Homemade Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

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If you want to start your own sourdough journey, you can BUY MY SOURDOUGH STARTER HERE! I will ship it with with instructions for feeding and maintaining so you can bake all the amazing bread you dream of. Cost is $12.

I started baking sourdough in 2018. After just one loaf, I knew this process was going to become a hobby and passion of mine. My starter has become a part of me…. It needs to be fed. It asks to be used. ❤️

I’ve never been so fascinated in my own kitchen, nurturing a live starter and transforming it into the most delicious bread I’ve ever eaten, with just flour, salt, and water. After about six months of successfully making my Everyday Sourdough Bread (made mostly from white flour), I starting working with whole grain flours.

What surprised me most during recipe testing

I developed this Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread recipe after many trials. It’s delicious, with a golden caramelized crust, fluffy holes scattered through the soft crumb, and a touch of tang. When I began testing, I had to get used to whole wheat dough being quite a bit stickier because the flour is slower to hydrate than refined flours, yet absorbs a lot more water. Those things also meant that the right hydration was key to ensuring the crumb wasn’t too dry.

When I used just whole wheat flour, the bread came out way too dense and had little rise. The flavor was great, but the texture wasn’t what I enjoy eating. I found great success using a combination of flours to achieve a dough that was workable, and an incredibly flavorful baked loaf with a soft, tender crumb.

Bread flour and all-purpose flour are used in addition to whole wheat because they are key to building structure and allowing for easier handling of the dough, including shaping, due to the higher protein percentage and strength. I use the same type of formula for my rustic Rye Sourdough Bread, which you’ll want to try.

This nutty wheat bread makes the most delicious Dill Pickle Sandwiches, and I particularly love to toast it and top with butter and homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. It’s total comfort.

As I continued to learn about sourdough bread, I also started to research using fresh milled flour.

I was really curious as to the complexity that whole grains would add to the bread.

I had some experience with home milling, as I acquired the WonderMill grain mill about 6 years ago. I milled only gluten-free grain, and had good end results, but the mill was extremely loud and I didn’t like how the flour flowed into a bucket that had a “hose” coming from the main mill. It got messy. Additionally, it wasn’t the prettiest machine to look at, made of hard plastic.

Where fresh milled flour really shines is in flavor. The complexity and nuances of each grain comes through, deeply rich and nutty. I’ve baked with both fresh milled hard red winter wheat, and spelt, and loved each. The crust becomes crackly and shines! And the crumb is tender, softer than an everyday kind of loaf.

After baking several loaves now with fresh milled flour, the success has been mostly dependent on three things:

• A longer autolyse to let the grains absorb the water better
• Four sets of folds during bulk fermentation
• A cold (refrigerated) proof for the final rise, 8-10 hours

When doing these two things, I achieved the oven spring I was hoping for, and nice holes near the edges of the loaf, with a tighter middle. It’s wonderful for toast and sandwiches.

Pleasant Hill Grain has lots of kitchen equipment, and is the exclusive US importer of Austrian made Komo Grain Mills and Flakers (mill is left side of machine, flaker on the right) you see here in the photos.

They graciously provided me with the Komo Duett Mill, which is gorgeous – constructed of beechwood, and I’ve been using it for the last month, experimenting with different grains, and making bread with the flour using different techniques and ratios.

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Homemade Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread (beginner friendly)

A basic recipe for naturally fermented, whole wheat sourdough bread. Using a blend of whole wheat with bread flour and all purpose flour give the loaf a nice structure with tender crumb, and nutty flavor.

4.88 from 98 votes

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Prep Time :10 minutes minutes

Cook Time :45 minutes minutes

Additional Time :10 hours hours

Total Time :10 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

Author: Amanda Paa

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Banneton
• Food scale

Ingredients

• 55 grams [bubbly active starter] (100% hydration)
• 385 grams warm water (about 85-90 degrees F)
• 15 grams honey
• 150 grams whole wheat flour
• 155 grams all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
• 195 grams bread flour (I use King Arthur)
• 9 grams fine sea salt

Instructions 

• In a large bowl, whisk starter, water, and honey. Add the flours, mixing first with a fork, then switching to your hands until the dough is shaggy. A rough, sticky dough will form, no dry bits should be showing. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 1 hour (this is the autolyse). 
  
• After the autolyse, add the salt. Squeeze the salt into the dough, then work the dough generously with your hands for at 2 to 3 minutes, kneading to begin building the gluten. Then finish with your first stretch and folds. Let rest for 30 minutes.
• Perform another set of stretch and folds (video to show you how). Let rest for 30 minutes. Perform another set of stretch and folds, and rest 30 minutes. Perform your 4th and final set of stretch and folds.
• Cover the dough with a damp towel and let rise until your dough has risen about 75%, has a bubble or two on top, the top is slightly domed, and a bit glossy. Go by how the dough looks, rather than time.  If your home is less than 72 degrees F, this will take quite a bit longer than say if your house is at 78 degrees F.
• Now it's time to shape. Gently coax the dough onto a flour surface. Shape it into a rustic round and let rest, covered, for 15 minutes.

  Then shape the dough using this method. Put banneton with dough into a plastic grocery bag, or garbage bag, so that it doesn't dry out, and let cold proof in refrigerator for 8-10 hours. 
• Preheat your dutch oven in your oven at 450 degrees F. When oven is preheated, take dough out of refrigerator, cover with a piece of parchment (cut larger than the banneton) and a plate. Then use your hand to hold the plate and flip the plate + banneton over, so that now the banneton is upside down and you can now lift it off so that your dough is on the parchment, ready to score. Gently rub a bit of flour onto the top, and score the dough.
• Lift parchment with bread into dutch oven, put cover on.
  
• Slide dutch oven onto the middle rack, and bake with cover on for 25 minutes. Remove cover, turn heat down to 430 degrees F, and bake for another 20 minutes, until exterior is golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven, and carefully remove from bread from dutch oven.
  
• Let cool for one hour before cutting. Store bread in a plastic bag, cut side down for up to four days.

Notes

My Whole Wheat Sourdough recipe is adapted from the Artisan Sourdough Made Simple cookbook.