Julie Clark
Posted:
Honey Wheat Bread
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If you’re looking for a simple homemade bread with wholesome ingredients, this Honey Wheat Bread is it. It uses a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, and it’s sweetened with honey.
When cooler temperatures are in the air, I’m ready to bake homemade bread and make chicken soup. The smell of fresh bread never gets old, and makes even a gray day brighter.
This Honey Wheat Bread is one of our favorites because it makes the softest bread, excellent with chicken salad or even made into baked french toast.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Barbara says, “This is my 4th batch of this honey whole wheat bread. I use my KitchenAid mixer and it always turns out perfectly. Everyone loves it and it is wonderful toasted with butter and honey.”
What you’ll love about this Honey Wheat Bread Recipe:
- It’s soft. If you’re looking for a crispy crust, don’t bake this bread. If you want soft slices of bread perfect for sandwiches, this is your recipe. You won’t go back to store-bought bread.
- It’s sweetened with honey. No white sugar in this recipe. This bread is lightly sweetened with honey. Use local honey if you can.
- It’s egg free. If you can’t eat eggs, you’ll love this honey wheat bread recipe. It’s egg free but still has an amazing texture.
- It makes 2 loaves of bread. Which is a good thing, since we devour one loaf immediately after it comes out of the oven. I blame the kids! 🙂
Ingredients
- Milk & water. A combination of both milk and water gives the richness and fluffy texture that you’ll love.
- Honey. Choose local honey if you can. We are bee keepers and use our own bee honey in this recipe. I wish I could share with you all!
- Yeast. I love Red Star Platinum baking yeast, but any instant yeast will work. Read our guide to baking with yeast if you’re new to yeast breads.
- Whole wheat flour and bread flour. Whole wheat flour gives the nutty flavor that you love, while bread flour creates the structure that you know and love in a whole wheat sandwich bread.
- Salt and butter. For flavor and soft texture.
✨ See the recipe card for the full ingredient list and instructions. ✨
How to Make Honey Wheat Bread
- Activate the yeast. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk, warm water, and honey. Sprinkle the yeast over top the liquids and let it sit for 5 minutes until it gets foamy.
- First mixing and rest. Add the whole wheat flour and mix it into the yeast mixture using the beater blade attachment just until the flour is moistened. Let that mixture rest for 10 minutes.
- Remaining ingredients and knead. Next, add in the salt, butter, and the bread flour. Using the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, beat the dough for 7-10 minutes on low speed. (If you don’t have a stand mixer you can knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface.)
- First rise. Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a cloth and place the bowl in a warm place to allow the dough to rise. Let the dough rise until it is almost double in size.
- Shape dough. Cut the risen dough into two equal pieces. Shape dough loaves and place in 2 greased 8×4″ bread pans. Cover the dough and let them rise in a warm place for another 20 minutes while the oven is heating to 350ºF.
- Bake. Once, the oven is preheated, bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.
- Brush with butter. For the softest crust, brush the top of the loaf with butter while it is still warm. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and place it on a cooling rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a bread maker for this recipe?
If you have a bread machine, add the ingredients according to the bread machine instructions and set it to “dough” setting. Then take it out and bake it as our recipe states. It’s so easy to mix the soft dough in the bread maker!
Where do you put bread dough to rise?
This homemade bread recipe needs to rise twice: once right after mixing and once after you get the dough divided into bread pans. If your house is warm enough, room temperature may be fine. In cooler weather, place the bowl in a warm place. Here’s a complete article on how to help dough to rise.
Can I use all whole wheat flour in this recipe?
This recipe is versatile as far as what type of flour you use. Exchange the white flour with white whole wheat flour. Or you can use all wheat flour. The more wheat flour you use, the more of a dense, heavy loaf you’ll get. But with the combination in the recipe card below, you’ll end up with a soft honey wheat bread recipe.
Having trouble with your bread? Read all about how to get the perfect loaf of bread here.
Honey Wheat Bread
If you’re looking for a simple homemade bread with wholesome ingredients, this Honey Wheat Bread is it. It uses a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour for the softest bread.
Servings 20 servings
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm milk (115-120 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 1/4 cup warm water (115-120 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 packages Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Yeast
- 3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk, warm water, and honey. Sprinkle the yeast over top the liquids and let it sit for 5 minutes until it gets foamy. 2 cups warm milk, ¼ cup warm water, ¼ cup honey, 2 packages Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Yeast
- Add the whole wheat flour and mix it into the yeast mixture using the beater blade attachment just until the flour is moistened. Let that mixture rest for 10 minutes. 3 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
- Next, add in the salt, butter, and the bread flour. Using the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, beat the dough for 7-10 minutes on low speed. (If you don’t have a stand mixer you can knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface.) 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 ¼ cups bread flour–
- Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a cloth and place the bowl in a warm place to allow the dough to rise. Let the dough rise until it is almost double in size.
- Cut the risen dough into two equal pieces. Shape dough loaves and place in 2 greased 8×4″ bread pans. Cover the dough and let them rise in a warm place for another 20 minutes while the oven is heating to 350ºF.
- Once, the oven is preheated, bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.
- For the softest crust, brush the top of the loaf with butter while it is still warm. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and place it on a cooling rack.
- Let the bread cool and slice to serve. Store any extra bread in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
- If the weather or your house is warm, room temperature may be a warm enough place for the dough to rise.
- Active dry yeast works in this recipe as well.
- Test the yeast bread with an instant-read thermometer. The internal temperature should be 190ºF.
- Want a shinier, more golden crust? Add an egg wash. Read our guide to the best bread washes.
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
- The calories shown are based on each bread loaf being cut into 10 slices, with 1 serving being 1 slice of bread. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. **
Nutrition
Serving: 69g | Calories: 154kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 370mg | Potassium: 119mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 75IU | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Other Yeast Bread Recipes
My daughter and I made this delicious bread along with homemade butter. So yummy!
Light, soft, moist crumb, but it tastes dry because it’s so bland. It could use another 1/2 cup honey or sugar. Not bad, but disappointing.
Is it really a tablespoon of salt? That seems kind a lot for two loaves
My husband prefers wheat bread and I’m trying to make less-processed foods in our home. After lots of research and recipe comparisons, I selected this bread to try – that was a year ago and many many batches! This recipe works perfectly and I’ve not had a bad loaf yet. Rather than cover with a towel when rising, I use Saran Wrap with a spritz of oil/cooking spray as it keeps the bread from sticking. If I’m low on milk I’ll use the powdered variety or diluted half and half. Has a good flavor and texture, even after freezing. Highly… Read more »
Can I halve this recipe?
I’ve made this recipe many times now. For a while, when it was impossible to buy bread anyway because of the pandemic, I was baking two or three loaves a week. This is far superior to any honey wheat bread you can buy in the stores. It has a perfect crumb every time and a nice crust. It is perfect for sandwiches and toast. It is also ridiculously good still warm from the oven with butter.
Hi! I have Fleischmann’s instant yeast packet, how much should I use with this recipe? Directly to dry ingredients?
Hi, I am new to baking bread. I saw your honey wheat bread and wanted to try it coz it looks absolutely great! I was reading through the comments and my concern is overproofing the bread. Can you give me an approximate time how long the first rise should be, more or less? I know the rise is dependent on a lot of factors but if I have an idea, then it can maybe help me avoid the overproofing. Thank you!
I dont have bread flour can i use all purpose flour? How much should i put?
turned out really pretty and made the whole house smell amazing. it was much too salty for my taste though… i used the full tablespoon and it was too much. maybe the type of salt matters?? regardless, texture was perfect and it was a warm milky bread.
Can I use olive oil in place of butter? If so, how much?
My husband accidentally bought me RAW honey, Can i use that? if so how ? its fairly thick.
This is the best whole wheat recipe I have ever made. It is the perfect sandwich bread. This will be made with regularity at our house.
No yeast around here during these crazy times. Can you substitute seltzer or beer in this recipe?
Hi, will this recipe work in 2 9×5 loaf pans?