No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread
An easy to prepare no knead whole wheat bread! Perfect for both experts and beginners.
Baking with yeast. Does it make you nervous? Are you worried that it won’t rise properly? Are you scared off by the kneading process?
Many confident cooks are a little uncertain when it comes to baking with yeast. But have no fear! You won’t be “kneading” any help with this easy bread recipe. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that little pun!)
“Batterway” bread is another name for no-knead bread. The dough is sticky and soft, more like a batter than dough. It’s incredibly simple to make (only seven ingredients, and one ingredient is water!). You’ll love the flavor of this yeasty no-knead whole wheat bread.
You guys — I really believe this is a no-fail recipe. You can mix it by hand, or with a mixer. A stand mixer makes it super easy.
This bread recipe uses a mixture of bread flour and whole wheat flour, subtly sweetened with honey. The result is a light and fluffy bread that is sturdy enough for a sandwich. Try it with egg salad, dill chicken salad, or make a pepperoni pizza grilled cheese.
It tastes great toasted (next to eating it warm, right out of the oven, toasting is my favorite thing to do with homemade bread). Butter, cream cheese, jam, avocados, whatever you like to top a slice of bread with, this bread is ready for it. Try strawberry basil freezer jam, gingerbread butter, or orange honey butter. So good!
This no-knead whole wheat bread makes two nice sized loaves. Plenty for a hungry family!
If you’re still feeling uneasy about baking bread, Red Star Yeast has great instructions online including a step-by-step baking guide. You can also find Red Star Yeast on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.
Feeling ready for more yeast bread recipes?
Give these delicious bread recipes a try! I’m sure you’ll love them.
No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
This no-knead whole wheat bread recipe could not be easier! Great for the beginner baker.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 4 cups bread flour
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 4 1/2 teaspoons Red Star Yeast Active Dry Yeast (2 packets)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup shortening
Instructions
- Have water at 110°-115°F and all other ingredients at room temperature.
- Measure bread flour, whole flour, and salt into a bowl; blend. Set aside.
- Pour the warm water into a mixing bowl; add the yeast. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes; stir. Add the honey, shortening, and 1/2 the flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes with electric mixer on medium speed, or by hand until smooth.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and beat again with mixer or spoon until smooth, 1 to 1½ minutes. Scrape down batter from sides of bowl. Cover. Let rise in warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease two 5 x 9- or 4½ x 8½ – inch loaf pans.
- Beat down raised batter in about 25 strokes. This is a thick, somewhat sticky batter.
- Spread evenly in the pans. Tap pans on table to settle the batter. Let rise again until edge of batter comes to within 1-inch of tops of large pans or reaches tops of smaller pans, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake loaves 40 to 50 minutes, or until well browned on sides and tops. Remove from pans and cool on rack. Brush with butter for soft crusts.
Notes
Note from Red Star Yeast: You can substitute Instant (fast-rising) Yeast in place of Active Dry Yeast in batter/no knead recipes. When using Instant Yeast, expect your batter/dough to rise about 50% faster. Adjust your rise times accordingly. Traditional methods: use equal amounts; Bread Machine: use 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast OR 3/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast per cup of flour in your recipe. Visit our Lessons in Yeast & Baking for more information on baking.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 149Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 4g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
Disclaimer: I am in a paid partnership with Red Star Yeast to recreate and photograph recipes from their website. Red Star Yeast is the only kind of yeast I use. All opinions are my own, as always.
34 Comments on “No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread”
I am a bread making beginner. I have a bread maker and am wondering if I could use it with this recipe. I am worried that I will ruin it and am looking for a fool proof way. Thank you!
I am hoping to use this recipe with your cranberry cinnamon butter for Christmas.
Honestly, being a no-knead recipe, it’s pretty fool proof the way it is! Also, the amount of dough would be way too much for a bread maker. Red Star Yeast has lots of recipes on their site (http://www.redstaryeast.com/our-best-recipes) that can be adapted for a bread maker (look for the “bread machine recipes” category) so maybe try one of those if you prefer to use a bread maker. But give this recipe a try — it really is fool proof! :) And enjoy the cranberry cinnamon butter — one of my faves!
Can you use all of the same kind of flour in this? Or will it not turn out?
It might create too heavy of a dough that doesn’t rise properly and ends up being dense. Always worth a shot, though!
I’m sure it’s as delicious as it looks, but how can you call this “whole wheat bread” when only a third of the flour is whole wheat?
We call chocolate chip cookies “chocolate chip cookies” and they certainly aren’t all chocolate chips. Although, I wouldn’t mind if they were. Whole wheat flour is a major ingredient in this bread that gives it that nutty/whole grain flavor. And it is as delicious as it looks, thanks!
Girl – you should not be afraid of yeast, because this looks so perfect!!
Thank you! I’m slowly getting more comfortable with it…
This bread looks so delicious!!
This loaf looks just fantastic! I love RSY’s batterway loaves; they always turn out so fluffy and soft. Wish I had a few slices of this in front of me right now with butter and jam for breakfast!
This looks so good and so easy!
no knead breads are the best! this one looks awesome.
I love that this bread is no-knead! I just don’t have the muscles for anything else, lol. Thanks for sharing this terrific recipe, Rachel! Perfect for mopping up a big bowl of soup or stuffing with sandwich meats.
Nothing beats homemade bread – it really is the best! Your loaf turned out perfectly!
This looks absolutely perfect, Rachel! I need some asap :)
Thank you for reassuring me that I too can bake with yeast. Now, will you come over and help this black yeast thumb girl out? k. thanks.
Oh my goodness…we need to make that happen some day.
I also love me some toasted bread, and this does look like it’d be perfect that way!!
This looks fantastic and I love how simple this is!!
This whole wheat bread is seriously just the most amazing thing!
No knead breads are one of my favorites to make in a hurry! So simple, yet soooo much better than store bought. Toast will never be the same :)
amen sister.
This sounds so simple. Hope I don’t mess it up! Do you keep yours in the refrigerator once it is cooked? There are only two of us and I don’t know if my husband will eat very much of it. I have had wheat bread go moldy if I keep it in the bread box, so that is the reason for the question about the refrigerator. I want to try it, though, and hopefully make it a staple for me, if not my husband.
Judy
We just kept it on the counter in an airtight container but it was gone in a few days (I was visiting my family). The recipe lends itself well to cutting in half if you only wanted to make one loaf, that’s an option.
I figured it was gone pretty quickly. Maybe I will cut the recipe in half and see how fast it disappears here. Thanks so much. When I do make it, I will make pictures and share them on my blog .
Judy
Oh I think I’m gonna have to get over my yeast fear and try this!!!
Do it!!!
Bread baking is my favorite thing to do. I taught myself how to do it in grade school. Batter bread is a great way to start playing with yeast. This is so timely as I am baking bread for a ladies soup supper this week at church. I wanted to serve a variety of bread. I will make this. Thanks so much! Can’t wait!
Thanks Terri! How did it turn out?
Lovely recipe! I so want to try this. Simple, delicious, and healthy – sounds just about perfect to me :)
Beautiful bread. Stunning photos!
Thank you SO much!
can you substitute butter for the shortening?
probably! let me know how it turns out :)