Honey cracked wheat bread makes the best toast ever. It combines the chewy goodness of cracked wheat with the sweetness of honey in a soft sandwich bread. Best of all, this recipe is much easier to make than you might think!
This soft, fluffy wheat bread is perfect for sandwiches, toast, and even dinner rolls.
Table of Contents
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
🗝️ Key takeaways
- Why You'll Love It: This bread is wholesome, nutty, and slightly sweet, making it perfect for any meal.
- When to Serve: Ideal for breakfast toast, lunch sandwiches, or as a dinner side.
- Techniques You'll Learn: How to knead bread by hand and tips to ensure your bread rises perfectly every time.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- Sweeteners: Substitute brown sugar, white sugar, or maple syrup for honey.
- Add-ins: Knead in up to 2 cups of raisins for a sweet twist.
- Fats: Use any light vegetable oil if you don't have butter.
How to knead bread by hand
Kneading bread by hand is a lost art-and great exercise! I've added a video in the recipe area to help with the visual aspect, but here are basic instructions on kneading bread.
- Transfer the mixed dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a flattish ball.
- Gently press the dough down and push it away from you with the heel of your hand at the same time.
- Lift the edge of the dough that's farthest away and fold it back toward you.
- Repeat until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding a little flour as needed to keep it from sticking.
- Hand kneading takes about 20 minutes. When it's kneaded properly it will feel like your earlobe when pinched.
Learn how to knead bread by hand in this video!
🤫 Cook's secrets -
I got the ginger trick out of a handwritten recipe in an 1800s cookbook - it helps activate the yeast and you can't taste it. I'm willing to bet if you see that trick on another blog it started with my first bread post back in 2006. I could be wrong... but ...
🍴 Equipment
- bread pans
- measuring cups and spoons
- stand mixer with a dough hook
- large
mixing bowl
🥫 How to store leftovers
Homemade bread can be stored at room temperature for a day or two but for longer than that you'll want to freeze it. I like to slice it, and freeze it with waxed paper between each slice.
Don't store it in the fridge - it will dry out.
Marye's Tip
Whole wheat breads are always more dense than white breads. You can use ALL whole wheat flour if you want but the result is much more dense than when the bread flour is added - and much harder to work with. If you're new to bread making save the whole wheat bread for when you have more experience.
💭 Things to know
Follow these tips to get the best whole wheat bread of your life!
- Adding gluten flour also helps it rise better and have a softer texture after it's baked.
- White whole wheat flour goes by various names but it results in a lighter, more airy loaf than the regular whole wheat. You might have a harder time finding it.
- Try letting the dough rise twice before shaping and see if you like the results better.
- To help your bread rise higher, use unsalted potato water (water that you've cooked potatoes in) as the liquid.
- If you use table salt rather than kosher salt reduce the amount you use by ¼.
👩🍳 FAQs
More bread baking FAQs here. Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!
Vital wheat gluten helps to improve the elasticity of the dough. It helps the dough rise well and keeps the finished bread lighter and fluffier than whole wheat alone.
You can, if you must, but the resulting texture will be much more coarse. If you do omit the gluten then you'll also want to increase your kneading time.
Not really. I think buttermilk helps it to have a more tender crumb but you can substitute regular whole milk.
Cracked wheat is whole grain wheat berries that have been chopped into small particles. It gives a chewy texture and more fiber to whole grain breads.
📚 Related recipes
📞 The last word
This honey cracked wheat bread is absolutely delicious! Cracked wheat has to be handled a little differently but the finished bread is sweet and light with chewy bits of cracked wheat in every bite.
The flavor is wholesome, nutty, and just slightly sweet depending on the type of honey you use - and you've not had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich until you've made it with this bread!
Pro Tip -
Wheat bread is a little more difficult to work with than white bread. It takes longer to knead it properly, and you may have a tougher time getting it to rise. If those two things don't happen correctly, the bread will be dense, coarse, and dry. Take your time kneading and be patient with the rising times for the best results.
Give this honey whole wheat bread recipe a try and I think you'll be pleased with the results! Even if your family has never liked whole grains they'll like this!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Honey Cracked Wheat Bread
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup cracked wheat or bulgur
- 1 ½ cups boiling water
- 1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast, 2 packets
- 1 pinch powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ cup lukewarm water, 105 to 110 degrees
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm buttermilk, 105 to 110 degrees
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm (105 to 110 degrees)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ⅓ cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2-½ cups bread flour, approximately. This is a stiff dough that will stay sticky even after kneading
Instructions
- Place cracked wheat or bulgur in a bowl and pour boiling water over it.
- Let sit for 1 hour to soften - it will almost triple when done.
- Make sure it is no more than 110 degrees when you are ready to use it. It should just be warm to the touch when you stick your finger in the center.
- When the cracked wheat is ready place the water, yeast, ginger, and 1 teaspoon of honey in a bowl and mix well.
- Allow to sit until the yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Combine the buttermilk, honey, and butter in a bowl and set aside.
- In the mixer with the paddle attachment add the softened cracked wheat to the yeast mixture.
- Add in the buttermilk.
- Mix well.
- Change to the bread attachment.
- Blend the gluten flour, the whole wheat flour, and the salt.
- Beat in to the yeast mixture on speed 2 for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the bread flour ½ cup at a time until the dough "cleans" the bowl and is a compact ball formed around the bread attachment (or dough hook).
- Continue to knead on speed 3 until the dough is springy and firm, about 4 minutes. It will still feel slightly sticky but won't stick to your hands.
- If kneading by hand knead for 15 minutes, or until dough feels firm and springy but still slightly sticky.
- The dough should spring back when gently poked with your finger.
- Butter a large bowl, and rub the ball of bread dough with butter.
- Place the dough in the bowl, turning it once to make sure that it is buttered.
- Cover with a clean tea towel.
- Place in a proofing oven or warm spot until doubled (about 1 ½ hours)
- Punch down the dough.
- Knead gently for a minute or two and then divide it in half.
- Form each half into a loaf and then fit the loaves into greased 9x5 inch bread pans.
- Brush the tops with butter.
- Cover with the clean tea towel.
- Let rise about 30 minutes.
- While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.
- Remove from oven.
- For soft crust - brush with melted butter and cover with a tea towel for 5 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes, turn the bread out of the pans, and let finish cooling on a rack. This keeps the bottom from getting soggy. For soft crusts keep a tea towel over the bread as it cools.
Notes
- Use the serving size bar to cut the recipe in half.
- Soften the cracked wheat according to the instructions in the recipe.
- Add the water to the machine.
- Add the remaining liquid ingredients.
- Now add the dry ingredients except the yeast.
- Make a small well in flour and put yeast into that well.
- Set to manufacturer's instructions for wheat bread and you're ready to go!
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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First published August 2015. Last updated August 6, 2024.
✍🏻 A note from Marye...
I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.
Perfect Day to Bake Bread - 2015
Oh my gosh the house was quiet today - the kids' first week back at school is always tough to get used to.
Even the dogs just moped around. I don't think they're ready for summer to be over, either. One nice thing is that with just me using the WIFI my computer is running faster than it has since last May. Extra people on a WIFI will cause some swampy behavior.
It was overcast all day long and we even had a little cold front that made me feel like autumn was in the air. First thing in the morning you can feel a hint of a chill in the air -- it's not baking hot like it was a few weeks ago. Oh, we have a couple of months yet before it really cools down but this is nice.
With fall on the mind I am back to baking bread more. I realized that I haven't made that much whole wheat bread for the blog -- and I happened to have some whole wheat flour so I decided to make my honey whole wheat bread. If you liked the buttermilk bread recipe then you'll likely love this as well.
You might also want to give this Pullman Loaf a try? Look in the recipe notes for tips on how to make it into a wheat bread.
Catherine says
Sounds great but is your honey liquid or cream honey?
Thanks!
Marye Audet says
Liquid.
Jennifer says
Hi there, is the "gluten flour" the same as vital wheat gluten? Thank you :O)
Marye Audet says
yes it is. 🙂
Jennifer says
Thanks! Also, If there is un-absorbed water after soaking the cracked wheat, should that excess water be used, or drained off?? Thanks again!
Marye Audet says
Jennifer, I'd go ahead and drain it off.
Colette says
28 and 33 sounds like you bake the loaves twice
I am hoping I take them out once and let them cool and not back in.
They are baking right now.i am new to bread, but I made your buttermilk white loaf and it was so wonderful.thanks
Marye Audet says
Thank you! Yes, you are correct. It was a typo that Ive fixed now
Colette says
This bread turned out beautifully .
Thank you so much! I have never had much luck with baking ...ooh now so good!
Marye Audet says
That's awesome! Consider my breadmaking book. It has helped a lot of people!
Chrisy @ Homemade Hooplah says
This bread looks amazing (like so many of yours do!) Love the combo of buttermilk and wheat bread - don't think I've tried that before!
Marye Audet says
Thanks Chrisy!
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says
Your gorgeous bread making skills make me envious!
Marye Audet says
Aww thank you... I've been baking bread since I was fourteen so I've had lots of practice. I'm 56 now. :/
Marye Audet says
I agree!Thanks for reading! What's your favorite bread to make?