Simple 5-ingredient whole wheat bread. You just don’t get easier than this no-fail and no-knead recipe! Hearty, wholesome, nourishing and delicious!
You know, I always wanted to be the kind of person who makes their own hummus and bakes their own whole wheat bread. So I’m pretty chuffed that I have become this person!
So now I can feel all wholesome and earth-motherish. Well, at least I would if I had some kiddos other than my two cat babies.
Recently someone was saying to me that they’re ‘eating clean’ now.
And ‘eating clean’ is quite the popular phrase in diet culture. But depending on which diet camp you’ve found yourself, ‘clean’ can have vastly different meanings. Like for some it means eating plenty of meat but cutting out grains and processed foods. And of course that is not at all what it means in the vegan community!
But anyway, I am not a fan of labelling foods like this because it’s a value judgement, like ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Which some can take to extremes and it can lead to eating disorders (not good!).
But that being said, lately it can be hard to find a loaf of bread in the store that doesn’t have a heap of junk in it. There is one particular loaf of wholewheat bread that I bought, and we just didn’t get around to eating it (or throwing it out).
However, it was just as perfectly fresh 3 weeks after purchase as it was on the day I brought it home from the store! Hmmm!
So I do like to make some whole wheat bread myself, and when it’s as easy as THIS, then there’s no reason not to!
How to make whole wheat bread
I have literally never come across a recipe as easy as this. It’s just 5-ingredients, and you don’t even have to knead it!
In fact, kneading is out with this recipe. You just throw in some whole wheat flour, a packet of dry yeast and a little salt to a mixing bowl. Then mix in some maple syrup with some warm water and add the wet ingredients to the dry.
Mix in to just combine (no kneading! I’m not going to tell you again you super-keen kneading fan), move it into a greased loaf pan (a little parchment paper on the bottom is also a good idea), cover it and leave it to rise for 20 minutes.
It does all its rising before it even hits the oven. So the height it is when it goes in is pretty much the height it is when it comes out!
Put it into the oven and bake for 40 minutes. And bingo you have freshly baked bread!
I mean really I don’t think it could be easier even if you used a bread machine. Well, I’ve never used a bread machine so I can’t really compare, but with a recipe as easy as this, who needs a bread machine?
Well, don’t quote me on that, maybe I’ll get one, one of these days. I do like nifty little appliances. 😁
And the BEST thing about baking your own bread is your whole house smells delicious and you get to eat it warm from the oven.
I mean really if you don’t feel like cooking, just make a loaf of this (it barely counts as ‘cooking’ it’s too easy), and serve it with a huge salad, maybe some roasted garlic hummus and avocado and various other toppings and dinner is done and dusted!
Of course it goes immensely well with any homemade soups too! So if you’re having a delicious vegan potato leek soup or vegan tomato soup or vegan lentil soup for dinner, then this is going to be awesome for dipping.
You will LOVE how easy this bread is to make, and how perfectly it comes out. It is:
- Hearty
- Homemade
- Nourishing
- Easy
- Filling &
- So Delicious!
It’s best when very fresh (the day of making it) but it will keep for a couple of days in a closed container and it also makes very delicious toast! You can freeze it, but it will be best used for toast after freezing.
Want some toppings for your bread?
- Homemade Vegan Butter
- Homemade Peanut Butter
- Homemade Cashew Butter
- Homemade Almond Butter
- Simple Vegan Guacamole
- Creamy Avocado Hummus
And for more breads, check out our vegan cornbread, vegan banana bread and our easy vegan dinner rolls!
So let us know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment and rating the recipe! Thanks so much!
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Easy No-Fail Whole Wheat Bread
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 16
Description
Easy 5-ingredient whole wheat bread. You just don’t get easier than this no-fail recipe. Hearty, wholesome, nourishing and delicious!
Ingredients
- 4 cups (520g) Whole Wheat Flour*
- 1 Packet (11g) Instant Yeast (~1 Tbsp)*
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Maple Syrup*
- 2 cups (480ml) Warm Water
Instructions
- Add the flour to a mixing bowl with the yeast and salt and mix together.
- Dissolve the maple syrup in the warm water and then add to the dry ingredients.
- Mix – don’t knead – until you have a sticky well combined dough.
- Transfer to a greased 9×5 loaf pan. You can also line the bottom with parchment paper if you think there will be any chance of it sticking.
- Cover and leave to rise for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
- After 20 minutes when the dough has risen, bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Absolutely BEST when fresh, but will keep for a day or two in a closed container. After which you can make the most delicious toast.
Notes
*Weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
*Not all instant yeast packages are 11g, lately I have been getting packages that are 10g, and they work perfectly, so you don’t have to be that precise with the measurement of instant yeast. If you have a package of instant yeast that is a larger size, 11g is around 1 Tbsp of instant yeast.
*Maple syrup can be replaced by another sweetener such as agave nectar or other syrup.
*If your dough hasn’t quite risen as high as mine in the picture at the 20 minute mark then leave it a couple more minutes, sometimes it takes a couple of minutes longer to get to the perfect height, but don’t leave it too long or it will rise too high and then you’ll get a muffin top loaf!
*Prep time includes the 20 minutes spent rising.
- Category: Appetizer, Side
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 16)
- Calories: 116
- Sugar: 0.8g
- Sodium: 74mg
- Fat: 0.8g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1g
- Carbohydrates: 24.5g
- Fiber: 3.6g
- Protein: 4.5g
Keywords: whole wheat bread
Can u make buns from this recipe!
This bread is delicious and amazingly easy to make. I rises quickly. I reduced the baking time a few minutes and it comes out perfectly.
The first time I made it it stuck to the pan and I’ve been lining the pans with Release aluminum foil ever since. I slice it and place it on a rack to cool. Then wrap and put into freezer bags.
It a beautiful loaf when the top is covered with sesame and poppy seeds. Sunflower seeds on top are especially flavorful.
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us.
Loved this recipe-it was so easy. Could it be made with GF flour as my daughter’s partner has coeliac disease.
★★★★★
Hi Kathleen, yes sure! We have tested this with a gluten-free all purpose flour blend and it works!
first time using this recipe. Only problem. I am using white whole wheat flour and 4 cups is too much. I am trying it again with 3 cups. Question. Is your whole wheat flour white or the stone ground like you can get from bobs red mill? And can this make a difference in the amount of flour you use? Thanks Frank
We have made this recipe with all kinds of flour even all purpose! And it’s always the same amount of flour.
I just made this bread; it’s delicious and making it was a piece of cake. I love how dense/heavy it is. I think it’s a great soup bread and will probably make a great breakfast bread (I’d like to make something similar in a banana bread). My significant other eats so much bread and I’m trying to keep him away from processed foods.This is my first homemade whole wheat bread. Thanks for such a simple recipe!
★★★★★
First time making bread. This was so easy and came out perfect. Delicious.
Hi thank you for the recipe. Do you know if the bread can be frozen?
Yes it can, freeze on the day of baking to lock in the freshness.
I’ve been making bread for years, but this has to be one of my favourite recipes! It’s so simple and hearty, perfect for winter meals. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Bernadette!
This was very very tasty ! I used my Cuisinart bread maker. I added the ingredients backwards starting with water. I used the #8 Dough setting. When it was finished, I removed the paddle and used the #10 Bake-only setting. The recipe is printed and taped to the inside pantry door with the only other favorite recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad it worked in a bread machine!
IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! THIS BREAD IS TOO EASY AND TOO GOOD! Thank you!!!!
To be honest, from my experience with bread, I did not expect it to rise. But rise it DID! First time was a muffin top and we loved it. From the time I get up to start it until the time I take it out of the oven as a BEAUTIFUL loaf is about an hour and a half.
Thanks again.
John
P.S. Fault is a two -edged sword; it cuts both positively (as in this case) and negatively.
★★★★★
I was wondering anyone tried using oat or almond flour for this recipe?
When you say any syrup, honey is ok? Would love to try but don’t like maple syrup😅
Honey is fine!
I was excited to try this recipe but it didn’t work as expected. I opted not to use any honey/syrup to keep it sugar free, so maybe that was the culprit? I thought the dough would rise with the quicl rising yeast alone, but maybe it needs some sugar to activate?
Also, I used a silicon bread pan and cooked it for 40min but the center was still fully cooked.
I’m going to give it another shot but any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!
First bread I have ever baked and it came out perfectly. Great easy recipe! Next time I plan to add some fruit and seeds to the mix as it is quite a sense loaf – so healthy!
★★★★★
Just made this bread in my lunchbreak (working from home at the moment) Absolutely delicious and so easy! My first attempt at bread in a long long time! Will most definitely be using this recipe again and have already shared it with family and friends!
★★★★★