Our wholemeal bread recipe is a simple and satisfying bake, and perfect for bakers who are new to making their own bread. It’s soft, airy, and delicious, and perfect for sandwiches - or simply toasted with butter.
With just 7 ingredients and 6 steps in the process, our easy wholemeal bread recipe provides tips for baking success!
Our recipe for making wholemeal bread uses Allinson’s Very Strong Wholemeal as its the ideal bread flour to create a delicious wholemeal dough. Whilst you can substitute white bread flour and wholemeal bread flour like for like when it comes to quantities in a recipe, it is worth noting that wholemeal bread tends to give a slightly denser and moist texture with a little less rise and springiness. This is due to the bran in the flour reducing the effectiveness of the gluten. Nevertheless, we guarantee that you will have a super tasty loaf - evidenced by the 5* reviews from happy bakers.
Reasons to bake:
⭐Perfect for novice bakers
⭐Doesn’t need a bread maker
⭐Keeps for up to a week in a bread bin
7 ingredients6 steps
Egg-Free Recipes
Vegetarian
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For the Dough
400gAllinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour
100gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour
1 sachet (7g)Allinson's Easy Bake yeast or Allinson's Time Saver Yeast
1.5 tspSalt
50gButter (melted)
1 tbspBillington's light muscovado sugar
300mlWarm water
Utensils
2lb loaf tin
Nutritional information per 49g serving
Energy 135cal
Fat 3.2g
of which Saturates 1.7g
Carbohydrates 20g
of which Sugars 1.2g
Protein 4.8g
Salt 0.46g
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.
Ingredients for this step
400gAllinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour
100gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour
7gAllinson's Easy Bake yeast or Allinson's Time Saver Yeast
1.5 tspSalt
50gButter (melted)
1 tbspBillington's Light Muscovado Sugar
300mlWarm water
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.
Top Tips
Substitutions and Variations
If you loved our wholemeal bread recipe, try out our other top rated bread recipes below that will not disappoint!
White Bread Recipe
Our highly rated White Bread Recipe will dial your lunch up a notch! Perfect for kneading newbies or bread fanatics.
Sourdough Bread Recipe
Try our new and improved Sourdough Bread Recipe by talented home economist and home stylist, Jill Weatherburn and make a delicious sourdough with just 4 ingredients!
How to Store
Once you've baked your wholemeal bread, it's best to store it by wrapping it in a paper bag, beeswax wrap, clean kitchen towel, plastic bread bag then place in a bread box where it will stay fresh for up to a week at room temperature. Make sure you allow the loaf to cool down completely before storing, as trapping heat will create condensation and lead to soggy bread which could mold quicker. If freezing your loaf, ensure to freeze as soon as possible to keep your bread fresher for longer.
FAQs
Does wholemeal bread flour need more water?
Wholemeal flours like rye, buckwheat or gluten-free are ‘thirstier’ than other flours - they absorb more water, so you’ll need more to get your dough to the right consistency.
Does wholemeal bread require more kneading?
As wholemeal flour absorbs more water, you’ll have to knead it a little more than you would if you were making white bread.
How to make your wholemeal loaf rise
If your wholemeal bread isn’t rising, this could be because the yeast is too hot, which causes the yeast to die. The yeast should be warm, not too hot or cold. Make sure the ingredients you mix the yeast with are also warm.
Our trick is to add some strong white bread flour to the wholemeal bread flour. Even just a little white flour has enough gluten to give the dough better structure. If you’d like to do this, we recommend using Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour to your wholemeal bread flour - it’s a great all-purpose flour and its high gluten content makes it particularly suitable for bread making.
If you enjoy making our wholemeal bread recipe, you should try our Wholemeal Bagels recipe. They’re just as tasty and a wonderful addition to a delicious weekend brunch.
Does wholemeal bread always need gluten in the recipe?
Wholemeal bread doesn't always need gluten, and there are gluten free wholemeal flour brands out there as alternatives. Whole wheat flour which is used to make wholemeal bread naturally contains gluten. Gluten is a protein which helps give bread its structure, elasticity, strength and allows it to rise higher - so whilst a gluten free wholemeal flour can be used it may not have the soft and airy texture.
186 Baker Ratings
Made my first loaf of bread using this recipe and I'll never go back! So easy and didn't find I needed to stray from the recipe at all!
