Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread is the perfect sandwich loaf. This easy whole wheat bread recipe makes a soft and slightly sweet bread that you’ll love.

With it’s soft texture, hint of honey and hearty whole wheat flavor, Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread tastes fantastic and will keep fresh for several days.

You can start the dough the night before and finish the bread in the morning to have fresh bread for lunch.

Scroll through the step by step photos to see how to make Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread:

After just 30 minutes on a warm spring day the sponge is active and ready.

Allow the dough to double in volume before shaping.

The bread is ready to bake when it’s about doubled in volume and fills up the pan. If you poke the dough the dent should slowly fill-in. If the dough springs right back it’s not quite ready.

Make a deep slash down the middle of the loaf before baking.

A timeline for making this Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe:

• If you plan to bake the same day, start the sponge early in the morning.
• By the early afternoon your bread should be ready to bake.
• To start your bread the day before, start mixing the dough late in the afternoon or early evening.
• Make the dough up until the point that it goes into the pan.
• Cover the pan in plastic wrap and allow it to rise slowly in the refrigerator overnight.
• The next morning, take the loaf out of the refrigerator. It should have risen to fill the pan over night. 
• Leave the loaf at room temperature while the oven preheats. If it hasn’t risen enough, give it a little extra time at room temperature to finish rising.
• You’ll have fresh bread by lunch time.
• If you find at any point the dough has over-risen, you can knead the dough, reshape and let it rise again.

I always mix bread dough in my Kitchen Aid Mixer, but the dough can certainly be made by hand. Start mixing with a wooden spoon and switch to your hands when the dough gets too thick to stir.

Bread dough is much more forgiving and less scary than it seems. And of course nothing smells or tastes as good as a freshly baked loaf of bread.

Looking to make a great submarine sandwich? You can make Homemade Hoagie Rolls!

If you’ve got a sourdough starter, you can make Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread with Milk & Honey.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

Print Recipe

4.56 from 47 reviews

Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread

By: Eileen Gray

With it's soft texture, hint of honey and hearty whole wheat flavor, Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread tastes fantastic and will keep fresh for several days. You can start the dough the night before and finish the bread in the morning to have fresh bread for lunch.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Bake Time35 minutes mins

Rising Time2 hours hrs

Total Time3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

18 slices

US CustomaryMetric

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 6 ounces warm water (¾ cup)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast (1 packet)
• 10 ounces bread flour (2 cups)
• 8 ounces whole milk (1 cup)
• 1 ½ ounces honey (2 tablespoons)
• 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
• 7 ½ ounces whole wheat flour (1 ½ cups)
• 1 egg for egg wash
• Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Instructions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast and ½ cup of the bread flour to form a smooth batter. Cover the bowl and allow the mixture to rise for ½ hour. Warm the milk until scalding hot then set it aside to cool until it is slightly warmer than body temperature.
  6 ounces warm water, 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast, 10 ounces bread flour
• Add the scalded milk, honey and salt to the sponge. Stir to combine.
  8 ounces whole milk, 1 ½ ounces honey, 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
• Add the whole wheat flour and ½ cup of the bread flour. Stir until the batter looks like thick pancake batter. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook.
  7 ½ ounces whole wheat flour
• With the mixer running, continue adding bread flour until the dough gathers on the hook and clears the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes. If mixing by hand, add as much of the flour as you can in the bowl then finish kneading in the rest of the flour by hand.
• Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Knead to form a smooth ball. If the dough is very sticky sprinkle a little more flour as you knead.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise for about 1-1 ½ hours until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan with a very light film of vegetable oil or with baking spray.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Without kneading out the air, gently push the dough to a 9" rectangle. Tightly roll the dough from top to bottom to form a log shape. As you roll pinch the ends of the dough to form a tight roll.
• Set the dough into the pan and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Set in a warm place and rise until the dough almost doubles in size, about 1 hour.
• Use a sharp knife or razor to cut a ½" deep slash down the center of the loaf. Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds.
  1 egg for egg wash, Sesame seeds for garnish
• Bake about 30-35 minutes until golden brown and and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The interior temp should be about 200 °F.
• Cool in the pan about 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature before slicing.

Equipment

My Book

KA Stand Mixer

Bread Making Tools

Loaf Pan

Cooling Rack

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Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 93mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 22IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!

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