Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (2024)

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Make your own whole wheat sourdough bread with this simple sourdough bread recipe. Go beyond the mystique of sourdough and have success with this basic, tasty, and delicious bread.

Sourdough Bread Recipe

Making sourdough bread is a slow-food process. While the instructions may seem complicated, it doesn’t really take a lot of effort to bake a sourdough bread recipe. But it does take time. Time for the bread to rise. Time for the flavors to develop. Time for the structure to ripen.

If you don’t yet have a sourdough starter, this loaf will take a week to make. If you have a starter to draw from plan to mix the preferment the night before. In the morning you’ll make the sourdough bread dough, let it rise and you’ll have hot bread for dinner. Once you taste it, though, it will be worth the wait.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (1)

Sourdough is made in 3 stages. First, the starter is created. Second, a pre-ferment is made using the sourdough. Then a bread dough is made using a portion of the pre-ferment.

If you have an older sourdough, that hasn’t been used for a while, test its potency by feeding it 2 tbsp. of flour and 2 tbsp. of warm water. If the sourdough is active, your dough will froth and bubble within 12 hours. If it bubbles you can proceed to the pre-ferment recipe. If it seems inactive, begin with fresh flour and fresh water in a clean jar and catch a new starter. There are healthy probiotics in the air of your home, and on the outside of the grain that the flour is made from. Using freshly ground flour ensures that the microbes that are in your starter are fresh, active, and of the correct nature to give you a healthy ferment. See this post for more on the microbes.

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Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (2)

Whole wheat sourdough bread recipe

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  • Author: Chris Dalziel
  • Prep Time: 3 hours
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
  • Yield: 1 sourdough loaf 1x
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking
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Description

Perfect sourdough bread requires lots of waiting time, for the ferment and flavors to develop. The hand’s on requirement is only a little more than the average bread recipe. The extra effort is well worth the complex flavor of fresh sourdough bread.

Ingredients

Scale

Sourdough Pre-Ferment

  • ¼ cup sourdough starter
  • ½ cup water, warm
  • 1 ½ cups of flour, organic whole wheat
  • 1 tsp. Himalayan salt
  • Plus flour and water to replenish the sourdough starter in the jar

Sourdough Bread

  • 1 ¼ cup water, warm
  • 3 cups flour, whole wheat
  • plus ½ cup of flour for kneading
  • ½ cup of pre-ferment dough
  • 1 tsp. Himalayan salt
  • 1/8th tsp. of bakers yeast
  • 1 tbsp. of olive oil

Instructions

For the pre-ferment:

  • Remove the sourdough starter from the jar and put it into a mixing bowl. Do not wash the jar.
  • Replace the starter in the jar with 2 tbsp. of whole wheat flour and 2 tbsp. of water. Stir well.
  • Place the lid on loosely and set aside, to preserve your sourdough starter.
  • Put warm water in a bowl.
  • Add flour, salt, and sourdough starter.
  • Mix on low speed for 2 minutes until well combined into shaggy, moist dough.
  • Cover the bowl with a tight fitting lid and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Sourdough Bread:

  • Combine water, whole wheat flour, pre-ferment dough, yeast, olive oil, and salt in a bowl.
  • Mix on low with a dough hook, until well combined.
  • Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and makes a slapping sound against the sides of the bowl. The sides of the bowl will be clean. This will take about 4 minutes.
  • The dough will be moist. Less flour is better than too much flour.
  • Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid.
  • Allow to rise for a 4 to 6 hours.
  • Punch down and knead in a scant amount of flour so that dough can be handled without messing up your fingers.
  • Form the dough into an oval loaf.
  • Place the dough on a greased baking sheet.
  • Slice the top to allow for rise.
  • Cover with a cloth and allow to rise about 45 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 450°F. Place a shallow pan of water into the oven during the preheating time to create steam in the oven.
  • Place the risen loaf in the oven. Splash a ¼ cup of water into the floor of the oven. Quickly close the oven door.
  • Bake the loaf for 40 minutes until the loaf is well browned. It will rise in the centre where the loaf was sliced.

Recipe Card powered byWhole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (3)

Make the whole wheat sourdough starter

Just flour and water

(Yield: ¼ cup of sourdough starter)

For your sourdough bread recipe, you’ll need to start with the starter. Since sourdough is just flour and water, it’s important to use the highest quality of flour when you begin your starter. The flour should be fresh, unbleached, whole wheat flour. Ideally you would mill the whole wheat berries from Hard Red Winter Wheat, just before you use it. This is the grain mill I use. If you are buying already milled flour, get the freshest flour possible, from a local mill or online from Bob’s Red Mill. The water should be luke warm, and filtered of any chemicals that will inhibit the good microbes from invading the flour. Don’t use chorinated tap water for this recipe.

If you have a sourdough starter already, skip to the pre-ferment recipe, below. If you are starting with nothing but the flour, begin here. If the sourdough starter that you have is inactive, start here, as well.

Mix 1 tbsp. freshly ground whole wheat flour and 1 tbsp. water. Put it in a pint jar and cover with a loose fitting lid.

Leave it 24 hours. Dump the dough and without washing the jar, add 1tbsp. of whole wheat flour and 1 tbsp. of water back into the jar. Mix well. Put the lid back on. Wait.

Repeat this every day for 5 days. On the 5th day add 2 tbsp. of whole wheat flour and 2 tbsp. of water to the dough, do not dump the dough. Leave the dough for 12 hours. Your sourdough starter should be bubbly.

My sourdough starter smelled of apples, rather than like the sourdough I made with rye flour. This isn’t a problem. If the dough isn’t bubbly, continue dumping the batter and adding flour and water until your dough is bubbly. If this fails after a week, the fault is with your flour. Get freshly milled whole wheat flour and start again on day 1.

At this stage, you can add flour and water in equal parts to expand your sourdough starter, anytime you need more.

To keep your starter healthy, it should be fed once every 48 hours if left at room temperature or once a week if refrigerated. To feed your starter remove 1 tablespoon of starter. Replace with 1 tablespoon each of flour and water. Stir well. Replace the lid, loosely to allow gas to escape.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (4)

Make the sourdough pre-ferment

(Yield: enough pre-ferment for 3 loaves of sourdough bread)

Ingredients:

¼ cup sourdough starter

½ cup warm water

1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour

1 tsp. Himalayan salt

Plus flour and water to replenish the sourdough starter in the jar

Method:

Remove the sourdough starter from the jar and put it into a mixing bowl. Do not wash the jar. Replace the starter in the jar with 2 tbsp. of whole wheat flour and 2 tbsp. of water. Stir well. Place the lid on loosely and set aside, to preserve your sourdough starter.

Put warm water in a bowl. Add flour, salt, and sourdough starter. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes until well combined into shaggy, moist dough.

Cover the bowl with a tight fitting lid and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (5)

Rustic Whole Wheat Sourdough Batard

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup warm water

3 cups of whole wheat flour plus ½ cup of flour for kneading

½ cup of pre-ferment dough

1 tsp. of Himalayan salt

1/8th tsp. of active dry yeast

1 tbsp. of virgin olive oil

Method:

Combine water, whole wheat flour, pre-ferment dough, yeast, olive oil, and salt in a bowl. Mix on low with a dough hook, until well combined.

Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and makes a slapping sound against the sides of the bowl. The sides of the bowl will be clean. This will take about 4 minutes. The dough will be moist. Less flour is better than too much flour.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid. I use the lid that come with my Kitchen Aid mixer.

Allow to rise for a 4 to 6 hours. Punch down and knead in a scant amount of flour so that dough can be handled without messing up your fingers.

Form the dough into an oval loaf. Place the dough on a greased baking sheet. Slice the top to allow for rise. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place a shallow pan of water into the oven during the preheating time to create steam in the oven.

Place the risen loaf in the oven. Splash a ¼ cup of water into the floor of the oven. Quickly close the oven door.

Bake the loaf for 40 minutes until the loaf is well browned. It will rise in the centre where the loaf was sliced.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (6)

Test doneness

When the loaf is done the crust will be brown and the bottom of the loaf will sound hollow when tapped.

The perfect batard rises high in the centre of the loaf with a ragged, crisp edge. It’s beautiful.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (7)

I’ve struggled for a long time to make a good whole wheat sourdough bread. I could get a passable bread using all white flour but my whole wheat sourdough was a flop. Either the loaf would hardly rise and be more like a brick door stop, or the loaf would be too loose and spread sideways on the baking sheet, more like focaccia than a loaf of bread.

I’ve been baking all my own whole grain bread for over 30 years. I’ve learned a lot I didn’t know before. Sourdough baking has different rules than baking with Baker’s yeast. But even when you apply all the rules perfectly, successful sourdough baking comes from hands on experience, and learning how the dough should look and feel. It’s as much art as science.

I’m pleased with how my sourdough bread recipes are turning out now. Pleased enough to share pictures with you. I didn’t share all the failures, but there were a few. In fact I almost gave up completely before taking a class. If you are struggling with getting wonderful, tall, crusty, and flavourful sourdough loaves this a class might help you too.

Use your sourdough starter:

Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes

Sourdough tortillas , Buttery Sourdough Crackers, and Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread from Quinn at Reformation Acres

Cheesy Garlic Sourdough Crackers, Sourdough Brownies, and Sourdough Cookies from Laurie at Common Sense Homesteading

No Knead Sourdough Bread from Colleen Codekas at Grow, Forage, Cook, Ferment

Sourdough Breakfast Pitas from Tessa at Homestead Lady

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is whole wheat good for sourdough? ›

Yes, freshly-milled whole-grain flour can be used for this sourdough bread recipe. Use your home grain mill to mill whole wheat berries into the finest flour possible. If available, I recommend using Yecora Rojo hard red wheat berries.

Which bread is healthier sourdough or 100% whole wheat? ›

The bottom line

Sourdough is a healthier alternative to regular white or whole wheat bread. Although it has comparable nutrients, the lower phytate levels mean it is more digestible and nutritious. The prebiotics also help to keep your gut bacteria happy, and it may be less likely to spike blood sugar levels.

What is the healthiest flour for sourdough bread? ›

Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter. Overall, it has a lower gluten protein content than wheat flour, which means it produces slack, sticky, and dense doughs.

How long does it take for whole wheat sourdough to rise? ›

Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes, then knead until fairly smooth and slightly sticky. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise until almost doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes.

Can you use 100% whole wheat flour for sourdough? ›

While you can make this with your regular sourdough starter I have used a 100% whole wheat sourdough starter at 65% hydration to keep the loaf true to it's name. If you don't have one, you can convert one easily by changing your starters flour to 100% whole wheat (but keep in mind it will ferment a bit differently).

Why is my whole wheat sourdough so dense? ›

Bread too dense? It might be cold dough. One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees.

Is it okay to eat sourdough bread every day? ›

Is it healthy to eat sourdough everyday? You could eat sourdough every day, but it isn't necessarily healthy to do so. A healthy diet is characterized by balance and moderation. Whether or not it is healthy for you to consume sourdough every day depends on the rest of your diet.

Is sourdough anti-inflammatory? ›

The best bread to reduce gut inflammation is bread made from whole grains. Refined grains, such as the grains found in white bread and white pasta, are known to increase inflammation across the whole body. Sourdough bread and rye bread are both good options for an anti-inflammatory diet.

What's the best flower to use for sourdough bread? ›

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.

What is the best supermarket flour for sourdough bread? ›

All-purpose Flour

It strikes a perfect balance of softness and structure, making it an ideal choice for various recipes. Due to its wide availability and affordability, all-purpose flour is often my top recommendation for creating and maintaining a sourdough starter.

What makes a good sourdough starter? ›

Active sourdough starter should have bubbles in it and also smell fresh and fruity. If yours seems a little sluggish, just keep it out of the fridge and step up the feeding schedule. Once you feed it every day for a few days to a week, it should show signs of life again.

Why is my whole wheat sourdough bread not rising? ›

The most common issue is not kneading enough between rises. The yeast cannot float through the dough, so it has to just eat the flour near it. If it exhausts that supply, it's stuck. Kneading the dough a bit - and it doesn't take much - puts the yeast and bacteria back in touch with fresh food.

Can you let sourdough bread rise too long? ›

YES! You most definitely can bulk ferment sourdough too long. If you leave the dough to ferment for too long, it will become "over fermented". Over fermented dough will lose its structure and become a soupy, sloppy mess that you will not be able to shape.

Do I have to start sourdough with whole wheat flour? ›

You can feed your sourdough starter different types of flour as long as the flour you're using is wheat flour or at least similar to wheat flour and gives your sourdough starter the starches it needs to produce carbon dioxide (this is what rises your sourdough bread).

Which wheat is best for sourdough bread? ›

I've found red wheat to have a more assertive “wheaty” flavor that carries through beautifully to the finished loaf of bread.

What is the best flour for sourdough bread? ›

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.

Is whole wheat sourdough more sour? ›

Whole grain and rye flours provide minerals and enzymes that can influence acid production in sourdoughs. The higher mineral content of whole grains acts as a buffer in the dough so that more acid can be produced during extended fermentation.

Can I use all whole wheat flour for sourdough starter? ›

Can sourdough starter be made with whole wheat, spelt flour or rye flour only? Yes. Because whole grain flour absorbs more water than all purpose flour, adjust the texture with additional water if it's too thick.

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