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 crap 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 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!
Want some toppings for your bread?
- Homemade Vegan Butter
- Homemade Peanut Butter
- Homemade Cashew Butter
- Homemade Almond Butter
- Simple 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
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
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 loaf pan.
- Cover and leave to rise for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 390 degrees fahrenheit (200 degrees celsius).
- 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.
*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
Hi! thanks for this great and simple recipe! was wondering could I substitute honey for the maple syrup instead?
Sure! 🙂
I am experimenting with einkorn flour, and I needed an easy bread recipe. This one worked perfectly! I used all-purpose organic einkorn flour and the dough rose higher than the dough in your photo. The bread tasted delicious, but you are right–after freezing it, it is best as toast. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing and the great review Gabriella! 🙂
Hi Alison,
I used your recipe and took 1/2 measurement of everything.
My bread is not baked from inside. It looks good but inside is like a dough. 🙁
What went wrong?
It could be that your oven is colder than you want it to be and it needs to bake longer.
Amazing, first bread and super easy to make and wonderfully delicious. Wondering though how to make the top and side crust more golden brown. I used white wheat flour so perhaps that made a difference?
★★★★★
Hi Nikki, so glad it came out great! I’m not sure why it wasn’t golden brown on the top and sides, maybe baking for a few more minutes will help. 🙂
I am excited to make this recipe, but was wondering if White Whole Wheat Flour can be used in place of the regular whole wheat flour?
Thank you!
Hi Marge, it might be fine, I’m not entirely sure! Let us know how it turns out if you try it! 🙂
Hi, I’m not at all a baker or experienced in the field, it might be a dumb question, but can you freeze the bread?
Hi Vera, yes you can freeze it! But my experience is that it’s usually best for making toast once frozen (very delicious toast!).
Just made this while I was getting a law school assignment done (because procrasti-baking, am I right??) and it is SO DANG GOOD!!
Don’t know if I can go back to store bought bread now, haha.
10/10 so good!
★★★★★
Haha! Love it! Thanks so much Ashleigh! 🙂
Can I use active dry yeast instead of the instant one? I’ve made it twice and my husband loved it. I was so excited as I am not a baking kind of person. 😁 When I went to refill my pantry, I bought the wrong yeast 🙄
★★★★★
Hi Kate! So glad it’s worked out well when you’ve made it before. You should be able to use active dry yeast, if you read the other comments, others have done it successfully. Just follow the directions of the yeast packet, it will be a little different to the instant yeast but should still work out fine. All the best! 🙂
Delicious. Easy to make.
One question: What did use to grease the loaf pan.
I generously covered it with olive oil and the loaf stuck to the pan.
It was a challenge getting it out. (But worth it)
★★★★★
Woops. I just read comments and see that you have already answered this question for someone else.
So glad you enjoyed it Linda! And glad you found the answer to your question. Thanks for the wonderful rating! 🙂
This the second time in two weeks that I made this bread. My vegan son absolutely loves it. I doubled the recipe both times.
So happy to hear that! Thanks for posting Gena. 🙂
Hi Alison,
Can I use plant based milk instead on water?
Hi Sandrine, I’m really not sure, I haven’t tried that, not sure what effect it may have.
What did you grease the tin with?? We used olive oil and it fully stuck to the tin, tastes great thou!!
Oh no, sorry to hear it stuck! These days I usually use non-stick spray though coconut oil was a favorite in the past. Since it stuck this time probably best to line the bottom with some parchment paper next time. So glad it tasted good though! 🙂
No fail sounds right up my alley because I am new to bread making! I am pinning to try soon. Thanks!
Could I use honey instead of syrup?
Sure. 🙂
Hi Alison
Me and my sister tried this recipe twice and both of us had problem with the measurements. My sister used cup measurement and her bread was under baked. I used both cups and grams and I realize 520gm equals to 3 1/3 cups (American cups) of flour and had to use 3 cups of water (Pyrex) to achieve your dough consistency as seen in the video. Where are we going wrong? Could you please advise, we really want to try this recipe. Thank you
Hi Suzanna, the gram measures are going to be more correct. A cup of all purpose flour is 125g, and whole wheat flour is usually listed as between 127g and 130g per cup . That’s why it’s going to be more accurate to weigh it. I do use US cups. If not weighing it, then it’s important to measure flour correctly, which is the spoon and level method, and not scooping it.
Quick and easy and delicious
★★★★★
Thanks Faith! 🙂
Could you give me a substitute for maple syrup
Any other kind of syrup will be fine.
I am useless when making bread and I was going to throw away my half packet of whole meal flour as it was nearing the end of its sell by date. When I decided to look on website to see if I could find an easy to make whole meal bread and so I came across your recipe. I made the bread and am absolutely thrilled how it has come out. I used golden syrup instead of maple syrup as I had none available. I’m annoyed that I didn’t take a photo! It looked and tasted delicious. Well my two work colleagues have asked for the recipe as I took whatever was left over of the bread. Thank you.
★★★★★
So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for posting Mary! 🙂