Whole Wheat Bread II

Despite the reviewer below who says this isn't a whole wheat bread recipe - this is one of the best whole-wheat bread recipes I've ever used and I've been making bread for over 40 years. There are many whole wheat recipes that use half white flour. Concession I made: I only used the 1 c.brown sugar, eliminated the other sugar. Because I like to make my bread in a KitchenAid Mixer, I put half of each of the flours and all the rest of the ingredients in the mixer bowl. When that was well mixed, I poured the batter into a measuring cup, and then returned half of that to the mixer. I then added half of the balance of each of the remaining flours. This gave me more managable pieces of dough to work with. I added an extra 5 minutes or 50 turns of kneading by hand to each piece, then kneaded the two pieces together to rise. This bread makes wonderful toast, a great sandwich or just plain with butter. My husband raves about the bread everytime he has a slice. Thanks for a great recipe. It deserves more than 5 stars.

This is the best whole wheat recipe I have come across. I have been able to replace the white flour with 50/50 flour making the bread 3/4 whole wheat without sacrificing moisture or texture. It is best if you add the boiling water to the whole wheat and give it about 20 minutes to soak it up, that way you won't knead more flour into it than you need!

Great recipe!! I didn't have bread flour and used regular white and wheat flour and it still turned out great!! makes 4 large loaves.

This was a really good basic wheat bread recipe. It was so wonderful to have 4 loaves done. I felt like I accomplished so much that day! Try making it into 2 loaves, some breadsticks and some wheat rolls from the dough. Then freeze! I will make a few changes to my next batch. I will decrease liquid by 3TB and replace the brown sugar with honey (you need to decrease liquid when subbing in honey). I will add some vital wheat gluten for a chewier texture. As is, this bread is very crumbly/lots of crumbs. So if that is what you prfer don't add gluten! Also, I prefer all whole wheat, so I will not add any white flour next time. This is wonderful recipe as is or with a few minor changes! Thanks for the submission--this one will be used weekly by me!!!

This was a great bread. It came out light and slightly sweet. Since my loaf pan is smaller, I just cut off a bit of dough and used it to make cinnamon rolls. Those were really great too and had a new earthiness to them. I will make this again. To the reviewer saying this is not a whole wheat bread: Technically, it is. It just isn't 100% WH. The term whole wheat is a modifier on the bread just like rye is to rye bread even though it's not made with all rye flour. Most whole wheat breads you'll find in stores aren't 100% either.

Fool Proof!!! I replaced the brown sugar with Splenda Brown. I left in the white for the yeast to work. Loaves are large and light and tender. Good holes and good crumb. Freezes well and makes good toast.

I used just regular whole wheat and unbleached flour and it turned out great. Lots of delicious bread and it was fairly easy to do. I will make it again soon.

I have been looking for a good whole wheat recipie, finally found it! thank you! thank you!

Good taste, but crumbly.

This is a GREAT basic whole wheat bread recipe. I used butter instead of shortening and mixed the whole wheat flour with the hot water instead of using the bread flour for that step (the hot water helps soften the whole wheat). I also halved the recipe. This will be a regular feature in our house for sure!

I thought that the bread was great. It gave a nice quantity and cuts well for sandwiches. Thanks for sharing it. I do plan to make this again.

This is the most delicious bread ever. I add applesauce instead of shortening because it is healthier and there is no difference in the overall outcome. It seems I usually have a really wet dough following the recipe (probably because of the applesauce), but I add 2c. of old-fashioned oats and keep adding flour til it gets to the right level of moisture. I add about 2-3 tbsp of gluten and that really helps with kneading the bread and the chewiness. The loaves have frozen well for me and stay fresh better than any other recipe I've tried. Let the bread cool and dry all the way out before bagging it. Thanks for a great recipe!

Great wheat with sweet flavor. Tastes just like my grandmother used to make. It has a crunchy outside and a soft middle with makes it great for toasting and grilling, probably not so great for sandwiches. I halved the recipe and made one regular loaf and one round loaf in a cast iron skilled. Both turned out great. I always brush with butter to give the bread shine and stay soft.

WONDERFUL! My 1st successful bread recipe. Thank you. Not too heavy or wheaty

I made this again last week. This time I used 1/3 AP flour, 1/3 fresh ground whole wheat, 1/3 fresh ground barley... who needs storebought bread? All three loaves are gone in less than a week... going to make more today! Oh boy was this good... I have been looking for a nice bread recipe to replace our store-bought bread. This is it! Everybody loves it... I used my vitamix to grind the whole wheat berries into flour, and wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap after cooling. Yum! (Oh, I did also use more white sugar and less brown sugar, and a non-dairy butter substitute.)

This was a very tasty recipe, I just pulled the bread out of the oven and since it was my first time making whole wheat bread from scratch I was dying to taste it! It was very good with just a little sweetness which in my opinion makes a perfect wheat bread! :) Thank you for this recipe! I cut the recipe in half, and got one HUGE loaf and 12 dinner rolls out of it.. I will be keeping this one in the family for a long time!

This is good bread and it was easy to make. If you're having stickiness problems, just incorporate more white flour in, a little at a time, as you knead. That's what I did and it came out fine. The kids loved it.

I've made a lot of bread, but this is the best whole-wheat bread I have ever made. The texture was not too dense, and the flavor was excellent. I halved the recipe to make only two loaves (I froze the second after the first rise and will bake it later), used oil instead of butter, used almost entirely whole-wheat flour (I just kneaded with white, and I did have to add a significant amount), and did my best to halve the yeast (which, rounded slightly up, ended up being 1 Tbl + 1/2 tsp). Also, I added my "dough enhancer" that I like to do with whole-wheat breads. For this halved recipe, I used 2 Tbl vital wheat gluten plus 1 Tbl + 1/2 tsp vinegar (amount of vinegar equal to amount of yeast, and about 1-1/2 to 3 tsp gluten per cup of flour, although you probably won't need either if you use bread flour with higher protein and some acid built-in already...but I use this since I like to do all whole-wheat). I will definitely be making this recipe again! I have found a new favorite bread recipe.

This is definitely 5 stars x 2! Easy to follow directions and not too time consuming either, especially considering that you get 4 big, beautiful loaves of bread. I've been trying all winter to bake a nice, whole wheat bread but haven't had any luck until now. This recipe is the bomb! I followed it exactly, making no changes. I did not need all 6 cups of whole wheat flour - which has to do with the moisture content of my flour and not the recipe. I docked three of the four loaves with nice slashes to allow for the extra rising in the oven and the fourth loaf I dusted with WW flour and then sprinkled on some bran. They look like something straight from an artisan bakery (can you tell I'm proud?). Oh, and the taste is divine - with molasses, toasted as a sandwich (yummy BLT for lunch for me!), or just plain. It has a lovely crumb - not dense, just a light, fluffy slice of heaven. Next time I make this I will gradually decrease the bread flour and increase the ww flour. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for the most amazingly, delicious, easy bread ever!

Bread had a good taste and was easy enough to make, but it was too dry and crumbly for us to use as an everyday bread.

Simple and tasty. I always seem to mess up bread - not this time! Will definitely be a standard around the house.

This was awesome! I have not made bread in years and this was so simple. I like the large quantity, I used it to make 3 loaves and then a batch of cinnamon rolls...........yummy! The kids love it.

This recipe is awesome! I've made three batches in the past 24 hours and they've all turned out! I tweaked it by adding canola oil instead of crisco and my last batch I used honey instead of brown sugar and water. I've also been increasing the amount of wheat flour and decreasing the white flour just for the flavor. It hasn't affected the proofing and size of loaf. Not the "hard as a brick" wheat bread I'm used to making.

We ran out of bread while stuck in the house due to snow and ice. My usual go-to bread recipe required honey, and we were all out of that too! I tried this recipe for the first time and it got rave reviews! It's moist and absolutely perfect with butter or jam. Though I should have made the full recipe, I halved it and loaf one is already gone (3 hours after being pulled from the oven).

This bread is FANTASTIC! I love this recipe so much. Thank you for sharing it!

I followed the recipe exactly. It came out perfect and tasted so much fresher than store bought loaves. I had a slice with peanut butter this morning. Delicious. Thanks!

I must say this bread is totally wonderful. I did switch some things up a bit after reading some of the reviews. I used extra virgin olive oil instead of shortening and I used Honey instead of the white sugar. I also decreased my liquid by 4TBSP. Another thing is I used 3C all purpose flour and 11C whole wheat flour. I Also used 4TBSP of the vital gluten. I lost what I thought was my favorite bread recipe and I am so happy to have found this one. Thank you very much for posting it.

I made this bread twice - I plan to make it again and to let everyone know about it. It is very tasty, and very simple to make. The first time I made it (half the recipe) the dought was so sticky, that I didn't kneed it. I was afraid to add more flour, so I mixed it with a spoon. Nevertheless, it came out well. The second time it was less sticky, and I did kneed it a little, plus I substituted 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with oat bran (I ran out of flour). It was so good! My fussy toddler loves it - that says it all!

This is by far the best sandwich bread I've ever made. The bread slices nice and thin with an electric knife. I had to add more flour than the recipe called for, but the finished bread texture was still great. I will definitely make this again.

This bread is delicious! I made four loaves tonight and it's almost already gone. Everyone ate about 3 slices each. My teenagers suggested we start selling it to the neighbors - it's that good.

I love this recipe. I make it exactly as written. It sometimes takes a little more ww flour to make the dough stiff enough to knead. Yield of 4 loaves makes it worth the trouble to bake bread. Excellent toasted.

A fabulous recipe! This bread turned out moist, chewy, perfect flavor.

Love-it! This recipe is so easy and it makes delicious bread! I've got my mom and my sisters making it too!

aWWWEEsome!!!! My students made it in our cooking class and for beginners I was very proud of the results. They followed the recipe to the T.

this recipe is great! i've so far made it twice and passed it along to friends. i have two suggestions that might make it even better. first--i substituted honey for the white sugar because it's healthier and it's amazing. second--it was a little 'short' one time i made it. if anyone else has this problem i would suggest a third rising. so instead of forming it into loaves you would punch it down and then rise it again, and then form it into loaves. or alternatively just wait a good long time for it to really rise in loaf form. (i may have jumped the gun because i was so excited for bread)

I cut the recipe to do 3 loaves, used about 1/2 cup brown sugar and skipped the white. I also used a cup of rye flour. It was absolutely delicious bread! After the first rise, I took one third of the dough, stretched it out and sprinkled a tbsp of cinnamon and a bunch of raisins on it, rolled it up tight and let it rise another 2 hours in the bread pan. So so good!! Thank you!

I made this using softened butter and all-purpose flour, and it is just delicious. Slices really nicely and toasts up well. thanks

First try at whole wheat bread. It was perfect! I halved the recipe so that it made 2 loaves and used all purpose flour instead of the bread flour. Good texture will be making again soon.... Thanks Ruth

This is a pretty good recipe. I just had one improvement-- I added 4 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (purchased at a food co-op). This made the bread a lot less crumbly. Also, if you let the bread rise longer, it will be lighter and fluffier.

This was very delicious. I halved the recipe and made 2 loaves. The 1st loaf was gone that evening, kids loved it. Next time I might add honey and let it raise quite a bit longer than recipe suggests.

This is one of the best wheat bread recipes around. I have played around with it, adding more wheat flour and less white flour, and it is always FANTASTIC! This is a great 'base' recipe with which to experiment in making bread.

I thought this recipe was great. I didn't end up with crumbly bread, and I don't bother with gluten. The texture is great, and the flavor is just like the bread mom used to make.

Very nice flavor and texture. I made a half batch (2 loaves) in my Kitchenaid mixer. I used 2 packages of yeast and added 2 Table. vital wheat gluten since I was using all purpose flour instead of bread flour. This one is a keeper.

This is a pretty good recipe, for me it came out as slightly dense bread that tastes like a bready "wheat thin;" given that I like the taste of wheat thins, and given that I like bread, I saw that as a win. I'll definitely make this bread again.

This is my go-to recipe for wheat bread! Great texture, great flavor. I usually make them into rolls instead of loaves (bake about 13 minutes for rolls). Easy to make, and extras freeze really well for future use. Thanks for a great recipe!

everybody loved it. Good stuff. I made 3 loaves and about a dozen dinner rolls with the left over dough. The dinner rolls were so cute! I cut a strip of dough, streached it and tied it in a knot, brushed with egg whites and baked. So pretty.

This is a great recipe! I made a 32-serving size (3/4 of the original recipe), and from it I got a dozen dinner rolls, one regular (large) loaf, one mini loaf, and crust for a 16" pizza. I didn't have any bread flour, so for the bread flour, I used half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour plus the whole wheat flour called for in the recipe. I also substituted honey for the white sugar as other reviewers suggested. My whole family loved this bread, so I will definitely be making it again!

This is the first Wheat Bread I've tried outside the bread machine. I did have to add about 2 additional cups of flour to get the right consistency, but that was the only adjustment I made. We pulled it out of the over and tried it immediately and the kids and I all thought it needed a little something, but with the honey butter on top, we inhaled it! It's very filling, but not too heavy, and I like the texture the home ground wheat flour gave to it. I'll be making this frequently!

Delicious bread!!! omg, for wheat bread it was so perfect. I will be making this very often.

This is the best bread recipe I have ever used. I love that it make 4 loaves. My family loves when I make bread, so it is nice to have a enough to last awhile before I have to make more. I can't wait to make more.

Very good bread! We made 2 loaves. Its great bread to snack with, toast, sandwhich, its all around great!

I scaled the formula to 1 loaf, to test it out first. It was fantastic! I used instant yeas t(to skip the dissolving stemp) and mixed all the dry ingredients, then added the shortening mixture and water to mix. Big hit.

WOW! This is yummy and very easy. I hate to use the bread machine and I was able to do this right in my kitchenaid with the dough hook. The bread is just light enough and has a great crust!

My 4 year Old & 18 Month old love this bread. I changed it up a tad and make it in my bread machine, and only make 1 loaf. Here is my Bread machine version of it YUMMY!! 1.25 C Warm Water, 1 tsp salt, 2 Tblsp melted butter, 1/4 C Brown Sugar, 1 Tblsp white sugar, 1.5 C Bread Flour, 1.5 C Wheat Flour, 1.5 t yeast.

I really enjoyed this bread. I agree with another reviewer who said the dough was very sticky but it didn't matter the end result was great.

I am giving this one star because the recipe is not for a whole wheat bread.

Very good recipe. I prefer 100% whole wheat bread so I used all wheat flour and it came out great! I was a little unsure about the amount of sugar it called for but it wasn't too sweet at all, it is a new favorite! I made it in my Kitchen aide and everything worked great, the recipe wasn't too big.

This recipe is very easy and extremely delicious. I did make some changes because I am trying to move towards whole foods. So, instead of the brown sugar, I used only 1/2 cup succant sugar. In place of really bad shortening that is full of really bad trans fats, I used butter. I did use 3 cups unbleached white flour but substituted splet and oat flour for the wheat flour. I have tried many recipes and this one is a keeper. Next time I am going to try to cut down on the white flour. We will see how it works.

I cut the recipe in half for two loaves. The first time I tried it, I had to add almost an additional cup of flour because it was too sticky to knead. Thought I might have measured liquids incorrectly so tried it again being very careful with measurements. Same problem. The finished bread is tasty but dense - probably due to the extra flour. I found it required quite a bit more rising time. I won't try it again.

I agree with the person who says this deserves more than 5 stars. Only change I made was to sub honey for the white sugar as some others suggested. This is going into the regular rotation. I bake fresh bread every week and this was a welcome change from my white potato bread recipe.

Absolutely FANTASTIC !!!!

was good, only thing I changed was I used white sugar, not brown because that is what I have on hand.

The best recipe I have for bread. I do have a problem with the bread sticking to my pans but I'm sure I will get it to work eventually. I only have 2 loaf pans, so I take half of the bread dough and make sticky buns we top them with butter! People come to my house when they know I am making this bread. It is one of the easiest bread recipes I've ever used and really does cook in 35 mins. I'd say it takes me about 2 hours total to make. Yummy yummy.....

Easy and excellent. I found the bread to have a slightly sweet taste and great texture.

I'm not an expert, but I grew up making bread. I didn't have honey for my usual recipe and found this one. I LOVE it! It's the best bread I've ever made. My two year old got her own chunk to make, and even it turned out pretty yummy. i had never made one in a cast iron skillet before but someone showed that in their picture, and my usual recipe only makes three loafs, so I tried it, and I think it was my favorite. Great recipe, thanks!

Best WW recipe I've found so far. This is a staple in my home. I make my dough a little less stiff and pretty sticky and the texture ends up soft and airy when baked. Some have said it doesn't make good sandwich bread but I disagree.

I've been using this recipe for months now...it my exclusive bread recipe. Nice hearty bread, slices well and is excellent toasted and for sandwiches. It makes nice rolls too. I've even used it for pizza crust with excellent results. I use all whole wheat flour and often add in some oats and milled flax seed. WONDERFUL recipe!!!!

Great recipe. I added 4 T vital wheat gluten, decreased water by 4 T and added honey in place of brown sugar. I let it rise a little extra time as I like soft fluffy bread. (The 4 T of sugar is optional in my opinion if it is going to be used exclusively for sandwhich bread.) I made 3 breads and 6 large rolls. Next time I will make one of the breads into a breakfast bread by rolling it out and spreading a brown sugar, nut, raisin, cinnamon filling inside the bread. This recipe does not disappoint!

Easy to follow! Makes four nice size loaves that my family absolutely loved! I made five different recipes and this one was hands down the favorite!

Loved it!!! I think this is my new go to for whole wheat bread. Cut it down and mixed it in the bread machine and baked it on a bread stone. My three year old and I are enjoying it right now with some honey butter :) Love it love it love it!

Halved the recipe and got two awesome loaves. Delicious with butter alongside a winter squash soup. Also, I used half whole wheat flour and half Robin Hood multigrain bread blend. I think the multigrain really adds flavour and makes this a substantial bread.

Fantastic recipe! I didn't have any bread flour, so I used unbleached white flour instead. Came out fantastic! Bread is not crumbly at all.

Many of the comments say fool proof - well perhaps I am a fool but I found this bread to be VERY dense. Any suggestions? I am new to bread making and am various recipes to find one I really like.

This bread is wonderful. My husband and son ate an entire loaf in one night. I did add more shortening and gluten. I prefer less crumbly bread. Absolutely my favorite wheat bread!

This is a wonderful bread! I substituted canola oil for the shortening and boiled the brown sugar and water for 5 minutes before adding. It has perfect texture, a nice, even, soft crust, and is soft and moist, not dry and crumbly as some whole wheat recipes can be. Very simple and easy to make. I will use this one repeatedly!

Super easy!! Nice and sweet. Followed the recipe exactly and had great results. Thanks.

I was worried that the dough was too wet but it worked!

Made it, loved it! Definitely makes 4 loaves so will half recipe next time. I sub'd butter for shortening and AP for Bread Flour (it was all I had :))

We love this recipe and will be enjoying this bread for years to come! Thank You!!

Made two loaves that turned out great. Very happy with this recipe; i plan to use it again.

I added a table spoon more shorting and only used a half a cup of white sugar and a table spoon of molasses and used 9 cups of flower instead of 6. it turned out perfect! it was smooth and soft love it 4 stars because I changed the recipe

Great whole wheat bread. Soft and flavorful.

Great recipe. I split it in half (except the yeast- 2 packets) and cook two loaves. I let it rise for a litte longer, but still a great recipe. Not nearly as mealy and heavy as homemade wheat bread has a tendency to be. I don't use a machine at all, and this recipe turns out great every time.

I made this just as the recipe was written with my own freshly ground wheat berries, but I cut It in half because I didn't want 4 loaves. This turned out good, even after the power company turned off my power because they were doing work on the lines, and didn't bother telling me . My bread was rising in the loaf pans and minutes away from being baked when they decided to cut it off. I had to bake it on my gas grill in the freezing cold and whipping wind outside because I didn't want all of my work to be for nothing. It burned on the bottom on the grill, even with the loaf pans being set inside of cast iron pans. And after all of this, my family still loved it. I will definitely make it again, hopefully my power won't be cut off next time.

Nice moist bread recipe and very easy to make!

I just got a wheat grinder and was so excited to try making whole wheat bread. I was disappointed with the bread. The texture was too airy and it dried out quickly.

recipe made 4 nice sized loaves. Fabulous bread. Highly recommended.

This is the perfect whole wheat bread recipe. I left out the white sugar, and I used my professional Kitchen Aid mixer. It made it easier to mix up the whole batch at once. Thanks so much!

This was so easy and quick! I had so much fun making this! It took about an hour for the dough to rise. I recommend waiting until it gets to room temp but I didn't because it was too delicious to wait!

This was a delicious bread, soft yet strong enough for spreads and goey tomato sandwiches. For a first time making a loaf/sandwich type bread it was perfect. I used a stand mixer for the kneading so it was easy to put together. I halved the recipe and did brush melted butter on top before baking. Will definitely be using again.

I'd make this again, but with a bit less sugar and salt. very good texture, and taste other than being a bit sweet for me. Others may find it fine.

Excellent taste and consistency. Easy to make. A new fav.

This bread is amazing. Moist and delicious, and not an overbearing whole wheat taste. My two year old even likes it.

I made this bread and it worked out very well. I used half of everything so as only to make two loaves. It still came out really good. I'll be using this recipe again and again and again. The only other thing I did was to brush the tops with butter to keep the tops soft. This is done as soon as the bread comes out of the oven.

I have made this recipe several times and it always comes out perfect!

So very good! I am on my 5th wheat bread recipe and I think this is the winner! So flavorful and moist! I substituted bread flour with white. I used my kitchenaid to knead the bread. And I finished them off with some butter melted on the top. This is the first bread recipe where my husband asked for a second sample, so that’s how I know it’s a keeper. The bread had a nice crisp on the outside, too. This was very easy to make and I will definitely be making it again!

Excellent bread. All of our parents are here and they all love it. I halved the recipe and had to add in another cup of flour, but that may be bc I halved it and bc of the humidity around here. Turned out very soft and crumbly. And it's almost already gone . . . thanks!

Awesome wheat bread!!!