If you are like me and have been trying to cut down on preservatives and additives in your diet, then you have come to the right place! One simple way to start making healthier choices is by making your own bread for the week.
Making bread consistently is something that I began implementing this past year. Every couple of weeks I will make sourdough bread. This has not only helped cut back on preservatives and additives in my daily diet but has also helped save a lot of money too. This honey whole wheat sourdough bread makes for perfect homemade sandwich bread, french toast, bread crumbs for meatballs, breaded chicken, and more!
Why You Will Love This Recipe:
- Easy: This is a super easy whole wheat sourdough recipe. It does not require any fancy technique with hand kneading as all the work is done in the stand mixer.
- Nutritious: This bread contains no preservatives or additives and can be long-fermented, making for easier digestion. This is especially helpful if you are sensitive to gluten.
- Versatile: This bread can be used for multiple uses, from sandwich bread to french toast to croutons to bread crumbs, which are great for making breaded chicken, meatballs, etc…
Tips For Making Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread:
- Windowpane Test: When kneading the bread, you want the dough to pass the windowpane test, meaning that your dough can be stretched out without tearing, and it will become thin enough in the middle to where you can see the light on the other side of the dough, similar to a windowpane.
- Filtered Water: Like all breads, using filtered water to make your bread is super important to the rising and leavening of the bread. Tap water will kill off the wild yeast in the sourdough starter and make it difficult for the bread to rise.
- Active Sourdough Starter: Feed your sourdough starter in 4-12 hours before making your dough. This will give your bread a strong leaven, aiding the rising process.
If you need a recipe for making sourdough starter, check out my sourdough starter recipe here. This will give you a step-by-step instructional on how to make your own sourdough starter. - Warmth: Using warm, filtered water and placing your bread in a warm place to rise is super important to the rising process of your bread. Warmth will activate the wild yeast and make a healthy environment for the dough to rise.
- Start Day Before: Because of the long-ferment process, this bread does take a bit of time to make. Therefore, I recommend starting your dough the night before at about 8 pm and allowing it to ferment and rise overnight so that you can bake it off the next day.
Note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Ingredients:
- Sourdough Starter: As mentioned above, make sure that you have a strong and active starter to leaven your bread. If you are wondering how to revive your sourdough starter, check out my blog here to see how you can revive your sourdough starter.
- Whole Wheat Flour: Whole wheat is the foundation of this bread and gives the bread a lot of nutrients and flavor, so make sure that you are using quality whole wheat flour.
- All-Purpose Unbleached Flour: Using unbleached flour is crucial to the rising process of the bread. Bleach is not only hard on the body but also on the wild yeast and bacteria in the sourdough starter. Making sure that you are using unbleached flour is super important!
- Salt: I recommend using fine sea salt. Using a finer sea salt will help evenly distribute the salt throughout the bread.
- Honey: I love using raw honey for this. If you can source local honey, that’s always a plus!
- Filtered Water: Using filtered or distilled water is so important to leavening your bread. Tap water contains a lot of heavy metals, sediment, chlorine, and other impurities that tamper with the live, wild yeast. Tap water can often kill your starter and destroy the rising process of your bread.
- Egg (optional for egg wash): I like using an egg wash to add a brown and shiny crust. This part is completely optional though.
Materials Used:
How to Make Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread:
Begin by feeding your starter 4-12 hours prior to making the dough. This will allow the starter time to feed and develop the wild yeast necessary to leaven the bread. Your starter should have doubled in size and be bubbly, gassy and slightly rounded on the top. This is a good sign that your starter is ready.
At about 8pm, to the bowl of a standing mixer, add all of your ingredients and slowly start hydrating the dough with the dough hook attachment.
Knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes on medium until the dough becomes smooth and stretchy, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. It should be able to pass the windowpane test. In order to test this, take a small square section of the dough and stretch it out until the light can pass through the dough. You do not want the dough to break.
Once the dough is kneaded and passes the windowpane test, place the dough in a large bowl lined with olive oil and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
Place your dough in a warm area of your house and allow it to rise, and double in size. This is known as the bulk rise and should take about 10-12 hours. This is why I recommend starting your dough the night before.
NOTE: If you would like to long ferment, after the bulk rise, place your dough in the refrigerator for an additional 8 hours to proof and further ferment. This is recommended if you are sensitive to gluten as it helps further break down the glutens in the wheat.
After 10-12 hours, the dough should have doubled in size, have lots of air bubbles, and be slightly rounded on the top.
Lightly flour the countertop and using a bench scraper, gently scrape the dough out on the floured workspace.
Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll out the dough until it is about a half-inch thick.
Next, roll up the dough and fold in the sides.
Place the dough into a greased bread loaf pan.
Cover with a warm, damp towel and allow the dough to rise for an additional 2-4 hours. Do not skip this step. This additional rise is going to give a lot of volume and fluffiness to your bread.
You want the dough to double in size.
The rising process is very temperature dependent, so if your house is warm, the rise time could be 1-2 hours. However, if your house is chilly, it could take 3-4 hours for the dough to double in size.
After 2-4 hours, the dough should have doubled in size.
Scramble one egg in a bowl and using a basting brush, egg wash the top of the bread. This step is optional, but I like to do it because it creates a nice brown and shiny crust.
Bake the bread at 375 F° for 45 minutes. The bread should be golden brown.
Allow the bread to fully cool for a minimum of one hour prior to cutting into it. This allows the bread to fully cool and rehydrate after baking, resulting in a softer and fluffier loaf.
FAQ:
- Can I use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour? You can; however, it would change the amount of water and starter that you would need to use as it has a higher gluten content.
- Can I use all whole wheat flour? You definitely can; however, it will affect the amount of water you would need to use as well as the texture and rising of the dough. Using all whole wheat flour can create a very dense bread. I personally like to add in all-purpose as well to help with the texture.
- What is the best way to store bread? I recommend storing your bread in an airtight freezer bag or bread box. It can keep on the counter for up to five days and in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. I like to keep mine in the refrigerator, especially during the warmer months to elongate the shelf life. You could also freeze it in an airtight freezer back for up to 6 months.
- Do I have to long ferment this bread? You do not need to long ferment this bread; however, you do need to bulk-rise the sourdough bread for a minimum of 10 hours. This is called a short ferment. A short ferment still gives the bread a nice rise and sour taste. If you are gluten-sensitive, I would definitely recommend adding an additional long ferment so that the glutens are further broken down.
My Favorite Sourdough Recipes:
- Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Star Bread
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sourdough Pumpkin Muffin
- Sourdough Old Fashion Donuts
- Best Beginners Sourdough Bread
- How To Revive Sourdough Starter
- How to Make Sourdough Starter
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you would consider coming back to the site to give it a 5-star rating and tag me on Instagram or Facebook! Thanks so much 🙂
Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 56 g. butter (softened)
- 42 g. raw honey
- 10 g. salt
- 113 g. active sourdough starter
- 295 g. filtered or distilled water
- 150 g. whole wheat flour
- 420 g. all-purpose flour
- 1 egg (optional for egg-wash)
Instructions
- Begin by feeding your starter 4-12 hours prior to making the dough. This will allow the starter time to feed and develop the wild yeast necessary to leaven the bread. Your starter should have doubled in size and be bubbly, gassy and slightly rounded on the top. This is a good sign that your starter is ready.
- At about 8pm, to the bowl of a standing mixer, add all of your ingredients and slowly start hydrating the dough with the dough hook attachment.
- Knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes on medium until the dough becomes smooth and stretchy, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. It should be able to pass the windowpane test. In order to test this, take a small square section of the dough and stretch it out until the light can pass through the dough. You do not want the dough to tear.
- Once the dough is kneaded and passes the windowpane test, place the dough in a large bowl lined with olive oil and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
- Place your dough in a warm area of your house and allow it to rise, and double in size. This is known as the bulk rise and should take about 10-12 hours. This is why I recommend starting your dough the night before so that it can rise throughout the night.If you would like to long ferment, after the bulk rise, place your dough in refrigerator for an additional 8 hours to proof and further ferment. This is recommended to do if you are sensitive to gluten as it helps further break down the glutens in the wheat.
- After 10-12 hours, the dough should have doubled in size, have lots of air bubbles, and be slightly rounded on the top.
- Lightly flour the counter top and using a bench scraper, gently scrap the dough out on the floured work space.
- Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll out the dough until it is about a half-inch thick.
- Next, roll up the dough and fold in the sides.
- Place the dough into a greased bread loaf pan and cover with a warm, damp towel and allow the dough to rise for an additional 2-4 hours. Do not skip this step. This additional rise is going to give a lot of volume and fluffiness to your bread.
- You want the dough to double in size. The rising process is very temperature dependent, so if your house is warm, the rise time could be 1-2 hours. However, if your house is chilly, it could take 3-4 hours for the dough to double in size.
- Scramble one egg in a bowl and using a basting brush, egg wash the top of the bread. This step is optional, but I like to do it because it creates a nice brown and shiny crust.
- Bake the bread at 375 F° for 45 minutes. The bread should be golden brown.
- Allow the bread to fully cool for a minimum of one hour prior to cutting into it. This allows the bread to fully cool and re-hydrate after baking, resulting in a softer and fluffier loaf.
Notes
Tips For Making Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread:
- Windowpane Test: When kneading the bread, you want the dough to pass the windowpane test, meaning that your dough can be stretched out without breaking and it will become thin enough in the middle to where you can see the light on the other side of the dough similar to a windowpane.
- Filtered Water: Like all breads, using filtered water to make your bread is super important to the rising and leavening of the bread. Tap water will kill off the wild yeast in the sourdough starter and make it difficult for the bread to rise.
- Active Sourdough Starter: Feed your sourdough starter in 4-12 hours prior to making your dough. This will give your bread a strong leaven, aiding in the rising process. If you are needing a recipe for making sourdough starter, check out my sourdough starter recipe here. This will give you a step-by-step instructional on how to make your own sourdough starter.
- Warmth: Using warm filtered water and placing your bread in a warm place to rise is super important to the rising process of your bread. Warmth will activate the wild yeast and make a healthy environment for the dough to rise.
- Start Day Before: Because of the long ferment process, this bread does take a bit of time to make. Therefore, I recommend starting your dough the night before at about 8pm and allowing it to long ferment over night so that you can bake it off the next day.
