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
In my second bake , I added some cheese in the dough and sprinkled it with almonds on top…
Thanks once again for a great easy bread recipe.
★★★★★
I made Thai bread .. the family finished it in one go
Making my second one now , experimenting with some cheese and nuts.
Thank you for an easy recipe. ❤️
Glad you enjoyed it Neetta! Thanks for posting!
Absolutely delicious bread and could not possibly be easier to make. I followed the recipe exactly but also spread more honey to the top of the bread and added some oats to the top. I also cut a slit down the middle of the loaf lengthwise before putting in the oven so it would not be lopsided. I think it would be super easy to add other things to this bread as well like nuts, seeds, flax, etc.
★★★★★
Love this recipe! So simple and quick to execute. My kids loved the bread! I just have a few questions- I just used a ladle to mix the ingredients together until combined, is that the right way to do it? My dough didn’t rise too much (turned out to be under 1.5 times the original volume)- is it expected to rise more than that? Finally, the texture was more like cake than like bread ie a bit crumbly and not very elastic (although I loved that)- is that how it is expected to be? I read somewhere that to activate the gluten in whole wheat, a good amount of mixing is required.. but wanted to double check?
★★★★★
Hi there, if the dough doesn’t rise that well it’s usually an issue with the yeast. Also if the room is too cold it can take longer, so moving it to a warm spot in the house can help. This recipe doesn’t require a lot of mixing at all. Just mix it until it’s mixed and that’s it. 🙂
Delicious and easy to make, time efficient, my husband and I love it and bonus it’s healthy!
★★★★★
Thanks Cynthia!
Love this recipe! No more store-bought bread for me. It’s quick, easy, and very tasty. I do use slightly more salt, and I use half/half maple syrup/molasses, but that’s just my taste; the recipe is great as is. Thank you!
★★★★
Ack! I meant to rate this recipe 5 star, not 4. It’s terrific.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Susan! 🙂
I only have regular white flour? Will it work just as well?
Hi Trudy, I’m not sure but maybe not. I have tried swapping out some of the whole wheat flour with regular flour but never all of it.
Is 1 tablespoon the correct amount for the yeast, thank you
Yes that’s correct.
I’ve made this twice and it came out great. I added a bit more salt second time. Better than other bread recipes which require kneading. Thank you!
★★★★★
Very quick and easy! I love that I can come home from work and have fresh homemade bread in under 2 hours! I also like the fact that it doesn’t have any oil in it. It’s a very simple, plain bread that tastes good and doesn’t take all day to make. Thank you for this recipe! I plan on making it a lot and have all sorts of ideas for added crunchy things!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Laura!
Wondering if you can add other seeds/nuts to the mixture before baking.
Definitely!
Hi Alison, I just made this super easy bread and served it for dinner with your lentil soup. What a delicious meal! Thanks so much for helping all of us vegans be better cooks!
★★★★★
So happy to hear! Thanks so much Sue!
It was the first bread I’ve ever made. It was so good. My whole family enjoyed it. Looking forward to try your other recipes. Thank you very much.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Clement!
I’m completely stunned at how easy and delicious this recipe is! Worked like a charm even though I used a combo of wholewheat and white self raising flour (!) as it’s the only flour I had left! Do you know if it works with Indian atta? Thanks so much for the recipe.
★★★★★
So happy to hear you enjoyed it Nikki! No idea about Indian atta though. Thanks so much for the wonderful review!
Allison, i don’t know how other oven works. When I turn on my oven, the back panel of the stove has a vent where hot air comes out from the oven. I place my pan close to it, sometimes turning it around, so that heat helps the dough to rise better/higher. I just make sure the pan is not right against it because if it is too hot, it may kill the yeast. It did the trick.
Manny
I have never made bread before. The recipe was so easy I had to try it. Mine didn’t raise quite as high as yours did, however, it turned out fantastic. I just had a second slice 5 hours after making it with peanut butter and cherry jam and it was even better!! Thank you for making such an easy recipe!i will be making this recipe frequently.
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing Joanna!
I’m a 74 year old man and I tried this recipe out today, it was so easy and tasted lovely, my son loves it, not a lot left, I am hooked and will be making lots more.
Thank you Alison
★★★★★
So pleased to hear that Maurice! Thanks for the wonderful review!
My dough didn’t come out sticky. I measured everything to a T. It’s not raising much. Gonna wait a bit longer as you instructed and hope it turns out!
I tried to bake this bread with the original recipe, very easy, quick and taste good. I also did a little modification like:
1). 3 cups whole wheat flour + 1 cup bread flour.
2). Original recipe + 1 tablespoon oil (canola or olive oil)
3). 3 cups whole wheat + 1 cup bread flour + 1 tbsp oil + 1 egg.
All these with the original recipe and the slight variation came out really well. I enjoyed all of them, quite filing and satisfying. I enjoy experimenting from proven recipes. Thanks Allison.
Manny
★★★★★
Awesome, thanks for sharing Manny!
Hi I’m a 78 year old widower who misses my wonderful wife’s baking. So I thought l would start with bread. This recipe is so easy and straight forward anyone can do it. It makes fantastic toast and keeps well in a sealed container. I’ve made it three times now and got better at each attempt. The third time was baked in a Dutch Oven and I recommend this method. Thank you.
Thanks so much for sharing Roland! I’m so pleased you’ve had success with the recipe.
This is a recipe I am going to try. After reading Roland’s comment. I too am in my 70’s and need all the help I can get with out all the stress. Will let you know how it comes out.
All the best Peigie, hope it works out well!
I’ve made this bread now for the 4th time and it turned out just right for me every time.
I use active dry yeast and let it proof in the lukewarm water with 2 tbsp. of honey for at least 5 min.
before adding it to the flour. I also add a dash each of ground anise and cloves to the flour.
My bread isn’t dense at all. I never thought baking bread would be so easy.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for sharing Inge! 🙂