It is no secret that I’ve been working to perfect a honey whole wheat sandwich bread recipe for months now. I was not only looking for a recipe that was reliable and tasted good of course, but that also didn’t contain any “unusual” ingredients like dried milk powder or wheat gluten.
We absolutely LOVE the honey whole-wheat loaf from Great Harvest, and if they can make it with only five simple ingredients (freshly ground whole-wheat flour, water, honey, salt & yeast) then I should be able to do it too!
So after months of experimenting, I am thrilled to finally have a homemade bread recipe to share. And while this recipe comes out just right 9 times out of 10, I’ve learned that things can’t always be “perfect” when it comes to baking bread machine recipes.
If you aren’t weighing your ingredients and instead just measuring them out like me, or if you live in a place where the humidity might change from time to time…well then, expect some occasional surprises with the outcome of your bread.
I have learned one valuable trick though (from a blog reader!), and that is to check on the bread once or twice during the kneading process to make sure the dough looks “right.” I’ve caught mine looking too wet and sticky a couple of times, so I’ve added a few sprinkles of flour to get things back on track before the baking started. That’s exactly why the picture loaf looks a little “floury.”
I also want to share that this particular recipe makes a loaf that is on the larger side, which I like because then I don’t have to replenish our bread supply every two days. This loaf also comes out with a lighter crust due to its big size, and that is a plus in my book as well.
If you have any good bread-making tips or recipes that you’d like to share please do so in the comments below!
Honey Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread (for bread machine)
This is an easy to follow honey whole-wheat sandwich bread recipe for your bread machine.
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups water, warm (not too hot or it will kill the yeast)
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or melted butter
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 packet, or bread machine yeast
Instructions
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Layer the dry ingredients into the bread pan, according to manufacturer's instructions (check the user manual for this).
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Make a well and place the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients. My particular bread machine (this one is similar) has a separate area for yeast; please consult your bread machine's instruction manual for yeast placement as this is very important!
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Select the whole wheat option on your bread machine and press start. My machine takes 5 hours to make a whole wheat sandwich loaf.
Recipe Notes
- Be sure to check your bread machine's instructions for how ingredients should be layered. This recipe goes by my machine's (the Oster ExpressBake Bread Maker is similar) preference which is dry ingredients first, then wet ingredients on top.
- This recipe has been around for a while, and I've read many comments about adapting it to bake in the oven. If you still want to use your bread machine, though, you can select the dough cycle to get the dough just right, then transfer to a bread pan and bake the bread in the oven.
Nutrition Facts
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Taco Salad
I tried this in our Zojirushi BB-PAC20 with whole wheat flour ( King Arthur’s whole grain brand) but the it was all small dry crumbs during the kneading. I manually added more water as it was too dry. Don’t know where did I go wrong.
I would check with your machine’s manual in the troubleshooting section. – Nicole
I’ve tried several different bread machine recipes and they usually didn’t work, but this one was fantastic! Thanks so much! Going to use this over and over again!
I have a Zojirushu BB-Pac20 machine.
Will white-wheat flour work instead of whole wheat flour?
Hi Sarah, ideally we’d recommend it to be whole-wheat, but yes, white-wheat will also work. We’ve also had readers combine half white-wheat and half whole-wheat. – Nicole
This recipe did not work for me. I have a 2-lb Cuisinart Convection bread machine, and this ended up with a hugely sunken middle, and spilled over the sides of the pan. I used the Whole Wheat setting/light crust. We are also essentially at sea level. I almost pulled it out to form my own loaf and bake in the oven, but did not. Totally regret not doing that now!
Hi Karen, sorry to hear that didn’t work out for you. Every machine is different so you need to make sure you follow the necessary steps for your machine. I would also take a look at your machine’s troubleshooting section to see if it might have some suggestions. – Nicole
Uh oh! My bread machine is a mini! The dough is rising now. If I transfer to oven, how long would I bake and at what temp?
Hi Ann, sorry we can’t respond to blog comments in real-time. Did you end up putting it in the oven with any luck? – Nicole
I saw on your “whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread (for bread machine)” recipe that you recommended taking the bread out 10 minutes earlier than the standard end time for a lighter crust. Would you offer that same advice here for those wanting lighter crusts?
Yes, you can take it out a little early for a lighter crust.
This didn’t work in my machine. It started out great but then collapsed into a hard lump.
Hi Annette, sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. Every machine is different so you need to make sure you follow the necessary steps for your machine. We’ve had other readers say that they reduced the yeast to 1-3/4 tsp because they live in higher altitudes, and that helped it. – Nicole
Can’t wait to try this! I enjoy your recipes. If I use butter instead of olive oil, is it the same amount? Thank you!
Hi Michelle, yes it would still be the same amount if you used melted butter. – Nicole
Hi, we can’t have honey and I was wondering what you thought about subbing maple syrup for this recipe?
Yes. That would work just as well. – Nicole
Great recipe! However the first few times I tried it the top collapsed. We live in Utah (roughly 4,500ft) so I reduced the yeast to 1-3/4 tsp…worked great! Now I make it weekly for the fam.
I am going to try this this afternoon. I am in Utah as well and can’t get that fluffy whole wheat bread to save my life at this point…everything is super dense…..maybe reducing the yeast will help.♀️
I love your recipes, have your first book and use many of the recipes. I am so glad for this recipe. My bread machine wore out years ago, my sister still had hers and I inherited it :) yea for younger sisters who hang on to things. I can’t wait to make this next week when we’ll be in need of a loaf of bread. Thank you.
That’s great to hear! Let us know how you like it :) – Nicole
Well, next week took almost a month to happen :) I guess that’s life. I made this recipe today, however, since hubs doesn’t care for 100% whole wheat, I used 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 white whole wheat. We love it. I finally found a recipe we both agree on and it comes out just perfect. This will be our go to bread from now on.
So glad you were able to try it and make it work for both of you! – Nicole