Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread
This recipe for Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread with oats, bran, and flax is my favorite bread to make in the bread machine! And if you have a breadmake and like the idea of making healthy 100% whole wheat bread at home, you have to try this recipe!
PIN Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread to try some later!
Back in the days when I was following the original South Beach Diet, I spent weeks on a quest to create perfect 100% whole wheat bread, and this Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread was the delicious bread I came up with! I wanted to make bread from scratch using all whole wheat flour, very minimal sugar, and a fair amount of fiber.
The bread you see here is the winning recipe, after weeks of testing seven earlier versions and a lot of helpful suggestions from bloggers, relatives, and even a parent from school! If you’re a fan of making bread and like the idea of a whole wheat flour that’s easy to use, I hope you give this a try!
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- White Whole Wheat Flour (affiliate link)
- Rolled Oats; use Gluten-Free Rolled Oats (affiliate link) if needed
- Wheat Bran (affiliate link)
- Flaxseed Meal (affiliate link)
- vital wheat gluten (affiliate link)
- Dough Enhancer (affiliate link)
- salt
- water
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Agave Nectar (affiliate link)
- brown sugar
- yeast (I used Red Star Active Dry Yeast, not a special yeast for bread machines.)
Why I use White Whole Wheat Flour in the bread machine bread:
When I was focused on eating more whole grains I was a huge fan of White Whole Wheat Flour (affiliate link) which is a made from a white variety of wheat with all the same properties as regular whole wheat flour. This flour can be used almost interchangeably with white flour, and the White Whole Wheat Flour worked beautifully in this Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread. Here’s more information about white whole wheat flour if you’re not familiar with it.
Can you use sweetener in this Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread?
I know some people might raise their eyebrows when they see agave nectar and brown sugar listed in the ingredients here. There isn’t a lot of either of those ingredients, but they’re needed to “feed” the yeast so it will rise so I don’t recommend replacing them with sweetener.
Is the Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread low in carbs?
This tasty bread made with 100% whole wheat flour has 19 net carbs per slice. If you want low-carb bread check out low-carb and gluten-free Savory Almond Flour Bread or Olive Bread.
What breadmaker did I use for Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread?
I’m a long time fan of the Oster Bread Machine (affiliate link) and that’s the one I used for this recipe.
How to Make Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread :
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- My bread started with White Whole Wheat Flour, which is a whole grain flour made from a white variety of wheat. This flour can be substituted for white flour in many recipes.
- You can use whole oatmeal, but I like the flavor of oats but not the look of oatmeal flakes in the bread, so I grind oatmeal in the food processor. (I keep this in the freezer and often use it in recipes instead of bread crumbs.)
- Follow directions for your bread machine, but in my machine you add the liquid ingredients first. I combined the lukewarm water, agave nectar, olive oil, and a tiny bit of brown sugar before I put it in the machine. (I used the measuring spoon to stir, eliminating the need to dirty another spoon.)
- I mixed white whole wheat flour, ground oatmeal, wheat bran, flaxseed meal (affiliate link), vital wheat gluten, dough enhancer, and salt in advance, so it was ready to pour in as soon as I added the liquid.
- When you make bread in a machine, you need to watch during the first mixing and make sure the bread forms a ball like this.
- Depending on the humidity where you live, you may need to add more water or flour (one tablespoon at a time) during this initial mixing.
- I thought this bread was completely a winner! Serve the tasty bread hot, of course!
More Recipes with White Whole Wheat Flour:
- White Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil
- Sugar-Free Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
- Sugar-Free Whole Wheat Brownies
Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread
This Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread with Oats, Bran, and Flax makes delicious homemade bread, perfect for a cold day!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients - Mix in a bowl:
- 2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup ground rolled oats (oatmeal ground in a food processor, or use 1 cup whole oatmeal)
- 1/3 cup wheat bran
- 2 T flaxseed meal
- 2 T vital wheat gluten
- 1 T dough enhancer
- 1 tsp. salt
Wet Ingredients and sweeteners – Mix in measuring cup:
- 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 T agave nectar
- 2 tsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. yeast (I used Red Star Active Dry Yeast, not a special yeast for bread machines.)
Instructions
- Follow directions for your bread machine.
- In my Oster Bread Machine (affiliate link) I put the liquid in first, followed by the dry ingredients I mixed in the bowl.
- Then I make a small well in the flour and put the yeast (affiliate link) in that. I used the whole wheat setting on the machine.
- Watch bread while it goes through the first mixing cycle, and if it doesn’t form a ball you may need to add either more flour or water, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should make a firm ball and be only slightly sticky.
- If you’re going to be taking photos of the bread for your food blog, you may want to take the dough out of the machine right before the final rise and gently fold sides under to make a loaf with a smooth top. When I didn’t do that, I still had a tasty bread but the top wasn’t as well-shaped.
- My bread machine takes 3 hours 40 minutes for the whole wheat cycle. Bread is delicious hot or cold, and also makes great toast.
Notes
I used the following dry ingredients for this recipe: White Whole Wheat Flour, rolled oats, wheat bran, flaxseed meal, vital wheat gluten, dough enhancer (affiliate links).
Recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 136Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 0mgSodium 202mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 4gSugar 2gProtein 6g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread is a great choice for phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. This bread has 19 net carbs per slice, which is probably high in carbs for traditional low-carb diets.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Desserts and Baking to find more ideas like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for 100% whole wheat bread made in the bread machine was first posted in 2009, after lots of experimenting to get a bread that would work for the original South Beach Diet! The recipe was last updated with more information in 2024.
93 Comments on “Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread”
Hi Kalyn. Thank you for this awesome recipe. Made it twice since I first came across the recipe a week ago. For the first loaf, I followed the recipe except I substituted honey for the agave nectar, added l/4c more water as the dough as too dry and left out the bread enhancer as I didn’t have any. The bread turn out great. It so flavorful and delicious. For the second loaf, I made the same recipe adjustments, used the machine to make the dough, finished the final rise in a loaf pan and baked it in oven. Shared the beautiful loaf with a friend and she couldn’t stop raving about it.
Thanks for that kind feedback. I haven’t made this myself for quite a while so it’s not to get confirmation that it worked well.
10/15/20 This is in the bread machine. Used Anthony’s Premium Dry Malt Powder Diastatic. I’m not sure if this is the same thing as bread enhancer but saw in recipes for Sour Dough Bread and used instead of Bread Enhancer. Also used honey instead of Agave Nectar. Otherwise followed as written. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I will be curious to see, I haven’t heard of that powder you used. I hope it works.
This seriously sounds like my dream loaf of bread! I can’t wait to give it a try!
Thanks Liz, so glad you like it!
Hi Kalyn – Thanks so much! I have been having whole grain breads for quite sometime now – buy it from the local bakery. But really really have been wanting to make my own whole grain bread – thanks for the wonderful inspiration…
Thanks Emily, hope you enjoy!
Thanks very much, it should be very delicious, I like whole wheat, too, just cann't to do it for my family.
Hope you like it!
My dough is in the bread maker. I discovered that I didn't have any wheat bran, but since I was grinding my own wheat, I am hoping there will be enough bran still in there to make up for it. My family loves our usual wheat bread recipe, but I'm always happy to try out a new one! Thanks.
I think dough enhancer makes a big difference with bread that uses while wheat flour; I would try it with that. (Just google, can order it online I'm sure.)
Kalyn, thanks for the recipe! I know I must have done something wrong because when my machine was at the "rise" stage, the dough was mostly clumped over on one side and seemed too wet. I added some more flour and it turned out all right but I think not as good as it was supposed to. I am using a Zojirushi and I put it on the whole wheat cycle and I did not add dough enhancer.
Should I get some of that? Anything standing out to you as problematic? Thanks again!
Stacey, so glad you liked it!
This is one of the best whole wheat breads that I have made and I've tried tons of them. It has a nice soft texture. I used wheat germ instead of bran and honey instead of agave nectar because that's what I had here.
Sorry, but I wouldn't know how to tell you to make this without a bread machine. It might work if you know the procedure, but I haven't made bread that way and can't provide any help.
I just discovered your blog. Thanks for all the good recipes. I would like to try the 100% whole wheat bread with oats, brand and flax seed. Can I make it without a bread machine. I gave mine away
February 25, 2011
new
I used Google Translate to read the previous message:
Greetings from Sweden what a wonderful food blog will try to cook some recipes. anita birgitta
Thanks Anita Birgitta, and welcome.
hälsningar från sweden vilken underbar mat blogg ska prova att laga några recept. anitabirgitta
Thanks Rose. Not 100% sure if this is what you're asking, but I just loosely scoop out the 2 tsp. brown sugar.
question…do you use packed brown sugar?? enjoy your site!
Michelle, that's great. So glad the recipe is working for you.
I contacted Robin Hood regarding their bread flour and it is indeed 100% whole wheat bread flour and not a blend! 🙂 I made another loaf with agave and brown sugar with the additions of dry milk and soy lecithin in place of enhancer and it turned out beautiful! Thanks again for a great recipe.
Michelle, from what I can tell from their website, that flour looks like it would be okay. I wouldn't worry too much about the honey in a whole loaf of bread, but I'd use agave nectar if you have it.
I'm in Canada, so I can't get white whole wheat flour. I use Robin Hood's Best for bread whole wheat flour. http://www.robinhood.ca/product.details.asp?pid=197&prodcid=44
I just looked at the ingredients listed and it says whole wheat flour, ascorbic acid, and other names to enhance dough. I am hoping that it is 100% whole wheat. I will contact Robin Hood to ask. I bought it out of curiosity way before SBD. (I love trying different products).
Thanks for the honey update! The book I borrowed from the library was pretty old and I think it mentioned honey sparingly but it doesn't matter, as I only had a sliver of bread while my 3 kids and hubby ate the whole loaf yesterday! Will try make another one today with agave. 🙂
Michelle good to know that it will work with regular whole wheat flour. Is "whole wheat bread flour" 100% whole wheat (I haven't heard of that before and if it's a blend of white flour and whole wheat flour as many breads use that claim to be whole wheat, that wouldn't be good for South Beach.)
The latest book lists honey under "Phase Two Foods to Avoid or eat Rarely" so I wouldn't use it in the bread if it was me.
This bread is wonderful! I just wanted let you know that whole wheat bread flour works in place of white whole wheat. I didn't have gluten and dough enhancer, so I added 1 Tbsp dry skim milk powder and 1 Tbsp soy lecithin granules to the bread machine. I was bad and used 1.5Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp honey in place of olive oil and sweeteners. I will try olive oil and agave next time. Is honey is OK if used sparingly for phase 2? Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
Sara, I haven't used whole flax seed, but I'd be tempted to put it in the food processor and grind a little.
I think I will try this without the dough enhancer. I have flax seed but not flaxseed meal. Do you think that I could substitute?
The bagels turned out wonderful. I used the directions from http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/recipes/dough-recipes/5050-bagels.php with your recipe. I would send your a picture of them but I am not sure how to do that.
Jan, glad you liked it. I don't know anything about making bagels, but I'd love to hear how it turns out.
I made this recipe on Sunday with my new Mother's Day bread machine and it was awesome! Today I am going to try making bagels with it 🙂
Very interesting! I haven't tried that but I like the sound of it.
We've been using a mix of about 70/30 whole wheat flour with almond meal in our bread machine and the bread comes out wonderfully soft and moist. We're still experimenting!
EB, I think both those ingredients really add to the rising with the 100% whole wheat flour. The good news is you only use a small amount, so after you buy them you can make lots of bread!
I did it without the wheat gluten and dough enhancer as I didn't have either and was tired of running to the store for ingredients I knew I didn't have, then ingredients I thought I had but didn't….. Big ol' Fail. Not a good thing. Oh well, another trip to the store!
I honestly have no idea if the recipe will work without the dough enhancer. It's something that aids in rising for whole wheat bread flour. The one I have lists whey, soy milk, soy lechithin, modified corn starch, vitamin C powder, and citric acid for ingredients.
You're welcome to link to the recipe, thanks.
Thank you for this recipe I am going to make it soon. I had a questions though, if I don't have the dough enhancer can I just leave it out or is there a substitute? After looking on line for what are the ingredients(in the substitute) I would prefer not to add it.
Thank you again and great recipe.
P.s and may I link this recipe to my blog?
Wow, thanks for the nice feedback. I do think that the word will continue to grow in favor of low-glycemic eating. My own doctor asks me regularly for business cards and recommends this way of eating to many of his patients.
I just wanted to add another comment about this great recipe. Thank you Kalyn for introducing me to agave nectar. Wow, this stuff is fabulous. I am using it in our sweet tea now with great results. Oddly enough, I am noticing that not a lot of folks are aware of these low-glycemic, low-carb options for food preparation. My endocrinologist definitely is not! She is not even aware of Stevia. Your website is a wonderful resource for those of us doing the South Beach-type eating plan. Keep up the great work!
Pugmom, glad it worked for you! I need to make some around here too.
I just made this bread today and it turned out great. I didn't have any dough enhancer (could not find any locally) but it was still a great bread. Very dense and chewy and flavorful. Will try to find the dough enhancer next time around but definitely will make again.
Pat, I'm not sure how you would make it a 2 pound loaf, but I'd assume you can just add 1/3 more of each ingredient and it would make a slightly bigger loaf. You'd have to experiment to see how it works. I'm not much of a baker so I can't tell you if you would increase each ingredient equally, but I'd love to hear how it works if you try it!
Question – How do you make this a 2lb. loaf?? Love it!!!
Anonymous, the link in this post goes to the store in Utah where I buy it; you can order it online from them. I think there are also a lot of recipes for it online if you want to try googling it. I know most of the ingredients are things you can buy separately. The one from Kitchen Kneads has whew, soy milk, soy lechithin, modified corn starch, vitamin C powder, and citric acid. It helps the whole wheat to rise and keeps the bread softer, but I’m guessing the recipe will still work without it. (If anyone tries that, let us know.)
Anonymous, thanks so much for the nice thoughts. I liked the slightly sweet version of Irish soda bread too, but my dad liked the more soda-tasting one a lot last year.
Hi Kalyn,
Thanks to your wonderful recipes my husband and I have lost 15 pounds each since January 3rd, 2009. I search your blog daily for recipes to use and make sure I have the ingredients on hand. I like the Irish Soda Bread with Agave Nectar much better than the first recipe without it. I enjoy every meal and really appreciate the ease of South Beach using your recipes has helped our success. Thank you.
Where do I find dough enhancer? I looked in three stores in the baking section and in Trader Joe’s and wasn’t able to find it.
I don’t calculate nutritional information. One reason I chose South Beach was because you didn’t have to keep track of that kind of thing, so if you want that information you will have to calculate it yourself.
hi, do you know the nutritional info for the bread? thank you.
Amanda, I don’t really know how this will turn out with regular 100% whole wheat flour, but I’d love to hear about it if you give it a try.
Hi Kalyn! I’ve recently started reading your blog and am loving it, thank you for all the inspiration. I also recently started the SB diet, I’m about to finish Phase 1. I’m wondeirng if the 100% whole wheat flour would be ok to use in place of the white wheat flour? or does it make the bread too dense? looking forward to trying it! Thank you! -Amanda
Victoria, great to hear that it worked without the dough enhancer because I bet you’re not the only one who can’t find it. I’m going to order some online, because I’m almost out myself. Over the weekend I worked on a variation of the recipe with cracked wheat, will post that soon. Good luck on the diet. It really does work if you stick with it!
Victoria, great to hear that it worked without the dough enhancer because I bet you’re not the only one who can’t find it. I’m going to order some online, because I’m almost out myself. Over the weekend I worked on a variation of the recipe with cracked wheat, will post that soon. Good luck on the diet. It really does work if you stick with it!
Victoria, great to hear that it worked without the dough enhancer because I bet you’re not the only one who can’t find it. I’m going to order some online, because I’m almost out myself. Over the weekend I worked on a variation of the recipe with cracked wheat, will post that soon. Good luck on the diet. It really does work if you stick with it!
I made your bread yesterday w/out the dough enhancer (couldn't find any in Fitchburg, MA) It came out great! I've just finished 3 weeks on South Beach & visit your site daily, thanks so much!
Great detail, how could someone go wrong ;o) Ok maybe I could mess it up somehow :o) haha
Srivalli and Sunita, thanks. Hope you will try it.
Elizabeth, thanks for the link for more information about dough enhancers. I get mine from Kitchen Kneads, a great baking store in Salt Lake. Mmmm, goat cheese and basil, what a great idea.
The bread looks wonderful, Kalyn!
I bet it would be wonderful toasted and spread with goat’s cheese and a maybe bit of basil.
-Elizabeth
P.S. I had to google “dough enhancer” to find out what it is and what it’s for. While I was looking, I found recipes for it at recipezaar.com and ellenskitchen.com. The article dough enhancers and how to use them at breadmachinedigest.com is also really informative.
Hi Kalyn – Thanks so much! I have been having whole grain breads for quite sometime now – buy it from the local bakery. But really really have been wanting to make my own whole grain bread – thanks for the wonderful inspiration…
Sunita
that looks absolutely stunning one…great recipe kalyn..
Love that I might be inspiring some people to make bread. (Tanna, pretty funny huh?) Brooke is my neighbor who tried out some of the “reject” batches of bread! TW and Christine, I did love the bread, and considering I am so NOT a baker, I was proud that I persevered and got a good recipe.
Yowser, Kalyn! What a healthy looking bread. I’m really impressed with your high-fiber, whole wheat recipe.
Yum! This is the bread machine recipe I’ve been waiting for. I love whole wheat in the bread machine, but the addition of oats, bran and flax seed is really wonderful!
Congratulations on finally coming up with a success! Although I didn’t mind taking your “reject” at all – you can unload “rejects” at my house anytime.
That makes my day knowing you can enjoy bread again!!
Kalyn, this is right up my bread street!! I’m making pancakes tonight, but I will definately have a go at this tomorrow, need to check out similar bread mix in the supermarket.
Thank you :0)
Youve inspired me to dig out my machine! Thanks for sharing! This sounds great!
I’m certainly not well-educated enough about making bread to answer questions, but to a couple of commenters who have mentioned the vital wheat gluten, I was told that adding more gluten is pretty important when using all whole wheat flour. If anyone tries the recipe without it, please chime in and tell us how it works.
Hi Kalyn,
The bread looks fantastic and makes me almost jealous! I bake my own bread since quite some time and follow the recipe in the booklet I got … the only problem is that the breat, yummy as it is, usually looks on the top like the crater of a dead vulcano – sunken in! I am not quite sure what the reason is as I don’t open the machine during the process.
I will definitely try YOUR recipe … I always LOVE to try out something new!
I love hearty homemade bread with different grains! This looks delicious!!
Do you feel the wheat gluten is essential?
Here is the permalink for the bread recipe Trish is referring to:
whole wheat bread in a bread machine
Her recipe has less fiber than mine but it’s still a very South Beach Diet friendly bread.
Hi Kalyn…
I just posted the recipe on my blog.
http://sdifm.blogspot.com/
I hope you enjoy it.
I do not ahve all the ingedients yet, but as soon as I do I will be trying your as well.
Thank you again!
Hooray! Success! I’m a big fan of white whole wheat flour, and though I don’t have a bread machine, I’m definitely going to try adapting this bread.
What a great looking loaf of bread! I can almost taste it from here.. sigh.
I gave up my bread machine years ago, but luckily there's always a few for sale at my local thrift store for under $5. Think it's time to invest in 1 again.
(Thrift stores are also great for new looking crock pots, also under $5.)
Not that I'm cheap or anything. Oh, who am I kidding.
Thanks for the recipe, as well as the great ideas for the flour & ground oatmeal. Great idea! ;o}
Wow! I think I’ll use this recipe on my parents’ bread machine :).
This turned out fantastic! I am going to be trying a 100% ww bread tonight sans wheat gluten addition, wish me luck!
Fantastic! I saw your tweet earlier today and wanted to make sure to visit and get that recipe. Thanks for doing all the dirty work for us 🙂
Yum – looks wonderful! I find straight whole wheat can upset my stomach, but with oats and bran, I don’t think it would be a problem. I also don’t have a bread machine, but I think it would be doable without one. Thanks so much!
Kalyn, it looks like your efforts were well rewarded.
I don’t use a bread machine but I’ve taken into account your experiences and results.
You deserve another slice of bread!
Such a healthy bread, and I love the convenience of making it in a bread machine.
I, more literally, made 100% wholewheat bread yesterday. I ground my own wheat flour and added just water yeast and salt. Nothing else. And I kneaded it by hand. However, my recipe probably isn’t worth sharing 😉
I am so glad you perfected the recipe! the bread looks great!! I love all the fiber!
Dianne, isn’t the white whole wheat flour great!
Trish, don’t know if you will see t his, but would love to see your recipe if you don’t mind sharing it.
Julie, you’re welcome. That’s kind of how I felt too. And so many whole wheat breads have high fructose corn syrup, which I don’t want to eat!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have felt like my bread machine has been collecting dust over the past year since we began eating the South Beach way. I am so excited to try this!
This looks great! I have a recipe I came up with and like quite well but always looking for another option and this looks great! thank you for posting and sharing it.
Kayln, that looks great! I love white whole wheat flour and the addition of the oats looks great! I’ll have to try this!
Jenna, will check out that yeast. I work very close to there.
Katie, I haven’t tried the white whole wheat flour without using dough enhancer, so I’m not entirely sure what it does. I used it on the recommendation of my sister Sandee who says it helps whole wheat flour to rise. You can click the link and see what the ingredients are in the dough enhancer if you want to know.
That sounds great! I’ll definitely have to give this a try. I usually use the King Arthur recipe for 100% whole wheat bread (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/RecipeDisplay?RID=R548), but use 2 tablespoons of agave instead of the honey. I like the addition of oats in your recipe, though.
I’ve never used dough enhancer – does that make a big difference?
Congratulations on succeeding at this bread – I will have to try it out! It looks gorgeous and probably tastes even better.
My best bread-making tip is to use SAF yeast. It rises well, stores forever, & doesn't give the fermented taste the next day. When I am visiting Utah, I buy it at the natural food store on 5th west in Bountiful.
Sue Bette and Meeta, thanks. I was happy (finally!) with how it turned out.
jfksmom, I don’t know anything about making bread without a machine, but the times for my machine on the whole wheat cycle are:
knead: 10 min
1st rise: 25 min
second knead: 25 min
second rise: 30 min
punch down: 30 seconds
final rise: 70 min
bake: 55 min
Don’t know what the baking temperature is, sorry.
Love to hear how it works if you try making it without a machine!
This bread looks fabulous! I don’t have a bread machine – any idea how long it would need to rise/cook if I used the conventional baking method?
looks absolutely great. i too have been looking into making my own whole grain bread. thanks for the inspiration!
Congratulations! I don’t think it gets better than a successful bread recipe! I love the adjustments you’ve made with the oats and agave.