Honey Wheat Bread

Honey wheat bread is a whole grain sandwich bread recipe that is lightly sweetened, fluffy, and easy to make. Get my tips on rising, shaping, and baking to golden brown perfection.

It has been way, way too long since I added a bread recipe, let alone a sandwich-style loaf to the blog. I love my white wheat loaf recipe and still make it often, but this new honey wheat bread is something special. 

It’s lightly sweetened and perfectly textured from a blend of whole wheat and bread flour. The soft dough can be made in your stand mixer, bread machine, or by hand, and then it’s just two rises and into the oven. The result is a fluffy baked homemade whole wheat sandwich bread that even your kids will gobble up.

Ingredients for Honey Whole Wheat Bread

One of my favorite things about making homemade bread of any kind is that it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients! 

While a sandwich loaf like this one will take more than say pizza dough, you’ll find most of these are common and easy to find, if you don’t already have them. 

• Bread flour – A high gluten flour that helps create the soft, spongy final loaf. 
• Whole wheat flour – That whole grain goodness! Use either classic whole wheat or a white whole wheat flour.
• Yeast – I use active dry, but you could also use instant. 
• Salt – Definitely don’t skip the salt!
• Warm water – Warm water activates the yeast and helps the rise get going faster. 
• Honey – It’s hard to make a honey wheat loaf without it, just enough to lightly sweeten.
• Milk – This I only used for the final brush before baking. Milk creates a beautiful brown top, and is easy to use just enough, rather than a whole egg for an egg wash I mostly discard. That being said, use egg wash if you prefer.

You’ll notice in the pictures that I have oats on top. I do that for appearance, because I think it looks rustic, and I don’t mind the chew of oats on the crust. Poppy seeds, finely chopped nuts, sunflower seeds, or pepitas are other great choices.

How to Rise, Shape, and Bake Sandwich Bread

To use a bread machine just add all the ingredients into your machine, according to the manufacturer’s instructions and set it for the ‘dough’ setting. 

But I find that’s not needed, it’s so easy to whip up in my stand mixer, and produces a soft and supple dough. Here are my tips for mixing the dough to perfection and getting it set up for it’s first rise. 

• There’s actually no need to proof your yeast. Really. Unless you doubt whether it will work, just mix it into the bowl of your mixer with the flour and salt. 
• USE A KITCHEN SCALE (sorry to shout), but this is important. Measuring by weight makes this recipe so easy that I never need to add extra flour or water to get the texture right. 
• Dissolve the honey in warm water first. If you’re worried about your yeast, you can proof it in the same mixture at the same time. BUT don’t heat your water to above 110°F, or it can kill the yeast. Stir the honey until it dissolves for best dough integration. 
• Let the stand mixer run on medium low (like how fast you could do it by hand) for 7 minutes, or by hand for about 10. 
• The dough is ready for it’s first rise when it’s stretchy, tacky, but not sticky, and holds its shape in a ball. 
• Oiling the rising bowl makes this very easy in the next part. Just coat your hands and wipe them around a bowl. Then roll the dough around the bowl, and cover with a slightly damp towel.

Shaping the Dough

This next part starts when the dough has been rising for about an hour. You’ll know it’s ready when it has doubled in size. Or stick your finger down into it, if the indent doesn’t fill in, it’s ready for shaping. 

• Prep your loaf pan so the bread comes out easily for cooling. Use a 9×5 pan if you have it, and grease with cooking spray or lightly with oil. 
• Use a silicone baking mat for rolling out (no extra flour needed!) It also makes measuring dimensions a breeze. 
• Measure the bottom of the loaf pan (I eyeball it) and press the dough out to that width.
• No need for a rolling pin, just gently stretch and press the dough out into a rectangle with your palms. 
• Roll up from the bottom to the top, so the width stays the same as the pan like a cinnamon roll and pinch the seams shut. 
• Place seam side down in the pan and cover with a slightly damp towel again.

Bake the Loaf

The next rise is done when the loaf has risen an inch or two above the edge of the pan. I gently touch mine, and when my finger indent stays put, I move forward with baking. 

• Use milk or an egg wash to coat the top of the loaf for even browning. 
• Sprinkle with seeds or finely chopped nuts or oats
• Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is deeply brown. Tap the top and if it sounds nice and hollow, pull it out. 
• Ask quickly as you can (with hot pads) remove it from the pan to cool completely on a cooling rack. The sides will get soggy if you let it cool in the pan. 
• Don’t slice before it’s completely cool, seriously, give it a couple of hours and then you’ll get clean, beautiful sandwich bread slices.

Troubleshooting your loaf

Store and Serve Your Honey Whole Wheat Bread

With no preservatives in homemade bread, learning how to store yours is key. You can wrap it in plastic wrap, store it in a large silicone bag, wrap it in a large beeswax wrapper, or use a bread bag. Either way, try to eat it within 5 days. 

It can get stale if exposed to too much air, or moldy if left anywhere damp. 

You can also easily double or triple this recipe and make an extra loaf or two to put in the freezer, so it’s ready when you are. 

When you’re ready for a slice, make a delicious breakfast toast with homemade nut butter, any of these amazing jams or jellies, or layer on the fillings for a healthy sandwich, like an apple pecan chicken salad. 

However you like to eat it, I hope you enjoy it, and if by some chance it starts to get stale before you finish, just pop the ends in the freezer to make homemade breadcrumbs when you’re ready. 

Check out these other yeast based recipes on the site too, for your next baking project!

• Garlic bread rolls
• Chocolate Filled Bread
• Asiago Cheese Bread
• Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls