This recipe for No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread delivers all of the deliciousness of homemade bread without the fuss. You can make it without any special equipment or advanced baking skills, and it packs a lot of nutrition into each slice. So good!
No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
Making this No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread is easy and fun—especially since it’s virtually fool-proof. The kids can help you mix up the batter, you can let it sit all day long, and when you bake it up, the house will smell so darn amazing! This is a great bread to make if you want to try homemade bread, but don’t want to worry about a complicated recipe or method.
The magic of no-knead bread is that the dough sits for a long period of time to develop flavor and texture, instead of relying on kneading.
I’d never tell you that you absolutely have to make your bread at home, but if you’re looking for a recipe to give it a try, this is a great one to start with. The ingredient list is short so you know exactly what you’re serving the kids, and it packs in a lot of whole grains into each serving.
(You may also like my Cheesy Rice, Greek Yogurt Pizza Dough and my Lower Sugar Banana Bread.)
Table of Contents
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Ingredients You Need
To make this bread you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand and ready to go.
- Whole wheat flour: This adds fiber and whole grains to the loaf.
- All-purpose or bread flour: Some of either of these flours in the mix helps prevent the bread from becoming too dense.
- Ground flaxseed: This adds some healthy fats, but you can skip it if you don’t have it.
- Yeast: This ensures that the bread dough rises as it sits. You can use active or instant yeast here.
- Honey or sugar: To help activate the yeast, which feeds off of sugars.
- Salt: Adding a little salt to the dough ensures that it tastes good.
- Water and/or milk: This liquid helps the dough come together into bread dough.
TIP: Use maple syrup instead of honey if you plan to serve this bread to a baby under 1.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the process involved in making this easy homemade bread recipe. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
- Stir together the yeast mixture and allow to get puffy.
- Stir together the flours and salt.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Let rise.
- Divide in half and place into loaf pans. Let rise.
- Bake.
TIP: I like to mix the ingredients together in the morning and plan to bake the bread in the afternoon or early evening.
Flax Bread
I love adding ground flaxseed to this no-knead bread recipe to add in some extra fiber and healthy fats. It’s also a nice way to serve up flaxseed if it’s an ingredient you’ve been wanting to try, but haven’t found a kid-friendly recipe for.
How to Store
You can store this bread in a zip top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days, or you can do my preferred method of storing it in the freezer. Put the cooled and sliced bread into a zip top freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then toast the bread to serve.
Best Tips for Success
- Use more or less all-purpose flour if desired. Just keep the total flour mixture to 6 cups.
- Add a little water if the dough seems too dry to incorporate all of the flour.
- Add a little more flour if the dough seems way too sticky.
- Grease the bread loaf pans well to prevent sticking.
- Read through the directions to see how much time you’ll need to allow for rising—there is a long rise of 5-6 hours, then another 1-2 hours once the dough is in the loaf pans. Plan accordingly!
- Remove from the pans right after taking out of the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Let cool fully before slicing for the best texture and slices.
- Add 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 cup raisins for a cinnamon raisin flavor.
- Serve topped with apple butter, nut butter, seed butter, cottage cheese, jam, or another favorite topping.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you try it, so please leave a comment below!
No-Knead Whole Wheat Flax Bread
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk (slightly warmed; or water)
- 2 cups water (slightly warmed)
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 4 cups whole-wheat flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix the milk and water, yeast, and honey together in a glass measuring cup. Stir very gently. Let sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should get a little puffy.
- Stir together the flours, flaxseed, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Add the milk and yeast mixture and stir.
- Stir with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until the dough starts to come together (use your hands if needed). You want to dough to hold a ball shape, but not be too dry. Since you don’t have to knead the bread, a little sticky is okay. If it’s a little dry, add up to an additional ¼ cup water.
- Let rise in a greased bowl, covered with a towel, for 5-6 hours.
- Spray two loaf pans with nonstick spray, making sure to get the corners covered. Divide dough in half, fold and shape each half into a tube to fit into pan, and press down slightly to shape it to fit. Let rise, covered with a towel, for 1-2 hours or until the dough has about doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Bake loaves for 30-35 minutes or until nicely brown and it sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
- Once cooled and sliced, store in a zip top bag at room temperature for 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Toast or thaw in the fridge to serve.
Equipment
Notes
- Use more or less all-purpose flour if desired. Just keep the total flour mixture to 6 cups.
- Add 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 cup raisins for a cinnamon raisin flavor.
- Serve topped with apple butter, nut butter, seed butter, cottage cheese, jam, or another favorite topping.
Nutrition
This post was first published March 2019.
What kind of yeast?i live in uk
Active or instant yeast.
Hi, trying your recipe for the first time for the wheat bread. I Was wondering if you can actually put the dough in the refrigerator till the next day I didn’t realize I will have to let it rise for 5 to 6 hours because I didn’t properly read the recipe? Than you IDA
Yes, just pull it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temp for a while so the dough isn’t cold and can rise properly
What size loaf pans do you use?
9×5 inch
Absolutely delicious and closest to a german style bread that I miss so much from home!
Would any of the following flours work?
-gluten free (1 to 1)
-spelt
-use whole wheat for whole recipe?
Thank you!
I haven’t tested these but of those options I’d do all whole wheat and add a little more flour to ensure the dough isn’t dry.
What kind of yeast do you use? I’ve made this twice, and I think I’m doing something wrong. It keeps coming out super dense. Any advice? I’m new to bread baking, and I would really like to master this recipe for my husband and kiddo!
Hi- I usually use instant yeast and check that it’s working in the first step when it gets a little puffy. (If the yeast is puffing up and working, it actually shouldn’t matter which type it is though. You could try adding 1/4 teaspoon more yeast to see if that helps you.)
If you use instant rise yeast, should you adjust the rise time?
It should be about the same
waiting for the 1st rise…oops! forgot to grease the bowl but then again i always leave the bread i make to rise in the bowl. i mixed in..
i have only made .white. breads like ciabatta, french. so glad to have found your recipe. i used 4 c ww,, 1 c ap, & i c www. hoping they come out great!
Could I use rye flour here?
No, I wouldn’t as the gluten content isn’t the same as wheat flour and I can’t guarantee that it will hold together.
I decided to try baking my own bread during the pandemic, and could not be happier with this recipe! I had never baked bread before, other than in a breadmaker, and this has proven to be simple and foolproof, no matter how much I play around with it. Have made as is, which is delicious, and also did a garlic/rosemary and cinnamon/raisin. I used 3-4 tsps cinnamon and next time will use 1 1/2 cups of raisins (instead of recommended 1 cup). I soak them in the water for about an hour to soften up, then slightly warm the raisin water and use it for the yeast. My oven cooks hot, so I bake at 425 for 25 minutes. Thanks so much for posting this recipe!
I’m so glad to hear this and I love the sound of your flavors!
Hi Amy,
I am trying to keep my Carbs down .
Is the serving size for one slice or 2 , please ?
1 slice (though if you slice them thinner it would be less)
Can I substitute Soymilk or almondmilk for milk in this recipe? Would it matter?
You can just use water!
Another hit for us! I am so excited to have a use for a substantial amount of flaxseed – I use a spoonful at a time in the occasional smoothie, and it takes me forever to get through a bag that way. Thanks for another great recipe!
I’m so glad and I agree—it is a great use for flaxseed!
Sounds great! I’m going to try it!!
I make bread every week and would love to
try this. How does the bread rise without kneeding? I have made no kneed bread before but the recipe had wheat gluten added to help the rise. Thanks!
It rises similarly to kneaded breads. The main difference is it can be just slightly less structured than kneaded bread )like if it’s sliced too thinly)!but it’s still really good!
Looks like a great recipe ! Do you think it would work on a whole wheat setting of a bread machine ?
I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure, but probably if the amounts are similar to recipes that came with the machine.