This seedy Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread has a chewy texture full of rich, hearty flavor and is super easy to make. Naturally sweetened, soft in the center with a golden brown crust – this home baked bread made with olive oil is better than anything store bought. Oats, sunflower seeds, and flax make for a yummy crunch, while hemp seeds add a little boost of Omega-3’s and extra fiber. Slice it thick for toast and as a side for soups, or thinner for those PB and J’s. The recipe makes two regular sized loaves and freezes beautifully so you can have healthy, homemade bread on hand all week.
Here’s how it’s done
Step 1: Gather The ingredients
Start by pulling out all of your ingredients. Line ’em up. Or not, but I love getting everything all set to make sure I don’t forget anything. This recipe calls for a couple of sneaky (and totally optional) ingredients that really make it special. The first one is vital wheat gluten, which boosts the protein in the flour and creates a better overall texture (alternatively, you could use bread flour to achieve this). The second is sunflower lecithin. This micro ingredient is a total game changer and heightens your rise, helps to distribute the ingredients evenly in the dough, and even helps to retain freshness when you freeze. It’s an investment, but trust me – you want this in your kitchen and it has a long shelf life. You’ll believe me as soon as you start to see the bread rise.
Step 2: Mix the Bread Dough
This recipe uses a traditional dry yeast to activate your rise, so grab the yeast and add it to the bowl of your mixer or a large bowl with the honey and add warm filtered water. Leave this for 5 mins or so, until it’s nice and bubbly. Once activated, add the sea salt and olive oil and give it a quick mix. Then using the dough hook, add the seeds and 1 cup of flour at a time until dough is slightly sticky but pulls easily from the sides of the bowl (see video). If your dough is too sticky, add more flour starting with a few tablespoons at a time. If it’s too dry, add more water, one tablespoon at a time until you achieve a nice smooth dough.
We mill our wheat flour fresh using a Nurtimill. Highly recommend for the freshest, most nutritious wheat flour you can find!
Step 3: First Rise
Next, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place it in another, lightly oiled bowl to rise. If I’m being honest, I just leave it in the mixing bowl, unoiled. I don’t find that it’s sticky enough to be too hard to remove, but it’s up to you. Whatever works. Cover* and let sit in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it’s about doubled in size.
*Have you ever used a shower cap as a bowl cover? Seriously, it works like a dream. Don’t leave your next hotel visit without taking the shower caps to have on hand for bread making. Try it.
Step 4: Second Rise
Punch the dough down to deflate, remove it from the bowl and shape. Then divide the dough in two halves – just eyeball it, no need to get critical – and then shape into a loaves. An easy way to do this is to make a ball shape, flatten it out, and fold it inward. Turn it over and continue to shape it into a nice, bouncy oval. Take two pieces of parchment paper* and line each loaf pan before setting the shaped loaves in to rise. Cover and let sit for another hour or so until the loaf begins to pop over the edge of the pan. Once risen and if desired, beat one egg white, gently brush it on top of the loaves and sprinkle with the reserved seeds.
*parchment paper trick – crinkle it up in a ball and then smooth it out again. It’s much more pliable this way.
Honey wheat sandwich bread is delicious sliced and slathered with grass-fed butter, a generous drizzle of honey, sprinkles of flaky sea salt, and snipped chives.
Step 5: Bake the Bread
Heat your oven to 350° degrees, and place both loaves on the middle rack. Bake for 26-30 minutes, until the crusts are golden brown and the centers of the loaves have risen higher than the ends.
step 6: Enjoy!
Take out of the oven and immediately move to a wire rack to cool. If you’re so inclined while you’re waiting for the bread to cool (if you can wait that long), pull out some softened butter and mix with sea salt, honey, and chives to make a delicious spread. Slice and enjoy! Let me know how you like this healthy homemade honey wheat sandwich bread – it’s on repeat in our house!
Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- 2 9" x 5" Bread Loaf Pans (This is an average bread loaf pan size, but note that the shape is different that a "quick bread" pan)
- 1 Stand Mixer with Dough Hook (This is optional, but recommended for ease. It will 100% work if you just use your hands to manually knead the dough, however)
- 2 Large Mixing Bowls (plus 2 kitchen towels or shower caps for rising)
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 Cups Warm Water
- 4 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1/4 Cup Honey
- 1 Tbsp Salt
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil (or, alternative oil of your choice)
- 3 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten (optional – boosts the protein content of the flour, which helps the overall rise and texture of the bread. Omit if using "Bread Flour")
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Sunflower Lecithin (optional – adds chewiness and is a natural preservative to help the bread last longer)
- 4 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour (or, Bread Flour)
- 2 Cups Wheat Flour (I use fresh-milled, made at home with the Nutrimill)
- 1/2 Cup Oats (all of the nuts and seeds are optional)
- 1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
- 1/8 Cup Sesame Seeds
- 1/8 Cup Flax Seeds
- 1/8 Cup Hemp Seeds
- 1 Egg White (whisked)
Instructions
- Bloom the yeast. Add yeast, warm water, and honey to a the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl. Mix and let sit for at least 5 minutes until bubbly. This is when you'll know your yeast is active and ready. In the meantime, add all of the seeds to a separate, small bowl and mix. Set aside.
- Add salt, olive oil, vital wheat gluten (if using), and sunflower lecithin (if using) to the bowl with the yeast mixture and give it a quick stir.
- Mix the Dough. First, add the seed mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup for the topping. Then using the dough hook on your mixer or with your hands, add the flour in one cup at a time until dough is slightly sticky but pulls easily from the surface (see above video). If dough is too wet, add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time. If too dry, add more water using the same method – slowly, until you get a nice smooth consistency where the dough is no longer sticking to the bowl but is still pliable. Once a good consistency is achieved, mix or knead for about 7 more minutes.
- First Rise. Roll the dough into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl (oil optional) and cover with a thin towel, plastic wrap, or a shower cap…yep, a shower cap (it's perfect, seriously). Let sit to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
- Second rise. Prep two loaf pans by lining with parchment paper, crinkling it into a ball first and then flattening it out again before lining to make the process easier (alternatively, oil the bottom and sides of the pan). Lightly flour your work surface and grab the dough; divide into two halves. No need to be exact, but do your best to make these somewhat even. Shape each half into a ball, and working with one dough ball at a time, press each one gently from side to side, placing a bit of pressure on the lowest edge of the dough ball. This will help the dough take shape and become a bit "bouncy". Next, keeping the dough balls intact, shape into loaves. Place in loaf pans, cover, and let rise for 1-2 hours; until the dough just slightly starts to pop up over the top of the pan.
- Bake. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. If desired, whisk 1 egg white in a bowl, lightly brush the tops of the risen loaves and sprinkle the remaining seed mixture over the top. Then, place both loaf pans uncovered in the middle rack of the oven and bake until the tops are golden brown, about 28 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place the bread on a cooling rack if you have one. Wait to slice into the bread until it's cooled a bit, if you can! This honey wheat sandwich bread will stay fresh in an airtight container or bag at room temp for about a week and in the freezer for 6 months. We like to keep one out and freeze the other for later in the week – if we don't end up eating half a loaf straight from the oven!
Notes
3 g protein; 2 g fiber. Nutrition information is an estimate and will change based on size of each slice.
Let me know how it turns out! I’d love to hear. And if you take a pictures, tag me on Instagram! It would be so fun to see. If you enjoyed this honey wheat sandwich bread recipe and would like to try baking more bread at home, check out more recipes here!
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