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Wholemeal Bread Recipe

Published: Updated:

171 Reviews

Total Time
3h
Prep Time
2h 20m
Bake Time
40m
Makes 1
Makes 1
intermediate
A little effort

About our wholemeal bread recipe:

Our brown 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.

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’re new to breadmaking, we’ve got loads of simple guides to help you master the techniques you need - including getting your bread to rise, how to knead dough and how to tell if your bread is baked.

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.

Reasons to bake:

⭐Perfect for novice bakers 

⭐Doesn’t need a bread maker

⭐Keeps for up to a week in a breadbin

7 ingredients6 steps
  • Egg-Free Recipes
  • Vegetarian

Method

  1. 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
  2. Step 2

    KNEAD Tip onto a lightly flour dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes (or use the dough hook attachment on your mixer). 

    Hands kneading dough beside yeast packet
  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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).

  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

    • 400gAllinson's very strong wholemeal bread flour 
    • 100gAllinson's Strong White Bread Flour 
    • 1 sachetAllinson'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

171 Baker Ratings

My only go to bread recipe now after many heavy, dry wholemeal attempts in the past

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Easy and delicious bread recipe for beginners

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