This honey wheat bread recipe is easy to make. I have spent a lot of time experimenting and tweaking this recipe to get it the way my family likes it. This bread has a nice light texture and the perfect amount of sweetness. When I bake bread, I like to use my bread machine on the dough setting to prep the dough. This saves me so much time and energy! You can do it by hand if you need to. (I will share directions for both.) This honey wheat bread recipe works well for loaves or rolls. You can make it into several combinations: 2 loaves, 24 rolls, or 1 loaf and 12 rolls! Just thinking about this honey wheat bread recipe makes me want a fresh out of the oven slice! There’s nothing yummier than fresh, hot bread from the oven….. especially with a little homemade honey butter! Delicious!
Ingredients for Honey Wheat Bread Recipe:
- 2 cups organic whole wheat flour
- 4 cups organic unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar (can substitute with honey if desired)
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (Red Star brand is my favorite!)
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/3 cup warm filtered water
(Because I get many requests for where I get my supplies, I have made as many of the supplies as possible clickable in the directions for your convenience.)
Bread Machine Directions for Honey Wheat Bread Recipe:
- Pour water, milk, and honey into the bread machine pan.
- Add flour to the wet ingredients.
- Make a small well in the center of the flour, and put the sugar, salt, and active dry yeast into it.
- Cut butter into fourths and place a cube into each corner.
- Plug in the bread machine and set it to the DOUGH setting. (usually, this lasts 1 ½ hours)
- When the cycle is complete, punch down the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. (A dough cutter makes this much easier.) Cover with a light towel, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, butter 2 glass loaf pans.
- Shape into two loaves and place into loaf pans. (You can do this by shaping the dough into loaves, or by rolling the dough with a rolling pin into a 12X8 in rectangle, then roll it tightly and pinch the ends to seam.)
- Place the dough inside the oven with the light on. (I use the lowest rack setting, so the top does not brown too quickly.)
- Allow rising until doubles in size. (usually 45 minutes to an hour)
- Leave the dough in the oven. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake until golden brown and fully cooked. Usually, about 15-20 minutes after the preheat is finished in my oven. (If you are new to bread baking, you may want to check to see if the bread is done by inserting a thermometer into the center – when it reads 190 degrees fahrenheit it is fully baked.)
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the pans and transfer it to cooling racks.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before storing.
By Hand Directions for Honey Wheat Bread Recipe:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, and sugar.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add milk, water, honey, and melted butter. Combine with an electric hand or stand mixer on low-medium speed, or by hand with a Danish dough whisk for 3-5 minutes.
- Mix in 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in by hand the remainder of the all-purpose flour into the dough. You want the dough to be moderately stiff, but also smooth and elastic. Once the flour is mixed in, continue to knead for 6-8 minutes.
- Allow dough to rest by placing it into a lightly greased large mixing bowl, and cover with a light towel. Then set it into your oven with the light on for 1 hour.
- Remove from oven and punch down the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. (A dough cutter makes this much easier.) Cover with a light towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, butter 2 glass loaf pans.
- Shape into two loaves and place into loaf pans. (You can do this by shaping the dough into loaves, or by rolling the dough with a rolling pin into a 12X8 in rectangle, then roll it tightly and pinch the ends to seam.)
- Place the dough inside the oven with the light on. (I use the lowest rack setting, so the top does not brown too quickly.)
- Allow rising until doubles in size. (usually 45 minutes to an hour)
- Leave the dough in the oven. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake until golden brown and fully cooked. Usually, about 15-20 minutes after the preheat is finished in my oven. (If you are new to bread baking, you may want to check to see if the bread is done by inserting a thermometer into the center – when it reads 190 degrees fahrenheit it is fully baked.)
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the pans and transfer it to cooling racks.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before storing.
Enjoy your fresh homemade bread! Because homemade bread does not have the preservatives that store bought bread does, it will only stay fresh for a few days. To help keep it fresh, I like to store mine in a bag and then in this bread box.
Remember, bread making is a learned skill. If this is your first time making bread, do not be discouraged if it isn’t as perfect as you would like. Keep practicing! I guarantee you will get better and better each time you bake bread!
