for about 10 minutes until it gets foamy. This is called proofing the yeast. With this step, all you’re really doing is activating the yeast. If the mixture doesn’t get foamy, then your water might have been too hot or cold (try to heat the water to 100 to 110 degrees), or your yeast might have been too old (make sure to check the expiration date and store yeast in your refrigerator).
2. Add Remaining Ingredients to the Yeast Mixture
Once you’re done with step one, add the rest of the ingredients to the yeast mixture, slowly incorporating the flour one cup at a time. The amount of flour you need will depend on various factors, such as the level of humidity. Add enough flour to form a soft, pliable dough that forms itself into a ball and isn’t too sticky to the touch. You can mix the ingredients by hand or, if you’re like me, you can use a stand mixer. I have the Kitchenaid Professional 5 Plus and a Kitchenaid Classic — I’ve used the latter for almost 20 years! If you opt to use a stand mixer for this step, you won’t have to knead the bread by hand, which is especially nice.
3. Let the Dough Rise
Once the dough has formed a soft ball, place it in a greased bowl (or leave it in the bowl of your stand mixer), cover it with a damp towel, and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. The amount of time it takes will depend on your kitchen’s warmth, but, for me, this step usually takes about an hour. Our house is typically around 68 to 72 degrees, depending on the time of the year.
4. Form the Loaves and Let Rise
After the dough has risen, punch it down and remove it from the bowl. Knead it for a couple of minutes and then divide it into two even pieces. Form the dough into two loaves and place them into two greased bread pans (make sure the side of the dough that’s facing up is smooth so your loaves are visually appealing). Re-cover the loaves with a damp towel and place them in a warm space until they’ve doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the warmth of your space.
5. Bake at 350 Degrees for 25 to 30 Minutes
When the loaves have doubled in size, bake them in an oven that’s preheated to 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top of the bread is golden brown. After you’ve removed the loaves from the oven, you can brush a little oil (or melted butter) on the top of each loaf to help keep the bread soft. Once the bread is cool, place it in a storage container. Slice the bread as you’re ready to eat it, to help extend its freshness.
Bottom Line
Not only is it easy to make your own honey whole wheat bread from scratch, but it tastes delicious. You only need six basic ingredients, and you’ll be able to enjoy bread fresh from your oven in about three hours. If you’re anything like me, once you’ve gotten into the groove of baking bread, you’ll no longer purchase bread from the store!
Remember, this honey whole wheat bread doesn’t have any preservatives (other than a little bit of salt), and so it may mold faster than the store-bought variety. To extend your bread’s shelf life, you can store it in the refrigerator and even freeze it. Our family devours this bread (I usually make four to six loaves a week) and we live in a dry environment, so this is never a problem for us!
If you make this honey wheat bread, drop a message for us in the comments. We love to engage in conversations that are helpful and hopeful. Most of all, enjoy and be well!
References
1.
USDA Agricultural Research Service. “Wheat: The Whole (Grain) Story.” Accessed 01/03/2021.
2.
National Honey Board. “About Honey.” Accessed 01/03/2021.