As the name states, there’s no kneading required for this loaf! My No Knead Whole Wheat Bread requires just 5 ingredients and gives you a healthy and delicious whole wheat crusty bread.
I’ve made this bread before with only white all-purpose flour, but one of the most common question I get from you guys is “Can I make this bread with whole wheat flour?”. The answer is simple, yes! I have made this with all whole wheat flour and also with half whole wheat and half all-purpose, which is what this recipe is.
Many times when you buy whole wheat bread, it’s usually always made with some all-purpose flour, not just whole wheat. This bread is healthy and delicious, as I always say, there’s nothing better than freshly made bread.
Why Make This No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
- No Kneading Required
- Fool-Proof Recipe
- Easy To Make For Beginners
- Requires only 5 Simple Ingredients
- Healthy and Delicious
You cannot make an easier bread than this. There’s no kneading required, you simply mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon in a big bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and leave it on your counter overnight. Bask in the glory of this easy no knead whole wheat bread recipe so let’s get baking!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour – We are using whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. I like mixing the two, to get a fluffier bread, if you use only whole wheat you’ll still get a great bread, but just a bit denser.
- Salt – Use as much or as little as you’d like. Just don’t skip it, without it the bread won’t have any taste at all.
- Yeast – I used active dry yeast, you can use instant yeast if that’s what you have.
- Water – Make sure it’s at room temperature!
How To Make No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
- Mix Ingredients and Rest: In a big bowl combine whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, salt and yeast. Pour the water into the bowl and using a spatula or a wooden spoon, mix it until it’s all incorporated. It will be sticky, so just mix until most of the flour is incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on your counter for 12 to 18 hours.
- Preheat Oven and Pot: Preheat oven to 475°F. Add your Dutch Oven to the oven and heat it as well while you’re prepping the dough.
- Shape Dough: Flour your hands really well and and sprinkle plenty of flour over the dough in the bowl. With your floured hands gently remove the dough from the bowl, scraping at the sides first, adding more flour as needed (see video) and roughly shape it into a ball. Take the ball of dough and drop it directly into the pot or place it on a piece of parchment paper and grab the parchment paper with the dough and place it in the pot. Be careful not to burn yourself, the pot will be quite hot, so use oven mitts to handle it. Cover the pot with the lid and place it back in the oven.
- Bake: Bake the bread for 30 minutes covered with the lid on, after which remove the lid and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. and crusty.
- Cool: Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before slicing and serving.
FAQs & Expert Tips
FAQs
Usually your bread will be chewy when there isn’t enough gluten formation or you’re using a low-protein flour. Make sure you let your bread dough rest for at least 12 hours to give it enough time for gluten formation. I have left the dough rest for up to 24 hours, so you should be ok, I recommend around 18 hours.
Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.
If you don’t have a Dutch Oven, a covered metal pot would work as well, just make sure it can stand up to 475°F heat. A 4 quart Calphalon soup pot with lid would work as well. If your pot doesn’t have a lid, you can cover the pot with heavy-duty aluminum foil, just make sure you seal the pot well.
Covering the pot for the first 30 minutes, will create steam inside, which is what creates the crust on the bread.
Tap the bottom! Take the bread out of the Dutch oven, turn it upside down and give the bottom a firm thump with your thumb, or a knock -if it sounds hollow, it’s done. You can also use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the bread, when it reaches between 190°F and 200°F, your bread is done.
Tips
- Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.
- Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn’t expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date.
- Do not refrigerate the dough as it rises, yes it will be safe on your counter for 18 hours.
- If you want to add other ingredients such as seeds, herbs or cheese, add them in the beginning when combining all the ingredients.
- The slow rise at room temperature is what gives no knead bread its power. I’ve been asked many times if it needs to sit around for that long and the answer is simply, yes! The yeast needs time to perform its magic.
- To prevent your bread from sticking to the pot, make sure you pot is hot enough before adding the dough, or use parchment as mentioned in instructions. If the pot is very hot at the bottom, you bread will instantly begin to cook, letting it rise smoothly. Another option is to sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom of the pot.
Storing
This bread can dry out a little easily so it is best to store it tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container to preserve it longer. You can store it like this for about 3 to 4 days right on the counter.
Freezing/Make Ahead
If you want to save your bread for longer, or make this loaf in advance: bake as instructed, let cool, wrap tightly or transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
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No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups water room temperature
Instructions
- Mix Ingredients and Rest: In a big bowl combine whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, salt and yeast. Pour the water into the bowl and using a spatula or a wooden spoon, mix it until it's all incorporated. It will be sticky, so just mix until most of the flour is incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on your counter for 12 to 18 hours.
- Preheat Oven and Pot: Preheat oven to 475°F. Add your Dutch Oven to the oven and heat it as well while you're prepping the dough.
- Shape Dough: Flour your hands really well and and sprinkle plenty of flour over the dough in the bowl. With your floured hands gently remove the dough from the bowl, scraping at the sides first, adding more flour as needed (see video) and roughly shape it into a ball. Take the ball of dough and drop it directly into the pot or place it on a piece of parchment paper and grab the parchment paper with the dough and place it in the pot. Be careful not to burn yourself, the pot will be quite hot, so use oven mitts to handle it. Cover the pot with the lid and place it back in the oven.
- Bake: Bake the bread for 30 minutes covered with the lid on, after which remove the lid and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. and crusty.
- Cool: Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before slicing and serving.
Video
Recipe Notes
- I have made this bread with 4 cups of whole wheat flour as well. If using all whole wheat flour, you may need a bit more water, especially if you live in a dry environment.
- Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn’t expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.
- To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.
- Do not refrigerate the dough as it rises, yes it will be safe on your counter for 18 hours.
- If you want to add other ingredients such as seeds, herbs or cheese, add them in the beginning when combining all the ingredients.
- The slow rise at room temperature is what gives no knead bread its power. I’ve been asked many times if it needs to sit around for that long and the answer is simply, yes! The yeast needs time to perform its magic.
- To prevent your bread from sticking to the pot, make sure you pot is hot enough before adding the dough, or use parchment as mentioned in instructions. If the pot is very hot at the bottom, you bread will instantly begin to cook, letting it rise smoothly. Another option is to sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom of the pot.
- To check if the bread is cooked through, tap the bottom! Take the bread out of the Dutch oven, turn it upside down and give the bottom a firm thump with your thumb, or a knock -if it sounds hollow, it’s done. You can also use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the bread, when it reaches between 190°F and 200°F, your bread is done.
- This bread can dry out a little easily so it is best to store it tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container to preserve it longer. You can store it like this for about 3 to 4 days right on the counter.
- If you want to save your bread for longer, or make this loaf in advance: bake as instructed, let cool, wrap tightly or transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Great recipe! Very clear and detailed description and tips. The bread turned out wonderfully. Will definitely do it again. Thank you, Jo!
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe, and the helpful video! It is excellent! I have a question, when you have a chance. I ran out of active yeast, and only have instant yeast. It says I can use instant; however, I’m wondering if I use the same amount and if I have to do anything differently? Thank you!!
Same amount of yeast, no other changes necessary. 🙂
Can I make this recipe using 4 cups of all purpose white flour, to get a bigger loaf that your recipe for crusty no knead bread (not whole wheat) that calls for 3 cups of flour and makes a smaller loaf?
This recipe is great. Have made twice – with olives and cheddar, and just plain.
Yes you can, for sure!
If I were to add seeds (poppy, sesame, sunflower, etc) when in the process can I do that?
Add them right into the dough if you want them to be incorporated into the bread, if just for presentation etc. you can add them just before baking, right on top.
Thank you for this recipe! I’m new to bread making, and the recipe was easy to follow. The bread is super crispy and yummy! Next time I will try to add herbs and cheese to it, since this recipe will now be my go-to. Thank you!
We are so glad you liked it!!
Loved it!! So simple and easy this was my first time baking a bread and let me tell you this recipe was so easy and this will be my go to recipe for my bread!!
How and when to add herbs to bread recipe?
In the beginning when you’re mixing all the ingredients together.
Used half wheat flour and turned out perfect & easily came out of the bowl per your instructions – left on counter for 22 hours and just realized I baked it at 450 instead of 475. I did use the parchment paper. It was pretty warm when I tried it!!
Excellent bread. This is now the recipe I’m using for my weekly bake. Thank you!!
We’re so glad you like it!
This bread is very good. But it’s IMPORTANT to slash top of bread a few times before baking.
Ok I got to taste this bad boy ! It’s so freaking good unreel ! Perfect I bake bread all the time , this is the best one . Next time I will decrease the salt , it’s just a tad too salty for me
Love that it worked out for you!
I am done baking the bread , when I removed it from the bowl I tried to do like in the video but my dough was so wet , I could not shape it , it was all over . I transferred it on the wax paper stil the dough stuck to it . I decided to remove it transfer the dough to my silicone mat , then I added more flour and I finally was able to shape it .. I baked the first 30 minutes at 475 F than I timed 10 more minutes , I removed the dough after 8 minutes I thought it was getting to dark . I inserted my thermometer it was 196 so I took it out of the cast iron to set it on a wire rack . Next time I will lower the second bake to 425 or 450 F ..I will comment again when I have a taste and let you all know . It’s looking pretty good right now , it’s heavy just the way I like my bread ..I don’t like a very light loaf ..
For some reason I never get the large air holes and it’s always more dense. I’ve tried about everything including 1/3 whole wheat flour, 2/3 white bread flour. Can’t figure out why you get the large air holes and I don’t/
Could be different altitudes etc. Bread and yeast are both very finicky! It could also be the combination of flour used. Practice makes perfect!
This last time I made it it was close, small air bubbles but still not quite there. I noticed the dough was wetter than usual and it rose much higher. I think the secret might be the amount of flour. I’m going to cut back by quarter cups and see if I can get there.
Good idea! Practice makes perfect 🙂
What would be the amount to use if adding dry garlic and oregano leaves? And, any suggestions of herbs for a more Mediterranean taste?
BTW, I made this recipe and it is great!
It would depend on your preference! I would say about a teaspoon of dried garlic and a tablespoon of oregano, but again totally depends on your preference! Basil, bay leaf, black pepper, cloves, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, garlic, lavender, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, paprika, rosemary, saffron, sage, savory, sumac, tarragon, thyme, and turmeric are all options for a Mediterranean taste!