This honey whole wheat sourdough bread is has an earthy flavor with a touch of sweetness, perfect to serve with butter and perhaps a smearing of creamed honey. Plus, this is a sourdough bread recipe; meaning that it has all of that incredible depth of flavor that only sourdough can give, and it contains the added health benefits of consuming fermented grains. (source)
If you’re looking for a really enjoyable way to eat whole wheat bread, this is the way to do it. Sourdough breads are always the best, and the touch of honey flavor in this loaf makes the whole wheat element just deliciously nutty and sweet.
In this post:
- What is sourdough bread?
- Where to get a good sourdough starter
- What kind of flour to use
- How to make honey whole wheat sourdough bread
- Tips for making great sourdough at home
- Can you use a stand mixer for this recipe?
- A note on baking sweet breads at high temperatures
- You will need
- Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread recipe
- Step-by-step photos
- How to tell if your dough has risen enough (pictures, tip & explanation)
- More great sourdough recipes
What is sourdough bread?
Sourdough bread is an old-world style of making bread without commercial yeast. Rather, this bread relies on the active cultures contained in a fermented sourdough culture called sourdough starter.
If you’ve made a lot of yeast breads in the past and are just getting into sourdough, I will warn you: this process is quite different! Since sourdough bread relies on the fermentation process to rise, it takes a long time for those cultures to take hold and begin producing the gasses/air necessary to rise your dough.
While commercial yeast can make bread in a total span of 3 hours (for mixing the dough, the first rise, the second rise, and for baking) the process of making one batch of sourdough can take up to 24 hours to complete. (Or maybe even longer, depending on how you count the time!) One rise alone will take a minimum of 3 hours, and that doesn’t include all of the preliminary work that goes into it.
That said: it isn’t a constant demand on your time—there’s a lot of rest time involved in this process, and sourdough is incredibly rewarding to make. It’s also very doable; so, if this is your first time, don’t be intimidated!
Where to get a good sourdough starter
In order to make good bread, you need to have an active, healthy starter. You can acquire one of these by making your own, getting some from a friend who makes sourdough, or purchasing it from a bakery.
If you want a “Cheat sheet” method, you can check out a sourdough starter kit, which makes the process of getting a starter going a little more streamlined.
What kind of flour to use
You can use any type of bread flour, unbleached all purpose flour (white flour), whole wheat flour, or rye flour (or a blend of all of them) with great success in this recipe.
In my experience, whole wheat and rye flour are the easiest to use for creating a starter, but once that’s going, you can pretty much add it to anything else and find that you can make great bread.
How to make honey whole wheat sourdough bread
This recipe is made using my simple, no-knead method (as in my white bread recipe here). All you need is your ingredients, a large bowl, and a little bit of time and determination. Here’s the gist of how it’s done (with specific measurements and directions listed on the recipe card below).
Make a starter
To begin, you have to have a good active sourdough starter. As I mentioned earlier, you can make your own sourdough starter or get one from another source. Regardless, you need to have a healthy, active starter to mix up your dough.
Mix up the dough
Making the dough for this recipe is simple: just combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and use a spoon or your hand to just bring the ingredients together (you don’t want any dry bits of flour left in there).
Cover the sticky, shaggy dough with a tea towel (or plastic wrap, or a plastic bag), and then let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold
Once this has been done, you can perform your first stretch and fold. Grab a handful of dough from the side of the bowl and stretch it up as high you can without breaking it, and then fold it back down on itself. Repeat this 3-4 times. Once this is done, cover the dough again, and allow it to rest for another 30 minutes.
This process gets repeated 3 times, until the dough comes together with a taut, firm texture and smooth surface. Now, you are ready to start the bulk fermentation phase.
Bulk ferment
Once your last stretch and fold has been performed, you are ready to let your dough bulk ferment. Cover the dough with a damp tea towel (or plastic wrap), and allow let the dough rise in a warm place for 3-5 hours (or until it has doubled or nearly doubled in bulk).
Shape your loaves
Turn the risen dough out of the bowl, and divide it into 2 loaves. Shape them as directed in the recipe below, and turn them upside down (seam side up) into a bowl or banneton basket lined with a flour-dusted tea towel. Wrap the loaves in the towel, and place them in the refrigerator overnight.
Cold ferment
Your bread is ready to ferment, slowly, all night long. It will puff up slightly as it sits, and you’ll be ready to make fresh bread the next day!
Bake
The next morning, turn the loaves out onto a piece of parchment paper, and score the top of the dough with a sharp knife or razor blade (the longer and deeper the cut, the more it will open). This process will give the bread a trained “weak point” where it can “burst open” in the oven.
(If you do not score your bread, it will find its own weak point, and you may end up with some interesting shaped loaves!)
Bake the bread in a covered dish in a 425 degree F oven for 35 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake for another 10 minutes (to brown the loaves a little further).
If you don’t have a covered baking dish (such as a dutch oven), you can bake the bread on a cookie sheet with a pan of boiling water on the bottom oven rack. This will introduce steam to the oven, preventing the bread from forming its crust too early (and making your loaves much smaller and more dense).
Cool your baked loaves on a wire rack.
Tips for making great sourdough at home
There are several things you can think about to make sure your sourdough bread comes out great. Here are some of my favorite tips to offer to bread bakers who are looking to learn this incredible skill.
Make sure your starter is active
Your starter should be bubbly and alive looking in order for it to produce good bread. I usually feed my starter a ratio of 1:1:1 flour, starter, and water the night before I want to mix up my dough. After sitting for 8-12 hours, the starter should be active, bubbly, and ready to use.
If you aren’t sure if your stater is active, drop a little bit of it into a glass of water. If it floats, it is ready! This is called “The float test.”
Bake by weight
Baking by weight is one of the best ways to make sure your quantities are accurate. I often mention to people that 1 cup of flour with standard measuring cups can weigh anywhere from 100-170g, depending on how you scoop it! That means that if you scoop your flour differently than the person who created the recipe, you could be adding as little as half or as much as double the amount of flour you need.
​If you measure your flour by weight rather than by cups, you’re much more likely to end up with a precise measurement, which really does matter in the world of sourdough baking.
A note about hot or cold temperatures
Sourdough bread will ferment (rise) more quickly in warm temperatures than cold ones. Cooler air can make this process take much longer. So, consider the time of year and the environment in which you are baking, and make sure to check on your dough accordingly.
Dealing with humid or dry environments
I find that on humid, warm days, my dough tends to be much more soft and sticky. That said, in humid weather, I sometimes add an extra 50g (about 1/4 cup) of flour to this recipe.
On cooler days, if my dough seems very dry, you can just work it a little longer to make sure the flour gets incorporated, or add about 1 Tbsp of extra water just to help bring the rest of the flour in.
You shouldn’t need to adjust any measurements if you are working in a temperature controlled environment between 68-75 degrees F.
Do not over-ferment
Leaving your dough too long (especially during the bulk fermentation phase) can cause the dough to break down, lose its structure, and become much more sour tasting. In other words, over-fermenting your dough can pretty much wreck your bread!
If you do accidentally over-ferment your dough, you can try taking small pieces and frying them in a lightly greased pan to make fried bread. You can also go ahead and try to bake it… but I cannot guarantee that the results will be good!
Bake with steam
Baking in a covered dish (like a dutch oven) allows the bread to be surrounded by steam while it bakes, which prevents it from forming a crust too early (and gives it the opportunity to get that beautiful “Oven spring” we all love to see – big, burst open loaves of artisan bread goodness!
As I mentioned earlier, you can also place a pan of boiling water onto the bottom rack of your oven, which will allow a bread loaf baked on a cookie sheet to have a similar result. In my experience, however, there is nothing quite like using a dutch oven… So if you can manage to get one, I would highly encourage it as a worthwhile investment.
Can you use a stand mixer for this recipe?
Of course! You can, but I would not say that you should! Honestly, I find that making this recipe as I suggest with the stretch and folds is easier than using a stand mixer, and it creates better structure in your sourdough, which is ideal for making beautiful, high rising loaves.
Making sourdough bread in a stand mixer with a dough hook is only something I would do to bring the ingredients together initially– but even then, I think it’s really not necessary.
A note on baking sweet breads at high temperatures
Sweet breads, because of the higher sugar content in them, will brown (or burn!) much faster than other breads. That said, if you find that this honey whole wheat sourdough bread recipe is darker than you prefer, you can try reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees F.
You will need:
- Ingredients (see recipe card)
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons OR a kitchen scale
- Stirring spoon
- Bench scraper
- 2 round or oval banneton baskets or 2, 7″ bowls with tea towels
- Plastic wrap (optional)
- Parchment paper
- Scoring tool (or a sharp knife)
- Dutch oven (or baking sheets and a pan with sides to create steam in the oven)
Note: This sourdough kit includes many of the supplies listed above.
Here’s the recipe!
Honey Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
This delicious whole wheat bread is just a touch sweet with all of the extra wonderful flavor that only sourdough can bring.
Ingredients
- 2-3/4 c. (400g) all purpose flour
- 2-3/4 c. (400g) whole wheat flour
- 2-2/3 c. (600g) water
- 1 Tbsp (15g) salt
- 1-1/4 cups (200g) active sourdough starter
Instructions
Make the dough:
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In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients until a soft, shaggy dough forms (make sure all of the dry flour gets incorporated into the dough). Cover with a tea towel and allow this to rest 20-30 minutes.
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Stick your hand under the dough, grab a handful, and pull it up as high as you can without breaking it. Fold the stretched dough down over the top of the whole amount. Repeat this process from different sides of the dough 4-5 times, or until the dough isn’t “loose” anymore and it begins to feel stronger, or “taut”. Cover, and allow this to rest 30 minutes.
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Repeat the stretch and fold process, folding 3-4 times, or until the dough begins to feel stronger (harder to stretch) again. Cover, and allow to rest another 30 minutes.
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Repeat the stretch and fold process one final time, again folding 3-4 times, or until the dough feels taut and smooth. Cover, and allow to rest 3-6 hours or until the dough is doubled or nearly doubled in bulk.
For the pre-shape (optional):
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Turn the dough out onto a clean, unfloured work surface. Divide it into 2 equal portions, and stretch one piece of the dough out into a square. Pull the corners of the the square into the centre, and then repeat “stretching and folding” the edges into the centre (from each corner, about 3-4 more times) until the dough comes together into a smooth ball. Turn upside down, and repeat with the other section of dough. Cover, and allow these to rest 30 minutes.
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If you choose to skip the pre-shape, you can place your shaped loaves smooth-side down into flour-dusted banneton baskets or bowls at this point.
Shape the dough:
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Pull each pre-shaped loaf into a square again, and stretch and fold the corners into the centre again. Roll the dough into a loaf shape, and put it smooth side down into a lightly floured banneton basket or bowl* lined with a tea towel. Cover the tops with a bit of plastic wrap (optional), fold the towel over top, and place the loaves immediately into the refrigerator. Allow to rest in the fridge until the next morning.
Bake the bread:
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The next morning, place a dutch oven into a cold oven, and preheat to 425 degrees F. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
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Uncover the bread and remove the plastic wrap. Turn out onto a sheet of parchment paper, and score with a sharp knife or razor blade as desired.
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Once the dutch oven has been in the oven heating for 15 minutes, take it from the oven, remove the lid, and lift the bread into the hot dutch oven by the parchment paper sheet. Cover, and return to the oven for 35 minutes.
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Remove the lid from the dutch oven, and allow the bread to bake 10 minutes more, just to brown it a little further. Repeat with the second loaf, or save it for the next day to bake it fresh. Cool fresh bread on a wire rack. For best results, cool the bread completely before slicing into it.
Recipe Notes
*To use a bowl instead of a basket, the perfect size for these loaves is a bowl that measures about 7 inches across the top and about 4 inches deep.
Step-by-Step Photos:
The dough after step 1 of the recipe instructions:
The stretch and fold process:
Bulk rise:
How to tell if your dough has risen enough
Sometimes it can be hard to tell if the dough has risen enough. From the last picture to this one, can you tell the difference?
Here’s a tip:
Allow the dough to rise in a glass bowl. If the underside looks as shown below, your dough should be good to go!
Scoring the bread:
Baking the bread:
If you like this recipe, you may also like:
- Easy No-Knead White Sourdough Bread
- Sundried Tomato and Cheese Sourdough Bread
- Easy Seeded Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Bread
- Simple Fermented Sourdough Oat Bread
- Sourdough Sesame Montreal Style Bagels
That’s all for today! I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you think to, please leave me a comment below to let me know what you thought, or go ahead and tag me in your gorgeous bread pictures on instagram @naomicakesofficial. I love to see that my recipes are being enjoyed!
Bye for now, and happy baking!
Naomi
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