A few weeks ago, I pulled a cookbook off my shelf, searching for a bread recipe. I’ve been baking up bread at least once a week to feed my kiddos and the bachelor who lives downstairs.
I love bread-baking, in case I haven’t mentioned that a time or twenty. I love the smell of the yeast, the ingredients learning to cling together. The rising dough. A soft, brown crust.
I’ve mostly been making white bread lately, with a cup or two of whole-wheat flour thrown in. Even though it makes me cringe, it’s just so much easier than fussing with whole-wheat bread. The whole-wheat recipe I’d fallen back on time and time again required soaking of grains, 10-20 minutes with my mixer, and a bread that tasted like honey to me. (I’m just not a huge fan of most honeys, and although I use it I don’t want the taste to be overwhelming.)
So anyway, I made a recipe for simple bread loaves from Food That Says Welcome, a great little paperback cookbook from Barbara Smith—Michael W. Smith’s mom! It was the puffiest, softest bread I’d ever made. I lovingly called it “pillow bread” and gave the recipe a big star. But … I wanted to make it a whole-wheat bread, since white flour has basically no nutritional value.
I’ve decided the key to this puffy bread is triple rising. Yep, you heard me. Yes, that adds additional time to bread-baking, which is already a lengthy process. But it’s totally worth it. And, as this recipe shows, it can even make 100% whole wheat bread soft and puffy. I’ve NEVER had a 100% whole wheat bread that wasn’t dense.
So, whole foodies, your problems are solved. Make this bread. Listen to the rave reviews. Smile because you know the secret. And if you’re feeling generous, share the recipe.
Ingredients
- 5 tsp. or 2 packages active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 c. warm water, divided
- 1/4 c. honey
- 1/4 c. sugar (I used sucanat)
- 1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
- 1 T salt
- 6 c. white whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
Instructions
This recipe can be made either in a stand mixer with dough hooks or mixed by hand. Because there is not a lot of kneading, it’s not too bad to do by hand.
Pour 1/2 cup warm water into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over it. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat. Add honey and sugar and stir together. Let cool slightly – it’s OK if it’s warm, but not hot.
Add butter mixture, salt, and remaining 2 cups water to the yeast and water in the bowl and stir well to combine.
One cup at a time, add in flour and stir until it’s combined. When done, turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead just until all the flour is worked into the dough. [Or, use speed 2 on your mixer with dough hooks.]
Cover bowl with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down dough and then let rise again, about another 45 minutes to an hour.
Separate dough into three equal balls. Press each ball into a rectangle with floured hands, roll up lengthwise, and then tuck ends under. Place loaves in greased loaf pans.
Cover pans and let rise again 30 minutes, until dough is to the top of the pans.
Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, until loaves are golden brown and sound a little hollow when you tap on them. Let loaves cool completely before slicing and serving.
I have her other cookbook, Cooking with Smitty’s Mom. I really like it. I didn’t know she had another one. Do you like most of the recipes in the book you have? I might have to add it to my collection. Thanks for the tip! I definitely need to try this!
God bless,
Amanda
I think I’ve only made bread recipes out of it, but the recipes are excellent and I love her comments on them.
I found a used copy on half.com for .75 so I went ahead and ordered it. I like her other book and I’m sure I would enjoy this one too. Plus I collect cookbooks anyway.
Thanks for sharing!!
Definitely make the caramel sweet rolls. SO yummy!
Yum! Can’t wait to try it. Never done the triple rise before. Have you over made this recipe with less sweetener or butter?
I’ve made it with oils instead of butter, and definitely gone lighter on the sweeteners. But never cut back the oil or butter amount. Butter is good for you.
And it’s split between three loaves, so it doesn’t seem excessive to me.
Yep, I’m a big fan of healthy fats. Butter is tasty.
Just used more than more other bread recipes I’ve made. Thanks for the reply. Craving warm whole wheat bread right now.
What do you think would happen if I skipped the sugar and only used the honey?
I think the sugar is mostly for flavor. You might try adding a little extra honey to make up for it.
molasses…
Are you kidding?! Its 100% fat! Use a light version if at all and PLEZ don’t give me its the “good Fat” crap its a lot of dense calories better used elsewhere.
“Light” versions of foods that come from natural sources are always going to be worse for you. I lost 90 lbs by trading magarines, light sour creams, skim milk, etc for the full fat versions. Gotta say, losing weight never tasted so good.
I am totally going to try this!!
I don’t even like wheat bread and I think I need to try this one.
You definitely should! (You can replace the wheat with white flour, of course, or use a mixture.)
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Yum! I am definitely going to try this. I mean if I’m already doing 2 rises, what’s one more? Thanks so much.
exactly! It’s definitely not any extra work, just a little bit more time.
This looks yummy! Do the loaves freeze well? Although I bet freshly baked bread doesn’t last long enough to freeze it.
I haven’t tried freezing this particular loaf, but I’ve never had any trouble freezing baked loaves.
I only have one loaf pan. Is it possible to bake only one at a time? Or perhaps I could make some into free-form loaves or rolls?
Yes, you can bake one at a time. Leave the extra dough in the fridge while you bake. You can also do freeform loaves, rolls, or shape loaves and freeze them after two rises. Defrost in a greased pan and let it rise (this does take a while, at least for me). Then cook as instructed.
Made them this afternoon and they are light and fluffy as promised. Only problem with the recipe is where you say to let them completely cool before slicing. Who could wait for that? (Not us is the answer). We sacrificed one loaf to eat warm and wonderful and immediately.
Ha. The reason I said that is because the one loaf I tried hot seemed a little grainy. Possibly because I used sucanat in the dough. If yours wasn’t, all the better! Slather on butter and honey and gobble it up hot.
I can’t wait to try this — June can’t come soon enough!
Looks Yummy! Maybe I missed it, but I can’t find in the recipe when to add the yeast mixture? I’m a bit of a beginner and don’t want to mess this up- I don’t think I could wait to have to bake another if I messed up! Thanks!
Elissa, I am sorry if that was unclear. You mix the yeast and water in your mixing bowl. Then you add in the other wet ingredients, then the flour. Does that make sense? I changed some wording to make it more clear in the post.
Love how light and fluffy your whole wheat bread came out – fantastic!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll give the bread a try.
ohh yummy! this looks like a wonderful success indeed!
Thank you for sharing and linking on Successful Saturdays!
Thanks for stopping by and hosting the link-up!
My husband was just put on a low sodium diet. I was wondering what your thoughts are about using unsalted butter in this recipe? This looks wonderful !
Paula, I always use unsalted butter. I wouldn’t cut back on the other salt, because it needs it to rise, but the recipe was tested with unsalted butter.
I prefer not to add any sugar to my bread. Do you think I would get the same results if I just increased the honey a little?
Thanks
I think it would be fine. I don’t love my bread tasting like honey, but if you don’t mind that doing all honey should be OK.
Thanks for your quick response! I don’t mind the honey taste, so I’ll give it a try. I was just worried that adding more liquid would screw up the recipe.
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Can you cut the recipe by a third to just make one loaf or is it important to make it in a larger batch?
Yes, you can cut the recipe in third. Not a problem!
CAN I USE INSTANT YEAST ITS THE ONLY THING I CAN GET IF YES HOW MUCH. THANK YOU
From what I understand, instant and bread machine yeast are the same. I do think it will work, but I don’t have any experience with instant yeast!
Hi,this recipe had sounded delicious as well as easy. I am going to bake my first ever bread using your recipe. I hope it turns out as it sounds.
Good luck Mona!! Let me know how it turns out!
I have made this recipe twice now. We love it! I have a problem getting it to rise the third time. I let it rise for an hour the third time and it still ends up kind of short. Should I try just making 2 loaves instead of 3 or am I doing something wrong?
I’ve seen people on Pinterest who say it only makes 2 loaves. My kitchen is REALLY warm (or the one where I wrote this recipe was) so that may account for the super-rising of my bread. Try 2 and see what happens!
I tried it twice and all I can say is THANK YOU. I used just honey and olive oil instead of the butter since I am on a healthy diet to loose 90 pounds. That was what drove me to your blog since I want to know exactly what I’m consuming. My husband just can’t have enough. The first time I’ve ever baked in my life and it came out fluffy and yummy. Thanks.
Lucille, That’s wonderful to know you can sub olive oil for the butter. I bet it gives it a wonderful flavor! I’m so glad it’s been a success for you!
Can I use Bread Flour instead of regular flour? Just bought some and from what I read online, I think its ok but it was all alittle confusing!
I’m sure bread flour is fine. It just has a higher gluten content, which will probably make it even yummier!
I love this recipe! Thank you! I do use regular whole wheat flour instead of white and molasses instead of honey. Delicious! A favorite in this house!! All of our friends like come to visit on “bread making day”!
basically I have made bread in the past and can never get it rise enough for me -.- no matter how closely I followed the recipe.
So I started using a bread machine and have tried a couple different recipes and they always come out to dense, nice when their fresh but as soon as they cool they suck and I have a hard time getting my kids to eat them.
So I googled fluffy 100% whole what and the first site on the list it came up with was this one! SO I imagine it must be some yummy bread. I like the idea of making more then one load at a time so this works well for me!
I am making our first batch now and am really excited. They seem to be rising with ease… I’m waiting the last 30 minutes before I pop them into the oven.
Thanks, Ill let you know how it turned out!
I let the bread rise for the last 30 minutes after separating them into individual loaves , They didn’t rise enough :/ I must be doing something wrong!?
I’ve had some people say for them this only made two loaves. Maybe next time try just dividing into two? The loaves aren’t real big for me if I make three.
I just made this again and would say definitely try just making two loaves. In my new apartment, which isn’t nearly as warm, especially in December, the dough doesn’t rise as readily as it did.
I’m going to make this tonight! My favorite whole-wheat bread recipe is super-delicious but literally takes ALL DAY to make.
OK it makes me kind of nervous that someone I “know” is making this. I should tell you if your house isn’t insanely warm (as mine was when I made it and took pictures), the recipe makes three SMALL loaves or two sandwich-sized ones. Looking forward to hearing your review … which I hope will be positive!
Maybe this is a silly question, but what size of bread pan do you use? I think mine are 9 x 5 or somewhere around there, and they are glass. Do I need to get a smaller size or would they work?
I use a combination of 9×5 and 8×5 because it’s what I have. I would say if you’re going to make two bigger loaves, use the 9×5 pans if possible. It doesn’t matter too much.
I just can’t get mine as fluffy as yours. Could I be kneading it too much in the mixer or not letting it rise enough?
I don’t know too much about the science of baking, but I really don’t knead this at all, just combine the ingredients. And then yes, it’s a lot of rising! Make sure your yeast is nice and fresh, too.
I made this a few weeks ago. It is the best bread I have ever made! I’m wondering if anyone has tried a gluten-free version of this. I want to make some for my gluten sensitive friend. What do you think? Any suggestions? I will let you know how it comes out.
Question – do you think it would be okay to use Whole Wheat Bread flour instead of White Whole Wheat flour? I have it on hand.
Things baked with regular whole wheat flour tend to be heavier – the gluten content is different. You could try, but you might want to use a couple cups of regular white flour to balance it.
My dough starts to clump up and almost fall apart, and it seems like the flour wont mix. Should I add more water? Or, is this normal? I am also using a standing mixer.