A simple and easy Whole Wheat Bread Machine Recipe. This is the perfect bread machine recipe for wholemeal bread that will make healthy and delicious sandwiches and toast for your family.
I love making a simple loaf of bread in my bread machine to use for everyday breakfasts and lunches, or as a side with a quick dinner. Bread Machine White Bread, Thyme Bread, Oatmeal Bread, and Seed Bread are some of my favorites, but I come back to this bread machine whole wheat recipe often too.
If you’re looking for healthy bread machine recipes, you have come to the right place. Using a bread machine to make wholesome homemade wheat bread is the easiest thing ever! You just toss the ingredients in and let the machine knead and bake your loaf for you.
Don’t have a bread machine? Try my no-knead bread recipe instead!
Try using your homemade sandwich bread to make tuna salad sandwiches or a classic BLT!
Do you know what else the bread machine does really well? It makes amazing Pizza Dough!
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
You only need six simple and inexpensive ingredients to make this whole wheat bread machine recipe. You’ll add them to your bread maker in the following order:
- Water: Water mixes everything else together into a cohesive dough.
- Melted Butter: I like the flavor that butter adds to homemade breads, but you can use olive oil if you prefer.
- Sugar: A bit of granulated sugar helps to wake up the yeast and helps to give this bread a golden-brown crust. You can leave the sugar out if you’d like to make sugar-free wheat bread.
- Salt: Salt is added for flavor. It’s optional if you would like to reduce the sodium in this recipe.
- Strong Whole Wheat Bread Flour: Wheat flour comes in a variety of types. The one you want to look for should be labeled as “whole wheat bread flour”. It will also usually be labeled as “strong” or “high-gluten” which means that it has a high amount of gluten, which is perfect for breadmaking.
- Instant Yeast: Instant yeast is the right choice when deciding what type of yeast to buy for your bread maker bread. You may also see “bread maker yeast”. This is also Instant yeast, just with a different label, so feel free to use either. Active Dry Yeast won’t properly bloom in the bread maker, so don’t use that here.
How to Make Whole Wheat Bread in a Bread Machine
Visit my recipe for Bread Machine White Bread for more tips and tricks!
- Add Ingredients: Layer your ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the following order: Water, Butter/Oil, Salt, Sugar, Flour, and lastly, Yeast.
- Set Up and Turn On: Add the bread pan to the bread machine, and make sure that it’s secured. Close the lid, and plug in the machine. Choose the wholemeal or whole wheat bread setting, medium size, and start the machine.
- Let the Bread Maker Work: The bread machine will now take over for you, and knead, proof, and bake your bread dough!
- Cool: When the baking cycle ends, unplug the bread machine, open the lid, and remove the pan from the machine with kitchen mitts. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then shake it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely. Carefully remove the paddle from the bottom of the loaf if it got stuck there.
Tip!
I’ve provided measurements in cups for your convenience, but measuring by weight is best. A digital scale will help you ensure that you are using the correct weight of flour.
FAQs
The manufacturer’s instructions will tell you to add the liquids first, then the dry ingredients. The instant yeast always goes in last. This ensures that the yeast is separated from the liquids until the kneading begins, and is an important step to follow.
Follow this recipe, using 50% strong whole wheat flour and 50% white bread flour. Increase the yeast to 1 ½ teaspoons, then follow the recipe as written.
You should store your homemade bread wrapped in plastic wrap or foil to keep it soft and fresh. Bread machine wheat bread can also be frozen, wrapped well and airtight, for up to two months. Avoid putting bread in the fridge, as the conditions there will dry out your loaf.
This Hamilton Beach programmable bread maker is very well rated on Amazon and available at a reasonable price. You can buy more expensive bread makers, but I would start with a basic one until you’re comfortable and know that you want to use it often.
You should always make sure that your yeast is fresh and active. It could be that your yeast is dead, or you added too much salt or sugar, or you forgot to add the yeast.
You probably added too much yeast.
If this happens for some reason, add more liquid (1 tablespoon at a time) until a ball of dough is formed.
You need to add more flour, add it gradually (1 tablespoon at a time) until a ball of dough is formed.
This whole wheat bread machine recipe makes the best Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches ever, and so much more! I can’t wait to hear about what you do with your homemade bread.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (350ml) water temperature 110°F/45°C
- 2 tablespoons (30g) melted butter can be substituted with oil
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 cups (480g) strong whole wheat bread flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
Instructions
- Layer your ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the following order: Water, Butter/Oil, Salt, Sugar, Flour, and lastly, Yeast.
- Add the bread pan to the bread machine, and make sure that it’s secured. Close the lid, and plug in the machine. Choose the wholemeal or whole wheat bread setting, medium size, and start the machine.
- The bread machine will now take over for you, and knead, proof, and bake your bread dough!
- When the baking cycle ends, unplug the bread machine, open the lid, and remove the pan from the machine with kitchen mitts. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then shake it out of the pan and allow it to cool completely. Carefully remove the paddle from the bottom of the loaf if it got stuck there.
Notes:
- Warm Water: When making bread it’s best to have all ingredients at room temperature to start. The water should be a bit above that, at 110°F/45°C, in order to activate the yeast.
- You Can Sift the Flour: Sifting flour before making bread with it helps to aerate it, and will make a fluffier, less dense bread. It’s not necessary for success but is an option.
- You will get a medium 1 and ½ lb or 750g loaf.
- Nutrition: Calculated is just a rough estimate for the smallest loaf if it’s sliced into 10 slices. Info is per slice.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Diane says
what if your bread machines instructions say put your yeast into warm Water for 10mins. do you go with the instructions for your bread machine
Little Sunny Kitchen says
This will depend on the type of yeast that you’re using. Instant yeast doesn’t need to be bloomed, but if you’re using active dry yeast, then you should let it sit in warm water for ten minutes before mixing it in.
June Sullivan says
Thank you
Alveta says
I tried this recipe and all looked well until the center dropped during baking. Once done, and cooled, I cut it and the bottom half looked great up to the dropped portion. The bread doesn’t taste bad. I used the 1/2 wheat and 1/2 unbleached white flour option. Based on a previous comment, I used 1-1/4 tsp of yeast. Open to feedback on what could have gone wrong or what to try next time. Not giving up!
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Alveta, I’m sorry you had trouble with your bread. Do you have similar results with other recipes in your bread machine? If it dropped in the center, it could be that the dough was a little bit too wet. Try it with a tad less water next time.
Brittanie says
Would i be able to substitute honey for the sugar? If so how much?
Diana says
Yes, keep the amounts of the same (4 teaspoons)
Erin says
I’ve been searching for a quality whole wheat bread machine recipe and THIS IS IT! The bread turned out perfect with nearly no participation from me. I like that it is a little dense, so it doesn’t crumble; it keeps together when slicing and handling. And is delicious. *I didn’t have ww bread flour, so I added a teaspoon of vital wheat gluten per 2 cups of whole wheat flour and it did the trick.
Diana says
That’s fantastic to hear! I’m so glad the recipe worked out perfectly for you, especially with the clever addition of vital wheat gluten to compensate for not having whole wheat bread flour. Thanks for sharing your tip and for letting me know how much you enjoyed the recipe!