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
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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
If we are using glass for baking so do we need to bake at the same temperature ?
★★★★★
Hi there, from what I can find out you should reduce the baking temperature by 25°F if baking with glass. All the best! 🙂
I’ve owned my own bakery for years and I’m not too humble to admit that this whole wheat bread comes out perfectly! Baked it last night (while drinking wine, of course), and am going to repeat tonight. My husband used the word “LOVED IT!”, and he’s pretty picky! I want to try it once with some flax and sunflower seeds, too!! Thanks for a simple, delicious recipe!!
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Awesome!! So pleased to hear that! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
LOVE how easy this was to put together! Only had 440g of whole wheat flour so I used whole rye for the rest, plus chucked in a few handfuls of flax seeds- I can see adding all sorts of yummy extras using this as a base! The result was dense and soft, moist and perfect for toasting. My partner is thrilled as well so bonus points for that 🙂 Thanks so much!!!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that! Thanks for the great review Steph. 🙂
Hello Alison, thanks for the recipe. I made mine and followed your recipe as so. Yet; my bread came out a bit on the hard side. I think I might’ve put it on the rack to high, although it was a bit closer to the bottom than the middle. Other than that, the bread came out wonderful. Thank you. Will be trying again.
★★★★★
So glad it still came out wonderfully! Thanks for the great review! 🙂
I am 77 years of age, and three months ago decided to switch to a plant based diet. I saw this recipe for your bread and wow! So easy, so quick to make, and absolutely delicious! Worked out beautifully first time I tried, and both myself and my husband
love it. He is also happy to switch to plant based food as he loves the recipes I am finding, but for now I will ease him in with vegan, which I think I prefer because it allows a little salt and oil! We love it with the chick pea untuna Spread on it! Thank you and I look forward to some more of your recipes. ‘Never to old to change our way of living’ xx
So happy to hear that Sandie! And that’s really exciting about your new food adventure. Wishing you everything of the best with it, it’s lots of fun! 🙂
I’ve been making this bread for about a year now. It’s the absolute best recipe ever!
Thank you so much for sharing it with the world 😀
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Thanks so much Tamara! So happy it’s worked well for you! 🙂
Simply Wowed!!! 2nd day in a row making it.
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks for the great review Zeke! 🙂
This may seem elementary but how do I mix this without kneading?
You just mix it together with a spoon. 🙂
Hi Alison, I started baking this bread seven months ago when I was told I should eat only bread made from wholewheat flour. I wanted something simple and found your recipe. It was the first time I ever baked bread.. It was a success for a first timer. Thank you so much.
★★★★★
That is wonderful to hear, so glad it worked out great for you even as a first time bread baker! Thanks so much for the wonderful review. 🙂
Loving this recipe. We add chia and sunflower seeds to it. So easy that my ten year makes it for me. Also use active dried yeast as that is all we have and it works fine.
★★★★★
Wonderful! So happy to hear Clair. Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Oh dear me, until recently. I haven’t baked bread for 20 years. My husband was telling me 2 weeks ago when I did bake 2 loafs of wheat and 2 of white. Well when it came out of oven I was going to feed it to the birds. My granddaughter stopped me and said it looks good so I did serve it everyone loved it.
But I knew it was bad
Your recipe is wonderful I love it it is 300 am so my husband will have it for breakfast THANK THANK YOU GOD BLESS YOU
So happy to hear it worked out well Catherine! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Great quick Bread recipe. I used Molasses in mine. Keeper recipe!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Michael! 🙂
I LLLOOOVVVEEE this bread. It is nice and dense and toasted with vegan butter is to die for!
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks for the awesome review Marla. 🙂
I made it and every one in family just loved it …
Thanks for this easy fast and quick yummy recipe
★★★★★
So glad to hear! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Recipe is easy and you make it up quickly but I can’t get use to the after taste of wheat bread. I’m diabetic so I used sugar free maple syrup. Would that have instensified the after taste I’m experiencing?
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Just curious what happens if you DO knead this? I’m looking for a bread to make and was actually really looking forward to teaching my daughter how to knead bread, lol. Will that ruin it?
Hi Sharni, it’s just not at all suited to kneading because the dough is pretty wet and sticky, so just doesn’t work here.
If i am using active yeast, what would the measurement be like? I made this but using active yeast and kitt rose big time!
Thank you foe this simple recipe.. it’s my first time baking a breD
Hi Rini, so apparently if you’re using active yeast you would use 3/4 of the amount. So basically since we use 1 Tbsp yeast in this recipe which is about 3 teaspoons, I would probably drop it down to 2 teaspoons and see how you go with that. I have not used active dry yeast though so this is just info I’m getting from googling it. 🙂
I think it may be the opposite. One tablespoon of the instant translates to 1 1/4 tablespoons of active. Conversely, one tablespoon of the active equals 3/4 tablespoon of the instant. I’ve recently gone vegan and am very much looking forward to trying your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Ohhhhh my Goooood!!!!!!!!!!! I was looking for ages for a whole wheat bread that does not come out like a brick!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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