If you’ve never made your own whole wheat sandwich bread before, don’t be intimidated—it’s easy! This no-knead recipe is a great one to start out with.
Disclaimer
This is not a post meant to shame you into making your own whole wheat sandwich bread. Because I am not one of those bloggers. You know, the kind that make you feel like a terrible human being because you’re not making your own almond milk from almonds you grew yourself, maintaining your own bee hives in your backyard, trekking into the woods to harvest wild morel mushrooms every spring? Yeah, that’s not me. I mean, if you want to be an urban beekeeper, that’s totally cool. But I’m way too lazy for that sort of thing. Plus, bees make me nervous. They sting, yo.
So please know that I’m not posting this because I think you should be making all your bread yourself. This was just a fun project that I wanted to do for a while and I thought I’d share it.
Conquering My Fear of Bread
If you read a lot of food blogs, perhaps you’ve seen me commenting on other people’s bread posts taking about how baking with yeast scares me. (So if you’re keeping track, I’m scared of bees and yeast. Someday I’ll tell you about how I’m scared of fishing poles. Someday…) My last attempt to use yeast was in pizza crust and it ended up being tough and weird. Like a frisbee made with flour. I kind of swore off yeast after that, but once I started blogging, I realized that I needed to conquer this fear.
I set out to find a bread recipe that was both crazy easy and fairly healthy and this No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe from King Arthur Flour fit the bill. I tweaked it a little bit by using olive oil instead of butter or vegetable oil and I added some ground flax too. And it really is easy, you guys. You just:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Transfer the dough to a bread pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise. Make sure you listen to the directions and put it in a warm place. It really does make a difference.
Then you bake it and cool it on a wire rack. Fine, it doesn’t look perfect, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it!
The Result
It’s a little bit moister and denser than store-bought whole wheat sandwich bread, but we really enjoyed it. Chris was particularly enamored with it and for that reason alone, I know I’ll probably be making this again. But will I only eat homemade bread from now on? Heck no. Buying bread is convenient. That said, you should try baking it at least once. It’s easier than you think, it’s delicious, and if you have a fear of baking with yeast, this recipe is a good one to start out with.

Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp molasses
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cup white whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseeds optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Dough will be sticky and thick—don't panic! It's supposed to be like that.
- Spray an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with an oil mister or cooking spray. This bread is sticky, so you need to make sure the whole pan is thoroughly coated with oil. Transfer the dough to the loaf pan, cover with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let bread rise for 60–90 minutes. The bread will rise to (or just above) the rim of the pan when it's ready.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove plastic wrap from bread and bake for 40–45 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. When the bread is golden brown on top and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 190–195°F, the bread is done.
- Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes, then remove bread from pan and continue to cool on a wire rack. Once bread is completely cool, it can be sliced. I prefer slicing the loaf as we use it rather than slicing the whole thing at once.
91 Comments
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board
January 16, 2013 at 9:47 pmEven though I love homemade bread so much, I so rarely make it, not for fear of using yeast but because I am too impatient for it to rise and hate having dough stuck to my fingers that is so hard to get off! Love yeast-free breads and the idea of a denser, more moist bread sounds great to me!
Kiersten
January 17, 2013 at 12:05 pmI’m going to try doing a traditional bread recipe now that I’ve conquered my fear of yeast, but I do really like this one–I hate getting dough stuck to everything too! Not to mention the flour everywhere…
Genevieve
January 21, 2013 at 3:41 pmI agree about rarely wanting to put in the effort even though I love homemade bread. I remember the first time I made a loaf of sandwich bread like this one and I thought, “wow this is so much better than storebought bread, I should only ever made homemade bread from now on!” But of course that didn’t happen, as like you mentioned, storebought is so much more convenient and you can get some good whole grain varieties now. But I like your thought that it’s something to try at least once, and more often if you like!
Kiersten
January 22, 2013 at 6:38 pmYeah, I often find myself resolving to only make homemade [whatever] from now on, and it rarely happens. So I decided to be a realist with this one–I will continue making my own sandwich bread, but only some of the time. 🙂
Dora
June 22, 2014 at 3:53 pmThis bread is awesome. I did make some changes though. Used hemp seeds instead of flaxseeds, maple syrup instead of molasses and no dry milk used. It is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and just simply delicious both in texture and taste. Thank you!! 🙂
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Kiersten Frase
June 25, 2014 at 2:41 pmThanks for your comment – I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
ashley - baker by nature
January 16, 2013 at 10:17 pmI totally want this! Love making homemade bread, and this one is going on my “to-make” list.
Richa
January 17, 2013 at 12:35 amthe loaf looks gorgeous! i bake bread every week! i think the orange juice is to take away from the strong cardboardy wheat taste..:) i usually add some fruit pulp too.
Kiersten
January 17, 2013 at 12:02 pmThat’s what I suspected! 🙂 I love the idea of adding fruit pulp too.
Bobbie
January 17, 2013 at 7:46 amThis looks amazing. I love that it’s no knead.
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom
January 19, 2013 at 9:20 pmI need to try this out. I’ve tried the kneading recipes and it’s such a pain. This sounds so wholesome and delicious!
Alice
January 20, 2013 at 12:31 amI have a bread maker that makes all kinds of bread including 100% whole wheat. Very easy but I don’t use it as often as I used to. Will try your recipe. Also have a recipe for Graham or WW bread that uses no yeast and is very good.
Kiersten
January 21, 2013 at 9:16 amI need to get a bread maker–that is definitely on my wish list. I hope the bread turns out well for you!
Alice
January 23, 2013 at 12:45 amCan I use regular WW flour instead of white WW flour? What is the difference between the two?
Kiersten
January 24, 2013 at 10:47 amYes, you can use regular whole wheat flour too–the bread will be a little bit denser, that’s all. 🙂 White whole wheat flour is milder in flavor and lighter in texture than regular whole wheat flour.
Alice
January 20, 2013 at 12:32 amWhat does “awaiting moderation” mean?
Kiersten
January 21, 2013 at 9:15 amIf you’re a first time commenter, I have to approve of your comment before it’s posted. It’s to prevent spam. 🙂
Christa @ Little BGCG
January 20, 2013 at 1:22 pmBookmarking and pinning, I need to make this especially since we’re out of bread! Do you think it would be okay to just use regular orange juice? Although as I say that I remember I have oranges in my fridge!
Kiersten
January 21, 2013 at 9:11 amI think regular orange juice would work; the recipe I adapted this from didn’t specify. But I had oranges on hand and not orange juice, so that’s what I used. 🙂
Anne
January 20, 2013 at 7:23 pmNot having to knead it is a big plus! I like the addition of flax seed too.
allison
January 20, 2013 at 8:35 pmIs there an alternative to using dry milk?
Kiersten
January 21, 2013 at 9:07 amI’ve found different answers online; some say you can just leave it out altogether, others say you can reduce the amount of water used and substitute scalded milk.
Heidi @ Food Doodles
January 25, 2013 at 2:22 pmNo knead, whole wheat? I’m there! I gotta try this. I make a lot of bread(but don’t keep bees, haha), but I can’t resist no knead recipes 😀
Kiersten
January 25, 2013 at 8:10 pmOne of these days I’m going to venture into bread that you do knead. I might need you to talk me through it. 😉
Chantelle
February 3, 2013 at 10:19 amThis bread was so yummy the last time I made it. Is it possible to just knead it the next time I make it? My cheap blender almost couldn’t handle the stickiness last time around. Lol. Thank you so much for posting. Excited to make it again my hubby loved it.
Kiersten
February 4, 2013 at 9:36 amYeah, it’s a bit of a pain to mix for sure! I’m definitely no expert on making bread, but you could try mixing the ingredients together with a spoon and then knead the dough inside the bowl instead of using a hand mixer–I think as long as your hands are floured, it shouldn’t stick TOO much. 🙂
Brenda Williams
February 21, 2013 at 8:29 amThis looks so good. I love home baked bread.
Whitney
March 23, 2013 at 4:57 pmHello!
I was wondering if there is a way to make this vegan – which milk substitute would work best?
Thanks,
Whitney
Kiersten
March 24, 2013 at 7:09 pmSince this is made with a dry milk powder, I’m not sure what you could substitute for it. You could try using a non-dairy milk in place of both the water and the milk powder, but I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure that it would work out. Sorry! 🙁
Whitney
March 25, 2013 at 2:52 pmHi Kiersten,
Is there a way to make this vegan? Any milk substitutes that will work just as well?
Thanks,
Whitney
Kiersten
March 26, 2013 at 2:10 pmI replied to your comment a few days ago–it’s right above this one. 🙂
Elizabeth
July 20, 2013 at 12:56 pmThis is the greatest thing ever! Really loved this bread; it was perfect! Thanks!
Kiersten
July 21, 2013 at 7:23 pmI’m glad it turned out well for you–thanks for your comment! 🙂
Cynthia
October 9, 2014 at 1:18 pmI lined my pan with parchment paper. No oil, no mess!
Jeane' Ridges
May 11, 2015 at 1:42 pmMy pan is 9.25×5.25×2.75in. Can I still use this recipe with it?
Kiersten Frase
May 14, 2015 at 3:21 pmYou might need to adjust your cooking time slightly, but it should still work.
Jeane' Ridges
May 13, 2015 at 1:26 pmI used premade orange juice and pure maple syrup (cannot stand the smell of molasses), and ommited the milk powder. Baking in the oven right now. Have a feeling I will officially be freeing myself from buying premade bread.
Will line my pan with parchment paper next time because cooking spray is so messy.
Kiersten Frase
May 14, 2015 at 3:16 pmI hope it turned out well for you!