A simple, easy, and delicious soaked whole wheat bread recipe that can be incorporated into any busy person’s routine to get the most nutrition out of bread. Be sure to try my overnight Artisan bread or my homemade French bread.
We talked about bread and carbohydrates, in general, a lot in the past. And I mean, a lot.
From bleached flour to unhealthy wheat bread to the healthiest bread you can possibly make, we covered just about everything there was to talk about when it came to preparing, eating, and enjoying carbohydrates in the healthiest way possible.
I’ll admit though – learning about real food is one thing. Putting it into action is another.
We had a sourdough starter going for several months last year, making pancakes and even simple sourdough bread. But then temperatures warmed up and the starter was growing more than I could keep up with… and since it goes against every cell in my body to pour perfectly good food down the drain, the starter went into the fridge.
In order to get itself all ready to rise bread on its own, a cold sourdough starter needs to come out a day or two early to warm up and be fed. But quite frankly, I couldn’t get a grip on the timing of it all! I was always off, either too soon or too late. Still being somewhat novice at sourdough, ingredients were being wasted left and right and all I had to show for my efforts was rock-hard bread at the dinner table.
Not. Cool.
Then there was Allume in October and a two-week family vacation at Christmas… In the end, life was just a bit too busy for me to successfully keep a sourdough starter alive. I’m sure ya’ll can relate, yes?
My Soaked Whole Wheat Bread Journey
Fortunately though, we’ve got a pretty good grip on our weekly routine since the new year. Every Thursday is soup night, and with that meal comes freshly baked bread. “Bake bread” shows up just once on my weekly planner and I make sure we’re home to do it. It’s really become that simple, and effective and getting the job done!
Our long-time favorite (and still a winner) is rosemary olive oil bread. We’ve tried it every which way you can possibly imagine and it’s always delicious.
- You’ll note that recipe is not prepared in a traditional manner. There’s no soaking, no freshly ground sprouted wheat.
- It’s a throw-it-in-the-bowl-and-have-bread-ready-in-a-few-hours-no-preparation-needed type of recipe.
- It worked for me because I didn’t want the “inconvenience” of the extra five minutes it took to soak my grains on Wednesday night.
Then, a close friend of ours got really sick earlier this year.
Since we would be helping out with meals on occasion, I used Dr. Google to find out what type of foods she should eat, shouldn’t eat, what to avoid, etc., so that we could help with her health and not just her meals.
The results weren’t too far from what’s recommended for a perfectly healthy person:
- eat lots of nutrient-dense foods
- avoid refined grains and sugar
The first time we had them over for dinner, I soaked the whole grain flour overnight in an attempt to maximize every ounce of nutrition possible in her few slices of bread.
I kept this same routine for a couple of weeks – grinding grain and soaking on Wednesday afternoon, then making the bread on Thursday – and sharing small loaves with our friend.
After seeing how easy it really was, and remembering that I can’t turn a blind eye to inconvenience because I’m feeling lazy, “soak flour” has been added to my weekly planner every Wednesday.
Remember that I’m not a doctor and I am in no way saying that soaking your grains will prevent cancer. However, what I AM saying is that getting the most nutrition out of the food you eat isn’t a bad thing.
Searching for a good soaked bread recipe didn’t yield many results, so I turned back to my trusty Nourishing Traditions instead. Sally Fallon offers a recipe on page 493 called “Yeasted Buttermilk Bread” that seemed easy enough, and with just one cup of unbleached white flour (and four cups of whole grain flour), it met our goal of eating more whole grains too!
Here’s What You Need
- whole wheat flour
- whey or buttermilk, or yogurt or kefir
- butter
- warm water
- active dry yeast
- honey
- salt
- baking soda
- unbleached white flour, plus more for dusting
- butter, for greasing loaf pans
Psst! If you’re going to add salt, I highly recommend Ava Jane’s Kitchen. You may think all salt is created equal, but unfortunately, 90% of the salt produced around the world contains microplastics (gross, right?). Ava Jane’s Kitchen is an exception. Their salt is 100% microplastic-free, and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a bag for just 1¢!! (Get your penny bag of salt on this page.)
How to Make This Soaked Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Step 1. In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the whole wheat flour, whey/buttermilk/yogurt/kefir, and melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon until a large ball of dough forms, or mix at medium-low speed for about 60 seconds. Add an additional liquid, one tablespoon at a time, if the dough seems overly dry. Knead to combine well.
Step 2. Cover with a towel and let it sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours, but at least overnight.
Step 3. When you’re ready to make bread, combine warm water, yeast, and honey in a small mug or measuring cup and allow the yeast to bloom for 5 minutes.
Step 4. Add the water/yeast/honey mixture to the soaked flour. Then, add the salt and baking soda to the soaked flour and knead by hand, or mix at medium-low speed, until the ingredients are well incorporated.
Step 5. Add 1 cup unbleached flour and knead by hand, or at medium speed, for a full 10 minutes. Add additional flour 1 Tbsp at a time if the dough is sticky past the 5-minute mark.
Step 6. Cover with a towel and let it rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
Step 7. Dust your working surface and pour the dough on top. Punch down lightly and divide into two equal pieces.
Step 8. Working with one piece at a time, knead by hand for 30 seconds and shape into a rectangle. Starting at the short edge, roll the dough up tightly and place into a well-buttered loaf pan, using either a 9″x5″ pan, or an 8″x4″ pan, or one of each.
Step 9. Cover both loaves with a towel and let them rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Step 10. Preheat oven to 350F and bake loaves for 25-30 minutes, until the outside is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Allow cooling on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Soaked Grain Bread FAQs
When you do an overnight soak it softens the grains. Doing so will break down some of their tough starches and give them time to absorb moisture. This makes the grains easy to work with the following day.
If you find yourself with a crumbly loaf, that means that there was not enough water or there was too much flour was used. Another reason this happened could be that the dough was not kneaded enough.
You can do a lot with soaked wheat! You can add it to baked goods, a granola bar recipe, casseroles, and even yogurt!
Conclusion
This recipe is my rendition of Ms. Fallon’s after many, many weeks of this bread being included on our weekly menu.
- I’ve tested it with whole wheat, spelt, oat, and even Kashi flour (which I don’t recommend, lol).
- I’ve subbed homemade yogurt, kefir, and whey for the buttermilk in the original recipe, after trying multiple variations of homemade buttermilk first of course.
- In the end, I’ve found my favorite combination, but this recipe adapts well to just about anything you throw its way. It’s perfect for soup night, holds up well to grilled sandwiches a couple of days later, and is lighter than most whole wheat bread recipes.
Of course, the pickiest eaters will notice the distinct taste of wheat, but see my additional tips after the recipe for a simple way to sneak this whole grain past them too!
More Soaked Whole Wheat Bread Recipe Tips
- My favorite combination of flour is 2 1/2 cups of freshly ground whole wheat and 1 1/2 cups of freshly ground spelt.
- Spelt is much lighter in flavor than wheat, tastes much like white flour and Mr. Crumbs has said numerous times that he prefers spelt over wheat. In fact, I’ve used spelt in place of the one cup of white flour and it’s come out just as delicious. Remember that you can grind your own flour without a mill with this tutorial if you don’t have one.
- My favorite soaking medium is whey, but 1/2 cup kefir and 1/2 cup milk are a close second place (mostly because they’re both almost always on-hand).
- We’ve tried this bread using granulated sugar in place of the honey, but I think the honey adds a hint of sweetness that really complements the whole grains. Use what you have!
- Don’t skip the butter and substitute at your own risk. 😉
More Homemade Bread Recipes
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Sign up for my FREE Crush Inflation Challenge and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!Easy & Delicious Soaked Whole Wheat Bread
A simple, easy, and delicious soaked whole wheat bread recipe that can be incorporated into any busy person’s routine to get the most nutrition out of bread. Be sure to try my overnight Artisan bread or my homemade French bread.
- Prep Time: 16 hours 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 16 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Breads
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole wheat flour*
- 1 cup whey or buttermilk, OR 1/2 cup yogurt or kefir mixed with 1/2 cup whole milk, plus 2-4 Tbsp if needed
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup warm water (105F-110F)
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unbleached white flour, plus more for dusting
- butter, for greasing loaf pans
Instructions
- In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the whole wheat flour, whey/buttermilk/yogurt/kefir, and melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon until a large ball of dough forms, or mix at medium-low speed for about 60 seconds. Add an additional liquid, one tablespoon at a time, if the dough seems overly dry. Knead to combine well.
- Cover with a towel and let it sit at room temperature 12-24 hours, but at least overnight.
- When you’re ready to make bread, combine warm water, yeast, and honey in a small mug or measuring cup and allow the yeast to bloom for 5 minutes.
- Add the water/yeast/honey mixture to the soaked flour.
- Add the salt and baking soda to the soaked flour and knead by hand, or mix at medium-low speed, until the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Add 1 cup unbleached flour and knead by hand, or at medium speed, for a full 10 minutes. Add additional flour 1 Tbsp at a time if the dough is sticky past the 5 minute mark.
- Cover with a towel and let it rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
- Dust your working surface and pour dough on top. Punch down lightly and divide into two equal pieces.
- Working with one piece at a time, knead by hand for 30 seconds and shape into a rectangle.
- Starting at the short edge, roll the dough up tightly and place into a well-buttered loaf pan, using either a 9″x5″ pan, or an 8″x4″ pan, or one of each.
- Cover both loaves with a towel and let them rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes, until the outside is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
- Allow to cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Notes
* You can substitute up to half of the whole wheat flour with another whole grain, such as spelt or kamut. However, it is best to use at least 2 cups of whole wheat flour.
Nutrition
- Calories: 635
Debra Jacobs
I just found this recipe too, I am struggling with sourdough as well so will try this as I grind my own flour as well so i like
whole wheat bread, also I love bread with the crunch of seed do you think it would work as well with seeds added, and when would they go in and how much would I add, 1/2 cup?
Tiffany
I haven’t tried it with seeds Debra, but I bet it would be good sprinkled on top!
Sonia
My hubby is dairy free. Any suggestions on what I could use to soak the bread? Do you think apple cider vinegar or lemon juice would work?
Tiffany
Yes! Use 1 Tbsp per cup of liquid. 🙂
Gabby
Thanks for keeping this recipe up for so many years, Tiffany : ) I’ve got it saved as a pdf after trying it and FINALLY making a bread loaf that wasn’t a brick. Yay!
I wanted to tell you how it worked out for me despite my mistakes in case it helps you answer someone else’s questions. My change was I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and the rest was unbleached bread flour, which worked quite well for gluteny-ness. My mistake was in prepping the dough for soaking and then not being able to make it into bread for 4 days because I got sick overnight. I kept it covered in the fridge after 24 hours of soaking, but because I didn’t cover with plastic wrap it had this horribly dry crusty layer to it : ( It was also cold from the fridge, so I stuck it in the oven on 170 with about a quarter or third cup of water in with it (added another quarter cup partway through) to warm and (attempt to) rehydrate it. The poor thing kind of rehydrated, and I went through the recipe from there.
Thankfully, the bread turned out great! I had lots of little hard lumps of dried flour that kept coming to the surface as I kneaded it, but I brushed them off as I went and the rest of the dough behaved better than anything else I had done before (Nourishing Traditions is great, but I was SO grateful for your tweaked recipe and helpful notes).
Michelle Sanders
I tried this recipe and found that the dough was really dense and stuck together. I got it to rise a little but left it an extra hour and it did not rise much more.
About to bake so we will see! Did I miss something? I mixed the first part by hand and the next in my mixer. And the yeast did bloom, so it seemed fine.
Tiffany
The loaves should definitely rise in both instances Michelle. Did you put the dough in a warm spot? Or is the temperature of the house on the cool side?
Michelle Sanders
Yes the house is on the cold side! Saving money! 😜
My second batch rose a little more but again I am still struggling to get it to rise more than maybe a 1/4 bigger.
Meghan
I don’t know how I managed to just find this recipe two days ago, but I baked my loaves today and I can say that this is the softest, best tasting wheat bread recipe I have ever made. It was bordering on TOO soft! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! We love our Man Bread but this will be my go-to sandwich loaf from now on!
Tiffany
Better late than never! You’re very welcome. 🙂
Beth
Just made this bread today. Delicious! Turned out perfect! Thanks for the recipe.
Tiffany
You’re very welcome!
Laura
How many loaves does the recipe make?
Thanks!
Tiffany
Two!
Anita Burns
Thank you for a great blog post. I not only make my own bread, I teach bread baking–white, whole wheat, spelt, kamut, einkorn, you name it. The best flour I have ever use is from Great River 7 grain bread flour – available on Amazon. Spelt has finicky gluten, and nothing but wheat has gluten strong enough or plentiful enough for really great bread. Sourdough is a nightmare no matter how you look at a it.
When I discovered soaked grains, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. What a miracle. My husband has health issues and the anti-nutrients in whole grain flour caused him no end of troubles. Only white flour was digestible (fewer anti-nutrients0. Soaking neutralizes many of these anti-nutrients. The recipe I developed has some high-quality white bread flour and a tablespoon of gluten flour, honey to maintain freshness longer, either a 1/2 cup sour dough stater or yogurt (any high acid liquid), a touch of pink salt, and rapid rise yeast. The bulk of the ingredients is either fresh ground whole wheat and spelt/kamut mix, or the 7-grain Great River Flour. 25 pound bag is $42 right now, Prime. I keep it in 4 cup measurements in the freezer to maintain freshness.
I’m currently working on how to offer soaked grain bread baking to my teaching agenda. So glad you discovered it, too. The bread stays fresh for a long time, it is is stretchy and soft enough for hearty sandwiches, and makes great toast.
I sometimes add a little cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and homemade raisins. The cinnamon isn’t enough to taste, but it helps with blood sugar control and shelf-life of the bread. A great way to make a sweeter, cinnamon/raisin loaf is to add addition sweetener as Stevia. 1/4 cup honey and the stevia equivalent of a couple tablespoons sugar. An egg, added helps the crumb and adds protein. Whey is also wonderful as an addition to the liquid ingredient.
Again thanks for posting this.
Ellie
Wow! That’s a lot of good advice! Do you teach your bread baking class online or in person?
Sarah Doggett
Someone may have asked this, but can you sub a different acid– non dairy–like lemon juice or acv?
Tiffany
Absolutely Sarah – you can use either of the subs you suggested. 🙂
Julie
Great recipe. I made it in my bread machine, and it came out wonderfully. I’m going to try it with ww and spelt as you suggest, too.
Sometimes I struggle to time my homemade bread just right with the finishing up of the last loaf. I recently had an idea to keep a “French toast” bag in the freezer…I’ll aim to have the next loaf ready before we finish the current one and just throw the last couple slices in a bag and make a batch of French toast when it gets full.
Tiffany
That’s a really good idea Julie!!
Adriane Suhayda
I ended up just shaping them into dinner rolls like Nourishing Traditions suggests. I’ve had so many failed bread attempts that I don’t want to risk another just yet! I noticed that any bun recipes I come across called for eggs so think I’d get better results trying to adapt a non soaked version. I’m going to keep searching for a soaked recipe though.
You mentioned you haven’t made this bread in awhile. What recipe are you currently using? Just curious…
Tiffany
I thought about the egg issue too Adrianne, because my own bun recipe uses eggs (I thin it helps to retain shape? B/c you use it in cinnamon rolls too…) Anyway, we’ve been making Man Bread lately, simply because it’s done in 90 minutes. Moving and a busy (hot) summer has put baking in general on the back burner! But I do have lots of whole grain in the pantry, so I anticipate more soaked recipes and/or NEW recipes in the future!
Adriane Suhayda
Any thoughts about shaping half of the dough into hamburger buns? I’m trying to find a good recipe for soaked buns!
Tiffany
Hmmm. I’m not sure that would work, but it might. It’s been awhile since I’ve made this, but if the dough isn’t too wet, it’s worth a shot. That will be the sign – whether the dough can be shaped or not – because in a loaf pan, it can only go up. Would you let us know if it works?
Adriane Suhayda
I’m seriously late to this post but I’m gonna comment anyways! I have been trying all summer to make a loaf of whole wheat sourdough that actually tastes good and it’s been one disappointment after another! The crust is always super hard and I just can’t find a way to get a mild tasting loaf. I don’t even want to think about how much flour I’ve wasted!
I’m throwing in the towel at my starter (for now!) and soaking the flour for this recipe tonight! I have never made any of the Nourishing Traditions bread recipes and I’m hoping this turns out better than the Sourdough. Based on the comments, I think I’m on the right track.
Do you have any good recipes for a whole grain sourdough that kids might like? Or any tips on making that type of bread more edible in general?
Victoria
This is really good bread. It is very forgiving as I think I started out with the dough a little too dry. I tried making the last part of it in my breadmaker as someone commented that she did. It turned out very good and we love the taste and soft moist texture. I tried to do sourdough and never could find a bread recipe that we really liked. I felt like I was always wasting flour with the constant feedings and eventually I think my starter went off so I threw it out. The only thing I was able to make with the sourdough starter that was good was English muffins but the last time I made them they didn’t rise. So I gave up and now I need to find a good soaked flour English muffin recipe.
Cara Richardson
My bread is in the first rising stage and I think it’s going to work but I have a question about the flour. After the soak I added the yeast mixture and salt and then was only able to add about 1/4 cup white flour before it seemed like the bread was going to be to dense if I kept adding more. I kneaded by hand for 10 minutes and it never felt sticky or seemed to need more flour. Has anyone else ever had this happen?
Tiffany
If you only needed 1/4 cup flour, I’d say you’re good (of course, it depends on how it turned out!). Environment can effect bread, so all bread recipes will vary slightly. 🙂
Valerie
I am over the top excited to find this recipe! I just can’t jump on the sourdough bandwagon right now, mostly because of the heat ( I live in Africa, it’s usually 90 degrees in my house). I’ve recently found a source of whole wheat, and I can’t wait to try this! Thank you for all the hard work and experimentation you did to find out this is possible!
Natalie
Hi Tiffany! My dough is pretty crumbly and it’s almost impossible to knead it in the stand mixer. The hook just digs in and breaks up the dough rather than forming a nice ball. Any ideas for what I’m doing wrong?
Tiffany
Hmmm… This usually comes together after 10 minutes of kneading. I would try adding 1 Tbsp of water every 2-3 minutes of kneading. It could be the environment causing the issue.
Allison
Tiffany, I’m currently soaking my grains, as you specified, for the first time and I’m super excited! However the flour, butter and yogurt+milk mixture seems to have made a ball of dough that’s a little like playdough. Is that the consistency is supposed to be? And will it soften enough to add the other ingredients when the time comes?
Is it too dry? I used freshly ground wheat, is that soaking up too much of the liquid? Thanks for your help!
Tiffany
Is the consistency right – yes! It’s very different from regular dough when you first mix, but keep on with the recipe and you’ll be okay!
Amber
Hi! Looking forward to trying this. When you say Kefir, does it have to be milk kefir, or can it be water kefir? My son has a dairy allergy. Any thoughts on how to adapt this?
Thanks!
Tiffany
For dairy allergies I’d soak with lemon juice or ACV – 1 Tbsp to 1 cup of water. 🙂
Bettina
The best bread I have ever baked! The last time I tried it in my bread machine; in the evening I quickly let the flour and butter mix with kefir (my kefir was on a runnier side and so I didn`t think it was necessary to mix with water), and let it soak covered overnight in the machine. In the morning, I directly added the other ingredients to the bread machine, turned it on “quick” because I was in a hurry, and the bread came out as great as from the oven, maybe even a little bit softer! Thank you for the great recipe!! 🙂
Greetings from Vienna, Bettina
Tiffany
I’m so glad you liked it Bettina! Great ingenuity for adapting to use your bread machine!