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Whole Wheat Bread

A practical note from the Homestead Gristmill kitchen, with the context needed to choose better grain and cook with more confidence.

Whole Wheat Bread
PublishedSeptember 29, 2022
Read time1 min read
SourceMill kitchen
Next stepShop Whole Wheat Flour

A flavorful and nutritious whole wheat bread that is easy to make.

TIME
About 1 hour

SERVING SIZE
3 loaves

Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 1/2 cups warm water (105° – 115°F)
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 1 1/2 T salt
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 3 T yeast
  • 10-12 cups Homestead Whole Red Wheat Flour
  • 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten*

Directions

Combine warm water, oil, salt, honey and yeast. Add 3 cups of flour. Mix until smooth and all lumps are gone. Add gluten.

Slowly add enough flour to make a smooth and elastic dough. Knead for 10-15 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl to rise for about 1 hour.

Punch down and shape into 3 loaves. Let rise until double and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes.

Note: Make sure the dough is quite soft because the flour will continue to soak up liquids throughout the process.

* Adding gluten makes a lighter, more airy loaf.

Fresh Flour Notes

A few more notes from the mill kitchen

Whole Wheat Bread makes more sense when it is connected to the flour behind it. Many of the mill's older recipe posts were written as compact kitchen notes, but stone-ground breads, biscuits, tortillas, and wheat bakes usually need a little more explanation about hydration, tenderness, and flavor carry-through.

Fresh-milled flour behaves differently

Stone-ground flour tends to absorb water more gradually and keep more of the grain flavor intact. That can make doughs feel thirstier, starters more active, and finished loaves or biscuits noticeably more aromatic than the same formula made with standardized grocery flour.

The payoff is flavor and character, but it also helps to give the flour time. Short rest periods, softer handling, and a willingness to adjust with a small splash of liquid usually matter more than forcing the dough to match the first mix.

Tie the bake back to the grain

Readers who land on articles like this are often still deciding between whole wheat, sifted flour, or even the wheat berries themselves. That is why the related links matter. They turn a short article into a clearer path for comparison instead of leaving the reader stuck at a single recipe card.

For Homestead Gristmill, that connection is part of the value proposition. The mill sells ingredients with real identity, so the education around them should help a customer understand why one flour belongs in a sandwich loaf while another is better for biscuits or pastry.

Related paths

Use the article, then keep going

Whole Wheat Flour GuideClassic Whole Wheat SourdoughWheat Berries for Sale
Other

Ready for the next step?

See the whole wheat guide and matching products when you are ready to bake with fresh-milled flour.

Shop Whole Wheat Flour