How to make the best bread machine whole wheat bread - This simple and easy recipe makes a basic crusty loaf with no kneading. Uses a combination of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour for a smooth, tasty loaf that's healthy.
Somewhere between my need to avoid unnatural food additives, my desire to cook and eat more like my grandma, and Joe and my attempts to live more frugally, I talked my husband into making our own bread.
From scratch.
It took months of convincing. He likes the bread from the grocery store, and he isn't into making more work for himself.
After a lot of discussion with Amy Clark from MomAdvice, I posted a request on my local FreeCycle board for a bread machine. Only a few days passed before an offer came in, and Joe went to pick it up. And then it sat in our dining room for seven months, until the car crash forced us to become more serious about being frugal.
$4 for a loaf of our favorite bread seems wasteful and we don't really have that kind of money right now.
So, we are now committed to having a better, slower, more frugal lifestyle, and we are making our own bread.
Of course, when I saw we, I really mean that I'm lying on the couch with an ice pack while Joe follows the recipe I gave him, but that's just as good as doing it myself, right?
Our first couple of attempts at homemade whole wheat bread were miserable failures. We ate them, but they were barely edible.
Then we found the whole wheat bread recipe that Phoebe (who did not use a bread machine) had adapted from Crystal (who did use a bread machine). We made a few changes to reflect the ingredients we had on hand as well as our taste preferences.
We were eager to try our bread, so we smeared real butter on the warm bread and topped it with a dollop of my homemade apple butter. It was comfort food at its finest.
What you'll need to make the best homemade whole wheat bread
Equipment
This is a bread machine recipe, so you're going to need a bread machine. Often, you can find them for free or cheap at yard sales or on FreeCycle (which is what we did). But of course, you can also buy one that is fancy and new. The newer ones are obviously more advanced and easier to use than the older models.
Ingredients
See the recipe card below for measurements.
- Warm water - It's important that this is neither hot nor cold.
- Instant yeast - Make sure it's the instant kind, not the slow rise kind.
- White sugar - This feeds the yeast. You can't make bread without a small amount of sugar.
- Whole wheat flour - Whole wheat bread requires a mix of whole wheat and white flours. If you use all whole wheat flour, the bread will have a strange taste and a strange texture.
- Unbleached white flour - You could certainly use bleached flour if you prefer. I try to go as unprocessed as possible, and bleaching is an added step that I don't think is necessary.
- Table salt
- Dry nonfat milk
- Melted butter
- White vinegar - You could also use apple cider vinegar for a similar flavor.
How to make the best homemade whole wheat bread in a bread machine
- Layer the ingredients in the bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions. In our machine, we put the yeast in the bottom with warm water, topped by the dry ingredients (sugar, whole wheat flour, unbleached white flour, salt, and powdered milk), and then add the wet ingredients (melted butter and vinegar) last, then shut the lid and turn it on using the Light setting.
That's it. I'm not kidding. When the machine beeps, we open the lid and eat the most delicious and light wheat bread we've ever had.
I really like wheat bread with crunchy bits like seeds, so I am eager to experiment with this recipe and ingredients to see if we can get that kind of texture going.
Check out these other recipes from scratch:
- The Best Bread Machine Pizza Crust
- How to Make the Best Homemade Pizza Dough
- How to Grill Pizza Dough
- How to Make Watermelon Jam
- Homemade Apple Butter on the Stove or in the CrockPot
Recipe
Perfect Homemade Whole Wheat Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups warm water not hot or cold
- 1 tablespoons instant yeast
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons dry nonfat milk
- 1 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 tablespoons vinegar
Instructions
- Layer in bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions. In our machine, we put the yeast in the bottom, topped by the dry ingredients. We add the wet ingredients last, then shut the lid and turn it on using the Light setting and a 1.5 pound loaf.
Robyn says
Is there any way to make this without dry milk? I never have that on hand.
Thanks!
Teresa says
Great question! Was wondering myself. Maybe try regular milk instead/or milk substitutes. It all gets mixed up in the machine anyway. right? If I’m wrong… please let me know. ☺️
Sharon says
I haven't made this bread yet but do intend to. I did a simple search regarding the ratio of dry milk to water. I found the following:
To reconstitute 2 tablespoons of dry milk powder, you'll need approximately 1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces) of water.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
General Rule: For every 1/4 cup of dry milk powder, you'll typically use 1 cup of water.
For 2 Tablespoons: Since 2 tablespoons is half of 1/4 cup, you'll need half of the water, which is 1/2 cup or 4 fluid ounces.
Alternative Calculation: You can also think of it as 1 tablespoon of dry milk powder to 1/4 cup of water, so 2 tablespoons of dry milk powder will need 1/2 cup of water.
Judy Mcinnes says
Finally a delicious light whole wheat bread. Found it slightly sweet. Would cutting back on the sugar affect the results as it turned out perfect otherwise.
Phyllis Reder says
Great recipe! Turned out great.thanks for the recipe.
Jo-Anne says
What size loaf does this recipe make: 1.5 or 2 pounds?
Brittany says
I just started my machine for a 1lb loaf. hoping it works! I may take it out and finish in the oven tho
Phyllis Reder says
Great recipe!
Phyllis Reder says
I love this recipe !!
Thank you!
Phyllis Reder
Donna says
Has anyone gotten a reply back from the author??
Tara Ziegmont says
Hi Donna,
I read everyone's comments, but to be totally honest with you, I got rid of my bread machine about seven years ago because I wasn't using it and hadn't made this recipe since 2011. I just don't remember the results well enough to give you an informed answer, and I was hoping that someone else who's made it recently would be able to help.
Sorry!
Tammy Lorimer says
I cant find my original review to edit. My 1st loaf was horrible and I tossed it. I decided to try again and this time I used less than 1 cup of water and it made a big difference. This loaf is perfect and tastes delicious! I will definitely be using this recipe with less water more frequently. It's very tasty!
Tara Ziegmont says
Hi Tammy,
The problem with the first loaf was that you used liquid milk instead of dry milk. So basically, you added an extra 2 tablespoons of liquid to the dough, which made it too wet. So I'm really glad that you tried again and had success. Thanks for coming back to update!
Andrea says
I also reduced the water and I added 2T wheat gluten. I use my own locally ground wheat and need to add a couple of TBS more. I also use powder buttermilk. Love it!
Debbie says
I made this bread with some substitutions. Used buttermilk instead of water, brown sugar instead of white sugar. In bread machine it was too wet so I added an additional 1 1/2 TBS whole wheat flour. Used 1.5 setting. It turned out beautifully. May try to add more whole wheat flour and less all purpose flour next time and see how it does.
Carol Renner says
This is my favorite “go to” bread recipe now. I’ve made it several times and I keep trying others because of grains I have & want to use up. But I keep coming back to this recipe. We love the taste & texture. It cuts well for toast or sandwiches & I always have all the everyday ingredients on hand.
Caryl says
What happens if you leave the vinegar out do I need to add another wet ingredient to replace it.
Tara Gerner says
You need an acid, so if you're going to leave the vinegar out, you would need a small amount of lemon or lime juice. Those are the only acids I can think of that would replace it.
Tami says
do you know how I could add sourdough starter and leave out the vinegar and adjust flour and use honey
Martha says
Your recipe does not state what size of loaf.This recipe is for,can you please correct this?
Tara Gerner says
It's a 1.5 pound loaf.
Terry says
Are you sure about the quantity of flour, my dough is way too wet!
Tara Gerner says
Hi Terry, this is the amount of flour that worked for me and has worked for many others. Everyone measures differently, and the flour is not measured by weight (which would be more accurate), so it's possible that you fluffed your flour more than I did or in some other way used a bit less than I intended. Simply add additional flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is the correct consistency.
Mary Jean Minard says
Just made this bread, it is delicious! I had to add 1cup more flour, half cup of each. I just love it and I’ll be making it again soon. Thank you for sharing this recipe.