About the bake
Fans of wholemeal will love our Classic wholemeal bread recipe. A great starting point for those new to baking, our wholemeal loaf makes homemade sandwiches extra-special. Just follow our six-step guide using Allinson's wholemeal dough and share with the whole family.
Tips for making the best wholemeal bread:
- Does wholemeal bread need more kneading?
Yes. Wholemeal flour absorbs more water, therefore it requires more kneading. Watch our handy video below for kneading tips. - How do you get wholemeal bread to rise?
Our trick is to add some strong white bread flour along with the wholemeal bread flour. Even just a little white flour has enough gluten to give the dough better structure.
If you enjoyed making our wholemeal bread recipe, try our Wholemeal Bagels recipe, just as tasty and a wonderful addition to a weekend brunch.
Method
Step 1:
MIX
Mix the flours, yeast and salt in a big bowl. Mix together the melted butter, sugar and water, then mix in with a cutlery knife.Step 2:
KNEAD Tip onto a lightly flour dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes (or use the dough hook attachment on your mixer).
Step 3:
RISE
Lightly grease the mixing bowl with some oil. Put the dough back in, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size.Step 4:
SHAPE
Knock back the dough by gently kneading just 5 times to get the air out. Mould into a smooth oval and lift into a lightly oiled 900g/2lb loaf tin.Step 5:
PROVE
Cover the dough again with a clean tea towel and leave to prove until doubled in size again. Preheat your oven to 200°C (fan 180°C, gas mark 6).Step 6:
BAKE
Lift the tin onto the middle oven shelf and bake for 35-40 minutes, until you can lift the bread loaf from the tin and when you tap the base it sounds hollow. Cool on a wire rack.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 400g Allinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour
- 100g Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour
- 1 sachet Allinson's Easy Bake yeast or Allinson's Time Saver Yeast
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 50g Butter (melted)
- 1 tbsp Billington's light muscovado sugar
- 300ml Warm water
- 400g Allinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour
Utensils
- 2lb loaf tin
Nutritional Information
per 49g- 135cal Energy
- 3.2g Fat
- 1.7g of which Saturates
- 20g Carbohydrates
- 1.2g of which Sugars
- 4.8g Protein
- 0.46g Salt
Recipe Reviews
I’m new to bread making but want to make this loaf. What oil is used for oiling the tin please?
Olive oil is ideal for oiling the tin, but you can use an type of oil that you have, just be mindful that if it is flavoured this may impact the flavour of your loaf.
Got to write that this is the best wholemeal loaf I’ve made. Started getting into baking during lockdown and have been trying different recipes mainly from old books. The flavour, texture and lightness of this is the best yet.
To the lady asking about omitting the salt for health reasons, you absolutely can omit the salt. My mother never added salt to homemade bread and neither do I and it rises perfectly. The salt is added for taste. There is a lot on the Internet saying the bread won't rise properly but I think this is only the case if a bread maker is used.
This was too sweet for me, more like brioche than bread, I would omit the sugar and butter
Make this recipe yesterday. And the bread was just so yummy. Definitely keeping this recipe. Highly recommended. Thank you so much
At 71 yrs old, am thinking of making my own bread, husband on very low salt diet now and shop bought bread is so high in salt. Can I get away with not using the 1.5 tsp salt in this bread recipe? or is it a must for the bread to rise properly. Thanks
We would always recommend following the recipe/ingredient measurements exactly in order to achieve the expected outcome of your bake. The sugar and salt play an important part in the activation of the yeast and the overall rise of your loaf. The salt kills off the yeast/slows the process preventing the dough from overproving and collapsing, if less salt was used this could cause the bread to collapse.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 400g Allinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour
- 100g Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour
- 1 sachet Allinson's Easy Bake yeast or Allinson's Time Saver Yeast
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 50g Butter (melted)
- 1 tbsp Billington's light muscovado sugar
- 300ml Warm water
- 400g Allinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour
Utensils
- 2lb loaf tin
Nutritional Information
per 49g- 135cal Energy
- 3.2g Fat
- 1.7g of which Saturates
- 20g Carbohydrates
- 1.2g of which Sugars
- 4.8g Protein
- 0.46g Salt