Best 20 Whole Grain Bread Recipes

NORDIC WHOLE-GRAIN RYE BREAD

Steps:

• On Day 1, make the starter: In a medium-size bowl, mix 3/4 cup warm water with the buttermilk or yogurt. Whisk flour and yeast together, add to the buttermilk mixture and use your hands to mix together until sticky and moist; add more warm water as needed. Cover tightly and set aside at cool room temperature overnight, or up to 24 hours.
• Also on Day 1, soak the grains: Mix 4 cups cold water with the rye berries (or meal) and sunflower seeds. Cover and set aside at cool room temperature overnight, or up to 24 hours.
• On Day 2, make the bread: Drain the soaked grains in a colander. Measure 35 ounces/1,000 grams of the grains and place in a deep bowl. Add 14 ounces/400 grams of the starter and mix well. (Any remaining starter can be saved to use with other bread recipes.) Add the flour, salt, malt (or molasses), yeast and 2 cups water. Mix dough firmly by hand to combine. The dough should be grainy, but quite runny and wet, almost like a thick batter. To achieve that texture, add cold water, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. To test: When a walnut-size piece of dough smeared on the rim of the bowl slides slowly and smoothly down the inside, like a snail leaving a trail, the dough it is wet enough.
• Thickly butter 3 medium or 2 standard-size loaf pans. Divide the dough evenly among the pans, filling them about half full. Cover and let rise at room temperature until dough almost fills pans, about 2 hours. (Dough will not rise more during baking.)
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake loaves for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 360 and bake until firm and glossy brown, 80 minutes to 2 hours more depending on size and moisture content of loaves. Let cool completely in the pans before turning out. Bread freezes well, and lasts for at least a week at room temperature, wrapped in paper.

WHOLE-GRAIN BREAD

Steps:

• Stir whole-wheat flour, bran, and 1 cup water in a bowl. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Stir milk and 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Stir in yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Put whole-wheat flour mixture, milk mixture, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, the cornmeal, 3 tablespoons oats, the ground flaxseed, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook; mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add 2 1/2 cups bread flour; mix until dough is tacky, but not sticky, about 2 minutes (if dough is too sticky, add more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time). Continue kneading until dough is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes more.
• Coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Add dough to bowl; turn to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour (or refrigerate overnight; bring to room temperature).
• Turn out dough onto a work surface; shape into a loaf about 9 inches long. Using a spray bottle, mist with water; sprinkle top with remaining 2 teaspoons oats and the whole flaxseed. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray. Transfer loaf to the pan, and cover lightly with the plastic wrap. Let stand until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mist oven with water; place loaf in oven. Bake 5 minutes; mist oven again. Continue to bake, rotating pan once, until well browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Unmold bread onto a wire rack; return to oven, and bake directly on oven rack 5 minutes more. Remove from oven; let cool completely on rack.

MULTI GRAIN WHOLE WHEAT-MACHINE BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Gather all 6 ingredients.
• 2. also the brown sugar, salt and yeast.
• 3. Put all ingredients into your bread machine in the order for your bread machine directions. Close lid. For the Seiko machine. Press select until the desired bread selection is selected. I select #6 for a 2 pound loaf (in a Seiko) Press start. Bread will be done in the number of hours as indicated.
• 4. Picture of the cooked bread, shown with my CREAMED CABBAGE CHOWDER recipe. If you need the 1-1/2 pound bread recipe or the 1 pound recipe...let me know You might want to check out the bread machine cookbooks on JAP for some great recipes.

SEEDED WHOLE GRAIN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Mix millet, quinoa, amaranth, 1 cup oats, 1 cup buttermilk, and 1/2 cup water in a small bowl. Cover and let sit 8-12 hours. (Alternatively, bring ingredients to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and let sit until mixture is thick like porridge, about 2 hours.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil an 8"-diameter cast-iron skillet or cake pan. Whisk whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, flaxseed, salt, baking soda, and 1/4 cup sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Work in butter with your fingers until largest pieces are pea-size. Make a well in the center and add brown rice syrup, oat mixture, remaining 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, and remaining 1 Tbsp. oil. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is smooth, homogenous, and still slightly sticky.
• Form dough into a ball and place in prepared pan. Brush with buttermilk; top with more oats and sunflower seeds. Cut a large X into the top and bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of loaf registers 190°F, 55-70 minutes. Let cool in pan.
• Do ahead
• Bread can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.

BEST WHOLE GRAIN GLUTEN-FREE BREAD FOR A BREAD MACHINE

Steps:

• Mix cornstarch, millet flour, tapioca flour, rice flour, teff flour, ground flax, psyllium husk, and guar gum in a bowl.
• Place eggs, warm water, canola oil, vinegar, sugar, yeast, cornstarch mixture, salt, and milk in a bread machine pan in the order listed, or in the order listed by the manufacturer. Stir gently with a wooden spoon to combine yeast with the rest of the ingredients.
• Run "rapid bake" cycle for 2 hours. Select "dark" crust setting; bake for 50 minutes.

WHOLE-GRAIN OAT BREAD

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cover steel-cut oats with the boiling water. Let stand until room temperature. Stir in bulghur wheat and honey; set aside.
• Place the warm water in a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the reserved oat mixture with the yeast mixture, whole-wheat flour, and salt. Add the all-purpose flour until the dough is tacky, but not sticky. Continue kneading about 5 minutes more.
• Place dough in a buttered bowl, and cover with buttered plastic wrap directly on the surface. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.
• Turn out dough onto a clean work surface; form into a loaf about 9 inches long. Lightly mist with water; sprinkle with rolled oats. Place in a well-buttered 9-by-5-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan; let stand until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a serrated knife, slash top of loaf lengthwise down center. Place immediately in oven. Bake until nicely browned and cooked through, about 1 hour. Remove from pan; let cool on a wire rack.

FRESH MILLED GRAIN WHOLE WHEAT BREAD IN BREAD MACHINE

Steps:

• Grind about 5 cups of hard red or hard white spring wheat. This should make a little more than 600 grams of flour. Weigh the flour out.
• Tip for using Vitamix--store grain in freezer so it does not get hot during grinding. Do only 1 cup at a time. You can re-grind the larger pieces.
• Measure it out on a scale because the weight of flour is different depending on the grind. This is key. It will be around 4-5 cups, but you won't get bread that is as good if you use volume over weight.
• In your bread machine, add everything EXCEPT yeast and about 1 cup of flour.
• Turn on your bread machine and let it mix. It'll be kind of gloopy, that's fine. You might need to help get all the wheat wet by mixing it inches It doesn't have to be perfect, but we want the wheat wet. Stop once it's mixed (turn off machine). Of course you can do that by hand if you want to.
• Set the timer on your bread machine for at least 8 hours later and use the dough cycle for the best bread. You can wait up to 24 hours.
• The wait is so that the whole wheat can do a few important things; develop a good gluten and break down phytic acids. By using buttermilk (you can make your own or use water and 2 tsp apple cider vinegar) you give it an acidic environment to do it's thing.
• Pour the remaining flour on top of the dough and make a little "bowl" in the flour and carefully pour the yeast into the indent so that it is separated from the dough. If you don't, it will activate too early. Even better if you have a bread machine with a separate yeast chamber. If so you do not need to hold back any flour.
• When the machine beeps the next morning, the dough should be nicely risen, although you might expect it to be a bit higher if you're used to using regular bread flour. Worry not, my friend.
• Wash your counter very well and spray a little oil on it. Oil up your hands and turn the dough onto the counter. Fold it over itself a few times and then tear the dough in half. Just using your hands make it into a rectangle and roll it up tightly. Place it into an oiled bread pan. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for another hour or so. I just turn on my oven for a bit at low heat and then turn it off.
• Take the towel out of the oven (very important part) and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350.

SPELT AND KAMUT WHOLE GRAIN SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Autolyse
• Mix together the flour and most of the water (reserve 20g water) until completely incorporated. Cover and let autolyse for 1-2 hours.
• Bulk Fermentation
• Add the starter to the dough by spreading it on the surface, stretching and folding the dough over the starter and gently kneading it into the dough. Cover and let sit for about 30 minutes.
• Dissolve the salt into the 20g of reserved water and add the mixture to the dough the same way you added the starter. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
• With 30 minutes rests in between each gluten development maneuver, coil fold the dough, then laminate it, and then coil fold it twice more. Here are videos of gluten development techniques.
• Let the dough continue to rise until it has grown by about 75% and has some surface bubbles. See photo gallery below for before and after photos.
• Calculating from when the starter was added, Version 1's bulk fermentation was 6 hours at room temperature, 12 hours in the refrigerator, and another 1 hour at room temperature. Had I not refrigerated the dough, I suspect 7-8 hours would have sufficed. Version 2's bulk fermentation was 5 hours at room temperature. This shorter time can be attributed to both the larger amount of starter and higher hydration of the dough.
• Pre-Shape, Bench Rest, Shape
• Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and pre-shape it into a ball.
• Lightly dampen the top of the dough or cover it, and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Prepare your proofing basket with flour.
• Shape the dough. Here are some videos if you want shaping pointers.
• Flour the top of the dough, flip it into your proofing basket and cover.
• Final Proof
• Let the dough proof until it has expanded in volume and looks a bit puffy. See the photo gallery below for before and after photos.
• Version 1 proofed 1.5 hours at room temperature and Version 2 proofed for 13 hours in the refrigerator.
• Bake
• Preheat your oven to 500F for 30 minutes with your baking vessel inside.
• Flip your dough onto parchment paper, score it, and load it into the hot baking vessel.
• Bake at 500F for 20 minutes with the lid on.
• Then, if you're baking in cast iron, slide a baking sheet under the vessels, same shelf, direct contact.
• Lower the oven temperature to 450F and bake for an additional 10 minutes with the lid on.
• Remove the lid and bake for 5-10 minutes more.

FIVE-GRAIN BUTTERMILK-CRANBERRY BREAD (WHITE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cereal.
• In large bowl, mix remaining cereal, the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in dried cranberries.
• In small bowl, beat egg and buttermilk with whisk until well blended. Reserve 1 tablespoon buttermilk mixture. Stir remaining buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients, stirring just until mixture is moistened; dough will be soft. On floured surface, knead dough 5 or 6 times.
• On large cookie sheet, shape dough into 7-inch round. Cut large X shape, 1/4 inch deep, into top of dough, using sharp knife. Brush top of dough with reserved buttermilk mixture; sprinkle with reserved cereal.
• Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool 30 minutes. Using serrated knife, cut into slices or wedges to serve.

100% WHOLE GRAIN BREAD WITH BIGA/SOAKER

Steps:

• .Mix the biga ingredients, cover and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature. Then, refrigerate for 3 to 18 hours.
• Mix the soaker, cover and rest for 4 to 19 hours.
• To make the bread, warm the biga at room temperature or in low heat (
• Spread the biga on a floured counter and layer the soaker over that. Cut dough into 12 pieces and add to mixing bowl.
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix and knead for 7 - 8 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes and knead for 1 to 2 more minutes until a moderate windowpane is achieved.
• Do a stretch and fold. On a lightly floured counter, stretch the dough into a rectangle and fold it like a letter going into an envelope. Turn 90 deg and fold again. Invert and place in an oiled bowl or straight sided clear container.
• Rest for 20 minutes and do another stretch and fold and return to container.
• After the dough has risen to one and a half times it's original volume (30 to 45 more minutes), turn out onto a floured counter.
• Shape into loaves and pan. Let rise, covered with oiled plastic, for 45 minutes or so or until loaves are risen to 150% of their volume.
• Bake in preheated 375F oven until 190-200F internally, about 35-40 minutes. Cool on rack before slicing.

WHOLE GRAIN BANANA COCONUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease 2 8x4” loaf pans or 1 9x5” loaf pan; I use cooking spray with no sticking problems; I used 2 8x4” loaf pans, and the resulting loaves were on the short side.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, oat bran, soy powder, flax seeds, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the pecans (and optional coconut) to the dry mixture and stir to incorporate; set aside.
• In the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel blade, place the Splenda, brown sugar, honey or barley malt syrup, butter, both kinds of lecithin, and xanthan gum; Puree together for about 2 minutes (this will help the lecithin and xanthan bind it all together).
• Add the banana, coconut milk, egg whites, and vanilla and coconut extracts to the food processor bowl, and puree again until well-blended; shake the can of coconut milk prior to opening it up so that the contents won’t be separated when you measure.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to fold it all together; be careful not to overmix the batter or the finished product will be tough as a result of activating the gluten.
• Pour even amounts of batter into the loaf pan (s), and place in the preheated moderate oven.
• Bake until internal temperature reaches 185 degrees Fahrenheit; this took 36 minutes for 2 8x4” loaves in my oven today but will take longer in a 9x5" pan; look for a firm, lightly brown top and look for the sides to pull away from the pan (s).
• Chef notes: If you want to use your whole 14-oz can of coconut milk, triple this recipe (that's a lot o' banana bread--yay!); Also, if you want to eliminate the 1/4 cup of butter, just add an extra 1/4 cup of banana; the coconut milk, soy powder, lecithin, and flax seeds all have significant amounts of healthy fats in them so you should still end up with a moist tender bread; I haven’t tried that yet, so if you do, please inform us of the outcome in your review!

ROASTED HAZELNUT RAISIN WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT BREAD - DIRECT METHOD

Steps:

• Mix the flour and water either by hand or mixer until all of the flour is wetted. Cover and let that sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Roast hazelnuts at 375F for 14 minutes. Cool and remove skins by rubbing the hazelnuts between your hands. Crush the nuts roughly or leave whole.
• Add salt and yeast, butter and honey and knead for 5 minutes.
• Add nuts and raisins and knead for about 3 more minutes to mix them in uniformly.
• Remove dough and place in a straight-sided clear container noting the level of the dough.
• Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume. After 20 minutes, remove the dough and stretch and fold it as you would a letter from top to bottom and side to side. Return to the container.
• Divide the dough into 2 pieces and roll each piece until the length is about 8 inches each. Place each into 8" x 4" loaf pans sprayed with oil.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cover the pans with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until risen 1 1/2 times the volume or 1/2 inch above the pan tops.
• Bake for 15 minutes and rotate the loaves for even baking.
• After 35 to 45 minutes (total) check the temperature. Remove when the loaves are 195 F to 205°F.
• Tip the loaves out onto racks and let cool to room temperature.

DIJON-CILANTRO TUNA SALAD ON WHOLE GRAIN BREAD

Steps:

• Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in tuna. Add celery, onion, and cilantro; mix well. Cover; chill at least 30 minutes.
• Spoon 1/2 cup tuna on each of 6 bread slices. Top with tomato slices, arugula, and bread slices. Cut sandwiches in half.

DELICIOUS WHOLE GRAIN BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
• Combine butter and honey in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Mix in bananas and vanilla extract.
• Mix whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and fleur de sel together in a separate bowl. Mix into the butter mixture until batter is combined.
• Whisk hot water into the batter. Fold in dark chocolate and walnuts. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out mostly clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes; invert onto a baking rack to cool completely.

HONEY WHOLE-GRAIN BREAD

Steps:

• Using a 1 quart casserole, souffle dish, or any other high sided baking pan that will fit into your slow cooker, coat with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl combine together 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, milk, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, honey, oil, yeast and salt. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the remaining whole wheat flour and up to 1/2 cup all purpose flour until dough is no longer sticky. If the electric mixer is have a difficult time mixing the dough use a wooden spoon to mix in the remaining flour. Transfer dough to the prepared baking dish.
• Place dish in slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or until the edges of the bread have browned. Carefully lift the baking dish out of the slow cooker using oven mitts or pot holders. Let bread stand for 5 minutes and than unmold on a wire rack to cool.

DILLED SALMON TARTARE ON WHOLE GRAIN BREAD

Steps:

• Mix mustard and mayonnaise in small bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
• Mix salmon and next 8 ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and chill until cold, at least 30 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 4 hours ahead. Keep refrigerated.
• Spread 1 tablespoon mustard mixture on 1 side of each bread slice. Cut each bread slice into 6 pieces. Divide salmon tartare mixture among bread slices. Transfer to platter and serve.

HARRY'S WHOLE GRAIN NO KNEAD DUTCH OVEN BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flours, and salt. Stir until well blended. The dough should be shaggy and sticky. Let rise overnight, at least 12-18 hours, for best results.
• Flour a work surface. Fold dough over itself once or twice. Place the dough, seam side down, on a floured kitchen towel. Cover with another floured kitchen towel.Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
• Preheat the oven 20 minutes before the dough is ready to 475 degrees. Put the dutch oven into the oven. When dough is ready, take out the dutch oven, and then using the kitchen towels, flip the dough into the pot, seam side up. Shake the pot if the dough loses it's shape.
• Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the dough is turned golden brown. Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!

GLUTEN FREE 60% WHOLE GRAIN HAMBURGER BUNS RECIPE (OR BREAD)

Steps:

• Place the 1/2 cup of room temperature water in a cup and mix in the ounce of ground chia. Stir well and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (including the 1/2 ounce of ground chia) and mix well.
• In a mixer with a regular paddle attachment, combine liquids, including the wet chia mixture and beat until well blended.
• With mixer on lowest setting, add dry ingredients a cup at a time. Stop machine and scrape bottom and sides. Turn up mixer to medium-high and let run for 4 minutes.
• Spoon into greased muffin top pans with large ice cream scoop. Level with a spoon warmed in hot water and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost double in size.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes for buns or 45 minutes to an hour for bread. Inside temperature should be between 210 and 212.

WHOLE-GRAIN ZUCCHINI BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare loaf pan or muffin tins with cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, beat together bananas, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
• Stir in grated zucchini.
• In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients.
• Stir flour mixture into banana mixture.
• Pour into prepared loaf pan or muffin tins.
• Bake approximately 45 minutes for loaf pan and 25 minutes for muffins until a toothpick tests clean.

WHOLE GRAIN CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD

Steps:

• Put the warm water, sugar and yeast into the bowl on the Bosch (or your mixer of choice) and stir gently.
• Add melted butter, lecithin, wheat gluten, cinnamon and salt and mix until combined. (I only used 2 tsp of cinnamon when I made this recipe and wished, when I had finished, that I had used more. The cinnamon flavor was only mildly discernible and next time I will definitely double that, so go by your own personal taste, as to how much seems right.)
• Mix in about 3½ cups of the flour and then in small increments, gradually add just what you need to complete the dough. In total for this batch, I used 4½ cups of flour.
• (After all my bread posts, you are probably tired of hearing this, but it is really important if you want the best possible bread. Humidity will dramatically affect the amount of flour you need to make bread dough. Add a portion of what is called for, mix it in and then begin adding flour in 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup intervals, mixing and adding more when needed, until the dough in your machine just starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and leaves the bowl sides clean. The dough will be very soft, but not sticky to the touch. That is perfect dough.).
• Add the grain and raisins and mix until incorporated. (See below for a tip on baking with raisins.).
• Knead on power level 2 for seven minutes or turn onto a floured board and knead by hand for ten to fifteen minutes.
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a warm, damp tea towel and let rise until doubled in size.
• Punch down the dough. Knead slightly until it forms a smooth ball. Divide in half.
• Form each half into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan. Cover with a warm, damp tea towel and let rise until doubled in size.
• Bake in a 350° oven for 35-40 minutes. Brush tops of loaves lightly with butter. Remove from pans onto cooling rack to cool before slicing.
• To see the complete step-by-step pictorial instructions for this recipe, visit my blog at http://busy-at-home.com/blog/?p=3546.
• **The promised tip for baking with raisins** If your raisins are particularly dried, they can often scorch and have an almost burnt, bitter taste after further dehydrating in your oven. So, before I add them to mixtures I will be baking, I measure them into a microwave safe container, completely cover them in water and microwave on full power for 1 - 2 minutes. I leave them in that warm water while I mix the rest of my ingredients and then thoroughly drain them just before adding them to my dough or batter. They are plump, juicy and sweet even after the baking is complete.