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
Very easy to make and soft! Hand one question I want to make only half of the recipe since I m making for baby only! The temp of oven and bake time will be the same if I do half the recipe?! Please guide me! Thank you!!
★★★★★
I haven’t tried reducing the recipe but it would probably bake for a shorter time (same temperature though). I would just keep a check on it.
Great bread! What would we have to add to make it slightly less dense (fine with non-vegan ingredients)? Thanks!
★★★★
Hello! Your recipe is AWESOME!! So easy and just.. wow! I use fast active raising yeast so it raises a lot quicker!
The only thing I can recommend to others if you don’t like a crunchy crisp top (I sure do) is to start checking the bread when it’s been cooking for 30mins or so to make sure it’s not too hard for you – I love crunchy tops to use for dipping into oil! Enjoy!
Hi Alison,
Love love your recipe. My husband loves it. Thank you
Ok is this making 16 slices or 16 loaves Sorry new to this 🧐
16 slices. 🙂
Hi Alison,
My wife came across this recipe and I decide to make your bread today.
I have made a lot of breads and this was the easiest one.
We both think this was absolutely delicious and I will be making this bread a lot.
thank you very much
Fantastic! So happy to hear that. 🙂
Made this tonight was good so easy like making a cake. Was wondering what you think about adding less water and more maple syrup ??? Do you think we can use honey also. Thanks for a great recipe Nanci
★★★★
You could add a little more maple syrup (and you can use honey too if you prefer).
Don’t have to be Vegan to enjoy this wonderful wholemeal bread recipe – sooooo easy, tasty and quick! LOVE IT!!
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks so much! 🙂
I have made this recipe many times, and it is magnificent.
How would I adjust this to bake white bread?
I am trying to reduce the fiber content of my diet, which is 100 percent plants.
Thanks
★★★★★
Hi Jonathan! So glad you like the recipe! I’m not sure how it’ll work to make it entirely white, I’ve seen it made with white whole wheat flour and that was great but that still has the fiber. 🙂 Otherwise just try it with a white bread flour and see how it goes! All the best. 🙂
Could you use whole wheat pastry flour?
I’m not sure, I have not tried that.
Is there a way to modify this to bake in a Dutch oven? Thanks
Hi Rebecca, I have no idea! But let us know if you try it. 🙂
I recently decided I was going to start making a loaf of bread every week. This happened after realizing the bread I bought lasted an entire month… 😟 I had previously made my fair share of bread recipes and almost gotten carpal tunnel! Exaggerating? Maybe. By a lot? No! Kneading is so difficult. I decided I would have to save to buy a bread machine to save my wrists. Until I found this recipe! Thank you, thank you, thank you! What an easy, DELICIOUS, moist, healthy, whole wheat bread. You saved me a ton of money. Oh, and my wrists! 🤣
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad it is working well for you Ana, thanks for the great review. 🙂
Love this recipe! I was just curious what Would happen if you knead the dough?
★★★★
Hi Kara, it’s too wet/sticky to knead. 🙂
I absolutely love it! it is easy and very delicious. Thanks for sharing Alison.
I have made this recipe many times. I even tried the same recipe with black olives, also with pumpkin seeds,and other than decreasing the amount of maple syrup, I did not change anything else.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks! 🙂