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.
I love this recipe!! this is my second time making it!! thank you!
Kelly L
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!
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: The type you should search for in the US and Canada will be labeled as “Whole wheat flour”. In the UK and Australia, this is called “Strong wholemeal bread flour”. It will have a coarser, more grainy texture than white 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.
More Bread Machine Recipes to Try
Bread Machine Brown Bread
Bread Machine Rye Bread Recipe
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
Bread Machine Dinner Rolls
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
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (350 ml) water temperature 110°F/45°C
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) melted butter can be substituted with oil
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 cups (480 g) whole wheat flour strong wholemeal flour in the UK
- 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
Elaine K says
Hi from the UK! I had a bread maker for Christmas, up to now I had only tried recipes from the booklet that came with my machine. We hadn’t been that impressed with the texture, so I had a look online to see if I could find something better. I made this recipe, double the quantity. I used 6.5 cups of whole meal flour to 1.5 white (it was all the whole meal flour I had left). I left the sugar out. Turned out really well despite my disaster at the beginning where I put all the ingredients in, set the bread maker going and then spotted the paddles still on the counter top!! I had to tip everything into a bowl and then tip it all back into the pan. Thank you, I will definitely try this recipe again.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Elaine! Thank you for sharing your process, even if it went a little bit wrong :). I’m so glad you enjoyed the wheat bread loaf!
Philomena M Young says
this is the best recipe do my bread making. turns out lovely every time.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
I’m so glad you love it!
Susan says
I’ve tried various whole wheat bread over the years with not the best results as they are dry or dense. This one is PERFECTION! I think it’s because of less yeast, it rises beautifully. I use liquid whey leftover from yogurt making for the liquid and use evoo and honey. Every single loaf is excellent. I always set a 5 minute timer to check the dough and sometimes have to add a little extra liquid or flour but that’s because I don’t use a scale. Thank you for a healthy loaf that my husband and 6 daycare children like!
Little Sunny Kitchen says
I’m so happy that you love this recipe so much! Thank you for sharing your process and for the kind words.
Marcia says
If I want to sift my flour, should it be done before or after measuring it?
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Marcia! I would sift the flour after measuring it for this recipe. Enjoy!
Chad says
I’ve been making this for a few weeks now. My sister was telling me about the health benefits of using fresh ground flour (not store bought or stored). So I got out my nutrimill and now grind the flour as needed when making a loaf. I had t made bread in the bread machine for years. Luckily I found it.
I use a wheat mix of about 45% hard white (mixing regular and heritage), the rest being a mix of heritage Sonoran soft white, spelt, and heritage Einkorn. I also sometimes add a tablespoon or two of barley to the grain before grinding. I find slightly more than two cups grain makes about 4 cups fresh flour. I set the Nutrimill to the finest setting.
Because my flour is lower gluten I add a few tablespoons of gluten. Other changes are 1/2 milk and 1/2 water and using softened butter instead of melted butter. The bread machine mixes it in well (got the idea from another recipe I tried). Because we have it I use 1 tsp pink salt and 1/2 tsp table (iodized) salt. We don’t normally use iodized for much except baking.
Otherwise it’s pretty stock and the bread is super yummy.
The first few loaves I used less salt and had problems with the loaf falling near the end. Reading up on the internet , one cause of bread falling is too much yeast or over active yeast causing it to rise too fast. Once I put in the amount of salt as called for that problem went away. No more falling.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Chad, thank you so much for sharing so many good tips, especially about using freshly ground flour! That’s not something I’ve tried as of yet, but maybe soon!