The best 100% whole wheat bread with a sweet taste of honey and subtle nutty flavor of the whole wheat. This bread is sure to be a family favorite with only six easy ingredients.
To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm water, instant yeast, honey and salt. Mix together.
Turn on the stand mixer and with the dough hook running, add half of the flour, then the vital wheat gluten and then the rest of the flour as needed. You are looking for your dough to be tacky, not sticky. Find out more about readiness of the dough here. Add more flour a Tablespoon at a time if needed. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. Turn it out onto a countertop.
To shape the dough: Pat the dough into a small rectangle about the size of your bread pan (use your bread pan as a guide). Starting closest to you, roll the dough up tightly, pressing in at the seam with every roll. After it forms a cylinder, pinch the seam closed. Place dough into bread pan and let rise again, for about an hour until just about doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaves in preheated oven for 38-40 minutes. Brush tops of warm bread with butter. Let the bread cool completely before slicing the bread with a bread knife.
Notes
Water Temperature: It's important to use warm water to activate the yeast and encourage the bread in rising. I like to keep the temperature around 90-100 degrees F.Instant Yeast: I like using SAF Instant yeast. Vital Wheat Gluten: Vital wheat gluten is what keeps this whole wheat bread tender and soft. It helps soften the whole wheat flour. I buy a big bag on Amazon because I make this recipe A LOT.Whole Wheat Flour: This recipe relies heavily on the taste of your whole wheat flour. Choose a whole wheat flour you love the taste of and your bread will be incredible. I use hard white wheat flour from our local mill. If you can find a hard red wheat, you may like mixing that with a white wheat for best flavor/results.