Soft Multigrain Sandwich Bread

Published: Jul 26, 2023 Last Updated: Apr 24, 2025 by Marye

Easy multigrain bread recipe is soft and fluffy (think Wonder bread) but is hearty, nutritious, and full of flavor. I developed this recipe when my kids were small and wanted those soft store-bought loaves. You can make this even if you're a beginner!

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 40

Rising Time (estimated) 4 30

Total Time 5 55

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First published August 2016. Last updated April 24, 2025 for editorial improvements.

Multigrain bread sliced to show the internal texture with the flaxseeds.

Table of Contents

🧾 Ingredient Notes
🔪 Instructions
Can I make this recipe in a bread machine?
📖 Recipe
📚 Related recipes
💬 Comments

Reader Review
This bread is a favorite in my household. I never thought I'd be any good at making bread and then I found this website and haven't looked back! I was intimidated by this recipe at first, but when I decided to give it a try, I was amazed at how easy it really was. And did I mention delicious? Thank you, Marye for such easy to follow recipes and teaching me that I can make my own bread! 🙂

Jewel

Finally—a wholesome multigrain sandwich bread that won’t fall apart the second peanut butter shows up to the party. It’s nutty, slightly sweet, and soft enough for the kids but sturdy enough for a proper sandwich stack. No cardboard texture here—just chewy, golden goodness with a crisp crust and a load of feel-good ingredients like flaxseeds and whole grains (hello, omega-3s!). Whether you're toasting it, jamming it, or piling it high with ham and cheese, this bread delivers. And if the words healthy recipe make you flinch? I get it. But trust me—this one actually tastes like something you want to eat.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

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.

Active dry yeast is what causes the dough to rise. You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. Either is fine. If you use instant yeast you'll add it with the dry ingredients and skip steps 1 and 2.
Honey is the sweetener of choice here. Strongly flavored honeys will add more of their flavor. You can also use maple syrup or agave for a completely vegan recipe.
7 grain cereal is a dry mix of grains. I use Bob's Red Mill but you can use whatever you need. You can often find hot mixed grain cereals at Whole Foods and health food stores.
Rolled oats add chewiness and nuttiness to the bread. The old fashioned oatmeal is best but you can use quick oats if you want. Just don't try to use instant.
Whole wheat flour is made by grinding the whole wheat berry so that you get all the vitamins and minerals and fiber.
Whole flax seed adds fiber, texture, and Omega-3s. Be sure to get the whole seed and not the ground.
Bread flour has a higher protein content that all-purpose flour so the dough rises a little higher than it would with regular flour. More about different types of flour here.
Vital wheat gluten helps the bread rise high and increases that soft, fluffy texture.
Salt
Butter or use vegetable oil or coconut oil for a vegan recipe.
I also like to use homemade dough enhancer to help it rise light and fluffy.

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Proof the yeast mixture in a mixing bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes.
Add the 2 cups of warm water, remaining honey, 7 grain cereal, oatmeal, 1 cup of the whole wheat flour, 1 cup of flaxseed, 1 cup of bread flour, and ¼ cup gluten and stir until mixed.
Let rise (first rise).

Yeast looks like this when it's proofed properly. It gets foamy. That shows it's alive and kickin' and ready to be used.

Stir down and add the salt and butter.
Beat in the remaining whole wheat flour and enough of the remaining bread flour to make an elastic dough.
Knead and form into a smooth ball.
Let dough rise (second rise).

When the dough has risen properly you can see that it's puffy and has nearly doubled in size. If you push your finger into the dough it won't "push back".

A bowl of flaxseed bread dough rising. — Multigrain sandwich bread takes longer to rise than other recipes - but it's worth it!

Punch down.
Let dough rest for 15 minutes.
Form into loaves and place seam side down in greased loaf pans. Or make into any desired shape.
Oil tops and cover, let bread rise for 1 hour or until doubled. Bake.

2 multigrain bread loaves resting on the counter after shaping. — Shape this homemade multigrain bread into loaves or rounds.

Can I make this recipe in a bread machine?

If you have more questions check out this Bread Baking FAQs post!

Most bread machines can't handle the stiff dough of this multigrain bread recipe so you'd better plan on using your stand mixer or kneading by hand. Here's a video I made showing you how to knead by hand.

📖 Recipe

Loaf of whole grain flaxseed bread. — If you want a soft crust on this flaxseed bread rub it with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven then cover with a tea towel while it cools.

Last time I put together the sponge for my multigrain bread recipe Sunday before church.

I figured it could do the first rise when I was at church and I'd finish it up when I got home. Although I hadn't tried it this way before it was actually better than the old method.

The longer rising time for the sponge made the bread even more soft in texture and seemed to give it more flavor, too.

I love making homemade bread - I made my first loaf in 1974 and I haven't stopped since! I probably love to eat it as much as to bake it - which may not be such a good thing!

Oatmeal honey bread is moist, soft, and a little chewy with a slightly sweet honey and oat flavor that makes it irresistible. This is my go to bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — there is no bread that is better for that!
Whole wheat bread with the chewy goodness of cracked wheat and the sweetness of honey is much easier to make than you might think! This soft, fluffy wheat bread makes fantastic sandwiches, toast, and even dinner rolls.
Buttermilk bread is a light sandwich bread that is probably the most popular recipe here on Restless Chipotle. It's got hundreds of comments and 5 star reviews. It's an easy for beginners, too. It's the first yeast recipe my kids used when they were learning.

More Yeast Bread Recipes

About Marye

Meet Marye Audet, a wizard in the kitchen and a storyteller at heart. Marye is like your eccentric but fun aunt who knows all the secret recipes and isn't afraid to spill them.

Comments

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