A foolproof recipe for the softest, most tender and delicious Whole Wheat Bread that’s easy to make with my step-by-step photos and secret (but super simple!) ingredient. I am sure you will love this homemade Wholemeal Bread (or Atta Bread) made with the usual bread baking staples.
About Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
This soft and tender whole wheat bread has a similar fluffy consistency as your favorite White Bread,, but with the yummy flavor and health benefits of whole wheat.
How is it possible to make such a magical loaf? After much trial and error I finally stumbled across the secret ingredient that’s key for the softest crumb.
Similar to Naan and Bhatura, my wholemeal bread recipe includes yogurt (or curd). The creamy, slightly acidic consistency of the yogurt creates a delightful texture every time! Plus, yogurt is rather mild in flavor, so you get that full earthy taste of wheat you love.
And YES, this recipe can be made vegan-friendly! The acidity of yogurt is what creates the great rise for a super soft crumb, but this can be easily replicated. Simply swap with vegan almond yogurt or cashew yogurt, or even just lemon juice or vinegar.
I have tried making the bread with cashew yogurt, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar and they all work well.
Below are my step-by-step photos and instructions for making the best whole wheat bread from scratch. I use my hands to knead the bread, but feel free to use a standing mixer with a dough hook instead.
This Wholemeal Bread recipe works wonderfully with any kind of baker’s yeast. Be it instant yeast (or rapid rising yeast), dry active yeast or fresh yeast.
Remember to proof dry active yeast or fresh yeast in lukewarm water. And also note that the leavening time or the time taken for the dough to rise will be more when using these two types of yeast.
Note: To make this wholemeal bread, I have used instant yeast (rapid rising yeast). In the recipe card below I have mentioned proportions if using dry active yeast or fresh yeast.
How to make Whole Wheat Bread
Proof Yeast
1. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a standing mixer, add ½ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of raw sugar. The water can be room temperature or lukewarm.
However, if using active dry yeast or fresh yeast, then be sure to use lukewarm water.
Wondering which yeast to choose? The leavening and rising time of instant yeast is faster compared to dry active yeast. You also don’t need to proof the instant yeast like the dry active yeast, but I still show you the full proofing method to help if you are using dry active yeast.
2. To the bowl add 1 teaspoon of instant yeast (rapid rise yeast).
If using dry active yeast, add 1.5 teaspoons. Swirl the bowl around or stir with a spoon to help the yeast dissolve in the water.
3. Mix well and let the yeast proof for 10 to 15 minutes.
Make Wholemeal Bread Dough
4. Now to the frothy yeast water mixture, add 3 cups of whole wheat flour (360 grams), 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of your favorite neutral flavored oil (or butter or ghee) and 2 tablespoons of yogurt (curd).
For a vegan-friendly loaf: Use either 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, or 2 tablespoons of almond or cashew yogurt in place of dairy yogurt.
5. Mix well with a spoon.
6. Add ½ cup of water in parts as you mix.
7. Now begin to knead the mixture into a soft dough, adding water at intervals as needed.
8. The dough will be slightly sticky at first, but it will be fine after the initial rise. If the dough looks dry, however, you can add some more water.
Work in 1 tablespoon at a time. If the dough looks too sticky (is actively sticking to your hands), then sprinkle in a bit of flour.
Knead very well for a total of 8 to 10 minutes to get a supple, pliable and soft dough. A slightly sticky dough is fine.
Proof Dough (First Rise)
9. Flatten the dough to fill the bottom of the bowl. Lightly brush the top of the dough with water.
10. Place a towel over the bowl, and proof the dough for 30 to 35 minutes if you have used instant yeast.
For dry active yeast, give a time of about 1.5 to 2 hours for the dough to double in size.
11. After the initial rise, the dough should be nearly double in size like in the photo below.
12. Use your fist to punch the dough lightly into the bowl, and knead again lightly.
Shape to a Loaf and Proof Loaf (Second Rise)
13. Work the wholemeal bread dough out of the bowl and onto a clean work surface. Roll into a ball.
14. Now form the dough into a log, and gently pinch the edges into a seam.
15. Place the dough log into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan. Cover again with a kitchen towel and let rise.
- If you have used instant yeast – leaven for 20 to 30 minutes.
- For dry active yeast or fresh yeast – set aside for 45 minutes to 1 hour or more depending on the temperature conditions.
16. While the dough leavens, preheat the oven for 20 minutes at 220 degrees celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit).
If using a convection oven or oven with a fan, then preheat at 200 or 205 degrees celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
Score and Bake Whole Wheat Bread
17. Make a ¼ inch cross or slits on the bread. This helps the steam escape as the bread bakes, and creates a tender and soft loaf.
18. Lightly brush the top of the loaf with milk (dairy or vegan). You can even brush with some oil or butter or ghee.
This is an optional step but it definitely gives a lovely golden color and also a perfectly chewy crust and moistest crumb.
19. Bake in the preheated oven for 22 to 25 mins. If using a convection oven, shorten bake time by a few minutes.
20. Bake the whole wheat bread dough until the top crust is golden.
Remove the bread from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes to cool. Then gently tap on top of the loaf: if baked properly, the bread should should hollow.
If the bread does not sound hollow, put it back in the oven to bake for a few more minutes.
21. While the wheat bread is still hot, carefully remove it from the pan (using oven mittens/gloves) and place it on a wire rack to cool.
The bottom of your loaf will get soggy if you leave it in the pan for too long!
Let the Atta Bread cool completely before slicing with a serrated knife.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy homemade whole wheat bread sliced with butter, ghee, jams, peanut butter, or any of your favorite spreads.
You can also use this wholemeal bread or atta bread to make various recipes like sandwiches, Bread Pakora, Bread Roll etc.
I love to make Veg Sandwich, Paneer Sandwich, and Cheese Sandwich with this atta bread.
Storage
Once cooled, wrap in a cling film or keep in a bread box at room temperature for up to one week. If you live in a warm or hot place, refrigerate the wheat loaf.
To freeze, place the whole wheat loaf in an airtight bag after wrapping in cling film, and keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
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Whole Wheat Bread | Wholemeal Bread (Atta Bread)
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour or chapati atta) – 360 grams
- 1 cup water divided, depending on quality of flour, can add upto 1.25 cups water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast or 1.5 teaspoons dry active yeast or 1 tablespoon fresh yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt or edible rock salt or pink salt
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar or white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons oil or softened butter or ghee (clarified butter)
- 2 tablespoons yogurt (dairy or vegan) or 1 to 1.5 tablespoon vinegar or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 to 3 teaspoons milk (dairy or vegan), for brushing the top of the bread, optional
Instructions
Proofing yeast
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a standing mixer, add ½ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of raw sugar. The water can be room temperature or lukewarm.But, if using active dry yeast or fresh yeast, then make sure to use lukewarm water.
- To the bowl add 1 teaspoon of instant yeast (rapid rising yeast).If using dry active yeast – add 1.5 teaspoons of it. Swirl the bowl around or stir with a spoon to help the yeast dissolve in the water.
- Let this mixture sit for 10 to 12 minutes until the yeast activates.
Forming Whole Wheat Dough
- Next to the frothy yeast water mixture, add the whole wheat flour, salt, preferred neutral flavored oil (or butter or ghee) and yogurt.
- Mix with a spoon.
- Next add ½ cup of water bit by bit and begin to knead for 8 to 10 minutes or as needed.
- Knead to a soft, supple and smooth dough. A well kneaded dough which when stretched should not tear.
- Add more water if required while kneading. The dough can be slightly sticky.
- Brush some water all over the dough and keep in a deep wide bowl covered with a lid or kitchen towel for 30 to 35 minutes if you have used instant yeast.If dry active yeast or fresh yeast has been used – keep in the covered bowl to leaven for 1.5 to 2 hours or more until the dough doubles.
- After the initial rise, the dough will be double in size. Remove and then lightly punch and knead the dough again.
- On a clean work surface roll the dough into a neat ball.
- Make a log of the dough and gently pinch the edges into a seam – meaning tuck in the edges at the corners.
- Place the prepared dough log in a greased 9×5 inches loaf pan with tucked edges facing downwards. Cover with kitchen towel again.
- Cover and let it rise the second time for 20 to 30 minutes if you have used instant yeast.For dry active yeast or fresh yeast – set aside for 45 minutes to 1 hour or more depending on the temperature conditions in your city or town.
Baking wheat bread
- Preheat the oven at 220 degrees C/425 degrees F for at-least 20 minutes.
- Once the bread has risen in the loaf pan, make a ¼ inch cross or slits on the bread. This helps the steam escape as the bread bakes, and creates a tender and soft loaf.
- Keep the loaf pan in the oven and bake at 220 degrees C/425 degrees F for 22 to 25 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
- While baking, if the wheat bread begins to brown too much from the top, then cover with parchment paper or aluminium foil.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes to cool. Then gently tap on top of the loaf: if baked properly, the bread should should hollow.If the bread does not sound hollow, put it back in the oven to bake for a few more minutes.
- When the bread is still hot, remove it from the loaf pan using oven mittens/gloves and keep it on a wired tray to cool.
- Let the Wholemeal Bread loaf cool completely before slicing it with a serrated knife.
- Enjoy homemade Whole Wheat Bread sliced with butter, ghee, jams, peanut butter, or any of your favorite spreads. Or use the Atta Bread to make your favorite sandwiches or snacks from bread.
- Store bread in the fridge for about a week or the freezer for about a month.
Video
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Whole Wheat Bread recipe from the archives first published in December 2013 has been updated and republished on December 2022.
You are super awesome. I added leftover oregano and chili flakes from dominos in the flour and my mixed herbs whole wheat bread just came out of the oven now. Whole house smells yummm…. thanks a lot. I swear by your recipes !!!!
thanks charuta for this feedback. i am sure the bread must have turned out superb with all the oregano, chili flakes and herbs added in it.
Hi,
I followed the recipe exactly as it was given by you. Both the rises were perfect but the moment it went inside the preheated oven the dough subsided. The bread came our well, it was soft but it looked more like a loaf cake. I must thank you for the wonder yogurt/vinegar suggestion. Bread was not dense at all but I am disappointed at the subsidence. Can you help?
ayesha, if the second rise is too long or has been over done, the bread will collapse. so looks like in this case the bread was over proofed. also you can check some videos on shaping the loaf. if the loaf is not shaped well, then also the bread will collapse. check some videos on youtube and by practice you will get shaping the loaf right.
Hi?
Do we need to keep the dough for the rise for a longer period during winter?
yes, during winter the time taken for both the rises will be more. you can even keep in a warm place.
Hello mam, Made this bread few days back using ‘Pillsbury gold’ atta and it came out well. Both the texture and softness was good. Thank you very much. I’ve few strange queries, kindly pardon me.
1. In your white bread recipe the temperature mentioned was 190°Celsius, but here for whole wheat bread 220°Celsius is given. Why is that difference? Does wheat bread requires more temperature for baking?
2.I’m using a Kenwood 25litre OTG., Can I open the oven door in between without switching off the main switch while it is still running?., ie while placing the loaf pan after preheating or to check whether it is done etc., etc.,? Kindly reply. Thanks in advance.
thanks benny for the review on the whole wheat bread recipe. your queries answered below:
1. most breads are baked at moderately hot temperature – 180 degrees celsius to a hot temperature – 230 degrees celsius. so you can bake at any of these temperature range depending on the size, capacity and type of oven. the white bread was baked in a convection oven (microwave oven with convection mode). the highest temp in the oven was 200 degrees celsius. so i baked at 190 degrees celsius. also in any convection oven, the baked good bakes faster and quicker. so its better to reduce the temperature by 10 to 20 degrees celsius when baking in a convection oven. that said, you can bake white bread at 200 or 220 degrees celsius in a regular oven or OTG.
2. you can open the door, when the OTG is on. i also open the door when the OTG is on.
Just now saw your reply. Thank you very much mam.
welcome benny 🙂
Hi. Thanks for the recipe . It tasted very good. It was a little dense. Cooked well but dense. Can you suggest something to make it fluffier? Thanks again!
welcome deepa. try kneading the dough very well. it takes atleast 7 to 8 minutes for the dough to be kneaded well. also a little sticky dough is fine. so some more water can also be added.
Hi Dassana,
Tried this whole wheat bread and it came out well. Thanks for the recipe.
thanks jeyashree for the feedback.
Hi dear…. I always tries ur recipes and coming good… But unfortunatly today this bread recipe didn come nice….outside become brown and inside dough didnt cook welll… I dont know what happened… Please help me… I want to try it again… Any advice??
which brand of yeast did you use and also which type of yeast. meaning instant or dry active yeast. if you have used dry active yeast, then the yeast+sugar solution should bubble up and become frothy. looks like the yeast did not activate well. also did the dough rose properly in the first and second rise?
Thanks for reply… I used instant yeast.. That also i kept in warm sugar water.. May be becayse of tHat?but dough rised good. I placed dough in baking loaf and just pressed to make it even, may be, it was the cause,,,
fine. the dough need not be pressed in the baking loaf. but that should not be the cause. also the dough in the loaf pan should be allowed to rise. did you allow the dough to rise the second time, before placing it in the oven. if not, then this could be the cause.
Hello Dassana
Have been making the atta bread regularly . There is one problem that I am facing . The bread has a slightly bitter after taste . Where do you think I am going wrong ? Wold be grateful if you can help me rectify this problem .
Renu
hmmm. i make both bread & pav quite regularly with atta and have never got an bitter after taste. all i can say is that it could be due to the quality of yeast. other than that no ingredient is added in the bread which is bitter. what i can suggest is try adding less yeast. for eg you can reduce by 1/4 teaspoon. then see the difference. i hope this helps renu.
Hi dasana, I never had problem with baking amazing cakes with your recipes. However this one turned out very dense and not completely cooked! Wondering where it went wrong! I had used active dry yeast and proofed it into frothy liquid. The only difference I can think of is that my dough was a bit stickier than I’d have preferred(I added bit more flour to remove stickiness). It raised well both times and I baked itay 220 deg in oven for about 24 minutes. I didn’t have a loaf pan so used normal square cake pan. I am going to try once again because it tasted very good and my kid loves to eat bread!! What changes would you suggest? We couldn’t get instant yeast so that’s not an option!
nimitha, i guess it due to the pan. since you have mentioned that the yeast proofing was frothy and the dough had risen well both times. so i do not think it could be due to yeast proofing. if you do not have a loaf pan, then you can make buns or rolls and place in the cake pan. you can shape them round or square or any fancy shape you want.
Hello chef m Shreya ,
what can we do if we do not have yeast . can we ferment it like dosa batter?
shreya, the method is different when yeast is not used. a mixture of some flour, baking soda, curd and water is mixed and left overnight. then this mixture is mixed with remaining flour and then kneaded to the dough. this dough is then allowed to ferment for some hours. i know the method, but have never tried making bread with it. some readers have tried and have got successful results.
Hi,
I really need to know the minimum amount of oil that I can add to this and if there is any substitute to be used in place of that.
Your recipes are wonderful and have helped me recreate magic in the kitchen in spite of my food restrictions. Hope you can help here as well.
amrita, instead of oil veggie purees can be used. but the only issue will be the flavor and taste of the bread will change. you can skip oil. oil does help making the bread soft, but even if you skip, then no issues. i have even made pav and breads without oil as a times i have forgotten to add them. just keep the dough slightly sticky and knead very well.
I made pav with ur recipe and it turned out amazing..it’s a simple recipe…si easy to make..thanku so muc for sharing..
welcome binal 🙂 glad you liked the wheat bread recipe. thanks for positive views.
hi dear,
dont have oven, but I just want to make brown bread as I dont like the store bought ones, please let me know if I can steam this bread, and for how long, I would like to try it with 1 or 2 cups of flour so what would be the measure of yeast. Please respond tks.
with steaming the recipe will change. you can check this pav recipe which is made in a pressure cooker to get an idea on stove top baking. a thick bottomed and deep pan can also be used instead of pressure cooker – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pav-recipe-in-pressure-cooker/
in this recipe for 1 cup flour, you can use 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast and 2 cups flour, you can use 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast.
Dear Dassana
Thanks a lot for everything . Was satisfied with the bread today . Could have bread after so long because of you ! Just wanted to check if I can do Pav with the same recipe ? And can one add raisins seeds etc to the same recipe ?
Thanks
Renu
thanks renu and nice to know. i feel good the recipe worked for you. you can add various seeds like sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and even dry fruits like raisins. and you can make pav with the same recipe. even i make at times.
Bless you Dassana
Thanks again . Yes it’s instant yeast and also it’s granules (sorry had not opened the packing ) . So I follow the first method and shall get back to you am sure with good results .And yes am avoiding anything packaged.Thanks
Renu
thank you renu 🙂
yes do follow the first method. and knead the dough very well. good to know you are avoiding packaged food. sometimes the instant yeast granules do not dissolve in the dough. i have faced this problem a couple of times. so what i do is i dissolve the yeast granules with the water & sugar and then add to the flour along with the oil/ghee/butter and salt. let me know if there are any issues. and take care.