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! Also check out our other super easy bread recipes, our vegan white bread, vegan soda bread and vegan focaccia.
How To Make Whole Wheat Bread
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
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 some whole wheat flour, instant yeast and a little salt to a mixing bowl.
Then mix maple syrup with warm water and then 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!
Who Needs A Bread Machine?
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 whole wheat bread is your whole house smells delicious and you get to eat it warm from the oven.
Serving Suggestions
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.
Recipe Variations
This recipe is very versatile and has worked great when we’ve switched up the flours. We have tried this recipe as follows and all have worked out great:
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 cups all purpose flour
- 4 cups all purpose flour
Make It Gluten-Free
It even works with a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. I find that adding a tablespoon or two of olive oil (at the same time as the other wet ingredients) makes the gluten-free version come out softer.
Storing Tips
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, and that’s best done on the day of baking to lock in the freshness. If you freeze it on the second or third day then you can use it for toast straight from the freezer.
Want Some Toppings For Your Whole Wheat 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!
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Easy No-Fail Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups Whole Wheat Flour (520g)
- 1 Packet Instant Yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Maple Syrup
- 2 cups Warm Water (480ml)
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.
Video
Notes
- Weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
- 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.
Lisa Layne says
Omg..this is really good..thank you for sharing. I am a Chef and this was so easy to make. Thanks again.
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! That is the best compliment from a chef! Thanks so much for sharing and the great review. xo
Fiona says
Hi Alison
I was just wondering what size loaf tin do you use 1lb 2lb or 3lb? Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Kind Regards Fiona
Alison Andrews says
Hi Fiona, I use a standard 9×5 inch loaf pan. I’m not sure how many pounds it takes in volume but those are the dimensions. 🙂
Simon S says
No Fail is an understatement here 🙂 Now baking my own bread.
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So happy to hear that! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Kay Self says
I made your bread this morning, however I adjusted the flour using 1.3 wheat, 1.3 buckwheat, 1.3 chickpea (cups), added sunflower and pepitta seeds to mix and on top. I also added 1 teaspoon baking powder to compensate for the heavier flours. Allowed it to rise for longer….It was truly wonderful! Thanks for your inspiration 🙂
Kay Self says
Gr8 recipe BTW!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Chloe says
Hi Alison,
I tried using this recipe and my dough came out really dry, so I had to knead it in order to combine the ingredients (a spoon wasn’t working). Then when I baked it, it came out really dense and hard on the outside. It’s my first time baking bread so I’m sure I did at least one thing wrong. Any insight as to why mine didn’t work out? Do I maybe need to add more water/less flour? Would appreciate some guidance so I can hopefully get it right next time!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Chloe, if it was dry like that, then definitely too much flour. Do you have a food scale? If you weigh it, you’ll have a much more consistent result, but even if you don’t, if it’s dry like that, add more water.
Les says
I am new to bread baking. All the loaves I have made so far crumble when I try to cut slices. How do I avoid this?
Looking forward to making this recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Les, this bread is quite sturdy so that would hopefully not happen. I find if you use the right knife it also makes a big difference!
Blaze says
I’m a bread baker by trade, but I was curious what you preferred for this recipe, a mixer a spoon or your hands? My dough seemed a little stiff but was still sticky. I’m letting it rise right now.
Alison Andrews says
I use a spoon. 🙂
Cindy says
I’ve made this recipe so many times, I feel like it’s second nature now! I thought I’d chime in because it’s been so fun and successful. The first half dozen times I made this bread, I used a spoon. Perfect bread. I tried my food processor several times, perfect bread. Then I tried my stand mixer, perfect bread. Lastly, I tried my Cuisinart hand mixer with dough hooks and bingo, I found the best way for me to make this bread. I have found that decreasing the flour by a 1/4 cup makes an easier dough for me to handle and by adding the liquid to the bowl first helps keep the dried bits on the side of the bowl to a minimum. I’ve used half white/half wheat flour and a very tasty but lighter weight loaf with 1 cup oat flour and 3 cups of wheat flour (very crunchy toasted). One time I accidentally let the bread rise too long and the top did cave in but voila – perfect bread anyway. This is definitely a “No Fail” recipe! Hope this helps ? .
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome tips and experiences Cindy! 🙂
Anush says
Hi,
Would you be able to share exact measurements of ingredients to be mixed together? For some reason not being able to see it in the recipe. Thanks so much
Alison Andrews says
Hi Anush, sorry the site was down temporarily and we had some issues but they are now resolved and you should be able to see the recipe card outlined in pink perfectly at the bottom of the post.
J says
I’m confused-I want to make this bread but have never seen a yeast package listed at 11 grams. All I’ve seen are seven. I use jarred yeast anyway but was wondering if you could clear this up for me. Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Hi J, those were the sizes of the packages I was getting in Dubai, now I’m in South Africa and they are 10g, which is why I added the note that it really equates to 1 Tbsp. All the best! 🙂
Alison says
I’m a newbie to baking and am making this bread for the first time today – for a vegan friend! It’s in the oven NOW. I mixed the ingredients with a spoon – I don’t have a big heavy mixer. I hope that is okay! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Alison Andrews says
Hope it came out great! 🙂
manya says
add in a bit more warm water
Lisa says
Just wanted to say thank you for the eating disorder mention in the description! Very excited to try this recipe!
Alison Andrews says
You’re so welcome! That stuff is close to my heart. Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Barb Markovic says
Can I use multigrain bread flour for this recipe?
Cindy says
Every flour mixture I’ve come up with worked – I even did a 1 cup whole wheat and 3 cups white flour for the grandkids and it turned out great!
Alyssa says
Hi Alison,
I tried your bread recipe but it did not rise. I proofed the yeast before hand just to make sure and my yeast proofed. The packet of yeast that I bought was 7g so I used two cups of whole wheat flour instead. Do you have any advice for me?.
Tanner Michels says
How long did you wait? This recipe uses rapid rise yeast. If you used regular Active yeast it will take longer. I don’t like the additives.tgey add to Rapid yeast, so I use regular Active yeast and proof it, then use it. It took my load of bread 45 min to rise. Not 20 like this recipe. It worked and my bread came out amazing! Also make sure to use warm water in a warmer place. So the yeast works well. It takes much longer to rise when cold or it won’t rise at all. Yeast is alive and needs a specific environment for it to live/work properly.
Alyssa Atkinson says
Hello Tanner,
Thank you for your response. I did use rapid rise and since my packet was 7g I only used 2 cups of flour. Maybe as you say I need to use a warmer place like in the oven. I warmed the oven up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and as soon as I did this it did puff up but when I took it out my bread deflated again. Not sure if this would be considered rising. Otherwise, it took all day for my bread to barely puff up. Maybe my yeast was not fresh. I proofed the yeast as usual but it did not get as puffy/frothy as it normally does.
Thank you!
Cindy says
Hi Alison – I’ve got another loaf in the oven and this adventure has been so successful! Multiple times, this turns out beautifully. I know you said no kneading is necessary but physically I’m struggling as I stir this mixture – I’m not particularly strong. Would there be a problem if I mixed this in a Kitchen Aid mixer or would that be overkill? Or my food processor? I even wondered if I’d add more water if the “batter” would be easier to stir? Any thoughts?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cindy, so happy to hear it’s working out well! I think using a mixer would be okay provided you don’t just let it run. If it’s literally just replacing the stirring you would have to do manually I don’t think it would have a negative impact, at least I hope not! Let us know how it works out though if you do try it like this. 🙂
Cindy says
Works perfect with my Kitchen Aid and my food processor! This recipe is definitely “No Fail!”
Lakshmy says
My dough rose beautifully, but it sunk in and turned hard while baking. Any idea on why this may be happening? I really want this bread to work!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lakshmy, I haven’t had this happen, but I believe it can be if the oven temperature is too low. Oven’s can vary quite a lot from each other, the best way to check is to get an oven thermometer (they are usually cheap and easy to get) that might help at least to see if that is the problem. All the best! 🙂