This fluffy whole wheat sourdough bread uses a blend of white and wheat flour for a perfect in-between texture and taste. Great for sandwiches and toast!
This almost whole wheat sourdough bread has the perfect texture. If you’re wondering why we call it “almost” whole wheat sourdough, it’s because we use a blend of white bread flour and whole wheat flour in the dough. We find that this lends the perfect balance of heartiness and fluffiness, resulting in a bread that isn’t too dense and more kid-friendly. It also continues to develop a wonderful sour flavor even after it’s baked!
Love classic sourdough too? Head over to our sourdough bread recipe.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
Before we dive into the recipe, let’s cover a couple of essential sourdough bread-making tools.
- Proofing Basket – This handy set comes with two proofing baskets and a sharp scoring knife.
- Dutch Oven – A dutch oven is the perfect tool to bake bread in. It helps to keep that perfect round shape!
- Dough Whisk – This dough whisk makes removes any bubbles and lumps that can affect the texture of your bread.
- Sourdough Starter – Whip up your starter from scratch or ask around your friends and family to see if anyone can lend you one. If you want to go the homemade route, consider this book your ultimate guide to making a sourdough starter!
Hot Tip: Use a kitchen scale to measure out the grams of each ingredient for ultimate accuracy. They are as follows: 325g water, 9g salt, 90g sourdough started, 170g wheat flour, and 350g bread flour.
Making this Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe
If it’s your first time making whole wheat sourdough bread, the process is almost identical to whipping up the classic and beginner-friendly.
Preparing the Dough
- Prepare the Starter. First, whisk the lukewarm water and sourdough starter together in a large bowl. Add in the salt and whisk again.
- Add in the Flour: Next, stir in the bread flour and whole wheat flour. Cover the bowl with plastic and set it aside at room temperature to rest for 30 min.
- Shape the Dough: After the sourdough rests, fold the sides over towards the center to form a ball.
Shaping the Dough
- Allow the Dough to Rest: Next, cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours and until it turns very bubbly.
- Work the Dough: Next, pop the dough on a floured surface and stretch it into a large, rectangular shape. Fold it over until it turns into a small ball of dough.
- Perfect the Shape: Push in the bottom of the dough with your fingers while shaping it with your other hand into a perfectly round ball, turning it several times in a circular motion to work out any imperfections.
Final Rise & Bake
- Do the Final Rise: Place the dough into the dough basket with the seam side up. Cover the basket with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow the bread to rest for 45 minutes at room temperature or for 2-3 hours in the fridge.
- Score the Bread: Next, place the dough on parchment paper with the seam side down and smooth side up. Score the top.
- Bake the Bread: Pop the dough inside the Dutch oven and bake it for 30 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and bake the bread for 20 more minutes. Let the bread rest a bit and then slice right in!
Tips for the Tastiest Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
A couple of simple tips and tricks will help you bake this sourdough recipe like a pro.
- Make sure the dough is well-mixed. When you’re prepping the dough, make sure there aren’t any dry pockets of flour or salt. These won’t mix on their own and will bake right into the bread, affecting its texture.
- Don’t forget to feed your starter. Keep your starter alive and fresh by feeding it regularly. You’ll want to make sure to feed it 8 hours before you plan on baking with equal parts lukewarm water and all-purpose flour. It’s ready to use once it starts dropping back down!
- Know that temperature affects the rise. Cool water causes a slower rise, while hot water speeds the process up. The rise of the dough can also be affected by the season and specific climate in your area.
- The resting periods are key. Each rise serves a specific purpose in making your bread delicious, so don’t skip any single one. Patience is always rewarded in bread-making!
- Mark the bowl to help you know when the dough has doubled. Marking the dough where it sits pre-rise will help you see when it has doubled in size and is ready. Use a highlighter if you don’t wanna stain your bowl!
- Razor blades make a great scoring knife. If you don’t have a scoring knife, a razor blade will do the trick. Just be extra careful while you’re handling it! You can also use an extra sharp knife in a pinch.
Hot Tip: Use high-quality flour – it makes all the difference. Bob’s Red Mill Bread Flour and Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour are my fav for their superior flavor and high-protein content (protein = great for texture).
Serving Suggestions
Serve this whole wheat sourdough bread as the base of an air fryer grilled cheese or a classic BLT with baked bacon. You can also use it for peanut butter and honey sandwiches or for dipping alongside a hot bowl of minestrone. If you’re a fan of appetizer toasts, slice it up for smoked salmon tea sandwiches or chicken bacon canapés.
Storing Tips
To keep the sourdough fresh for 4-5 days, store it in a plastic bag at room temp. Whatever you do, don’t put it in the fridge! Instead of keeping the bread fresh for longer, the refrigerator dries it out due to the cold temperature.
FAQ
How does whole wheat flour affect sourdough?
Whole wheat flour makes for a denser loaf of sourdough bread. If you use 100% whole wheat flour for sourdough, you can expect it to be pretty hearty and to have a dense crumb and crust. The same goes for rye flour. This is why it’s a good idea to use a combination of white and wheat flour instead.
Does whole wheat dough rise less?
The whole wheat dough doesn’t necessarily rise less, but it does rise slower than typical white flour doughs. To air on the safe side, always give your whole wheat dough a longer rise time.
How can you make whole wheat sourdough bread sourer?
The great thing about whole wheat sourdough bread is that it is better at developing a more sour flavor due to the role of wheat germ and whole grain in the bulk fermentation process. To make it even sourer, feed the starter less often than you normally would.
Can you double a sourdough bread recipe?
Yea, you can double a sourdough recipe and divide it into two separate proofing baskets. Just make sure that you mind the measurements!
More Tasty Bread Recipes to Try
- Ukrainian Garlic Bread (Pampushky) – Oil and garlic buns
- Classic White Miche Bread (Country Bread) – Straightforwardly tasty sandwich bread
- 5 Minute Flax Wheat Bread – Hearty wheat and nut bread
- Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe – Classic Italian flatbread
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sourdough starter
- 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 1/8 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the water and sourdough starter together. Add in the salt and whisk again.
- Stir in bread flour and whole wheat flour. Cover the bowl with plastic and set it aside at room temperature to rest for 30 minutes.
- After the sourdough rests, fold the sides of the dough over into the center to form a ball. Cover the bowl again and let the dough sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours. After the dough rises, it should appear bubbly.
- Place the dough on a floured suraface and stretch it into a large, rectangular shape. Fold it over until it turns into a small ball of dough.
- To shape the bread perfectly, push in the bottom of the dough with your fingers while shaping it with your other hand into a perfectly round ball. Turn it several times in a circular motion to work out any bumps or blemishes.
- Place the dough into a dough basket with the seam side up. Cover the basket with a towel or plastic wrap and let the bread rest for 45 minutes at room temperature or for a few hours in the fridge.
- Place the dough on parchment paper with the seam side down. Score the top as you please.
- Place the dough inside the Dutch oven. Bake at 450F for 30 minutes with a lid. Remove the lid and bake the bread for an additional 20 minutes. Let the bread rest for a bit before slicing into it and enjoy!
Hi Natalya! I don’t have a proofing basket, can I just continue using a glass bowl, and towel? Or is the basket required?
Hi Olga, If you have been using a glass bowl and towel, and it's been working well for you, I don't see why you would need a proofing basket. Thanks for reaching out! Have a great day!
I'm excited to be making this bread today (currently rising). I'm curious about the nutrition sheet as it lists fats and saturated fats. Since there is no oil in this recipe, where do those fats come from? Trying to limit those per doctor's orders. Thank you! 🙂
Hi Miriam- honestly, I'm not sure. We use an online calculator that creates the nutritional information based on the list of ingredients. I am not sure which ingredient exactly has saturated fat in it, maybe its the sourdough starter? I'm sorry I'm not of more help. I hope you enjoy the bread 😀
It was delicious, thank you for this lovely recipe! Looking forward to making it with some herbs added for Thanksgiving this week - do you know if it should be modified to bake as rolls?
Hey there Miriam, I have not made them in rolls, I would definitely adjust the bake time for the rolls. If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
Can you just use an oven if you don’t own a Dutch oven
Hello- you use an oven regardless, a dutch oven is used as opposed to a baking sheet or pan. The dutch oven (with a lid) is important to the baking process, so if you don't own one I recommend a bread recipe that doesn't require a dutch oven, like my no-knead bread, https://momsdish.com/recipe/1…
My new favorite bread! The mix of bread flour and whole wheat made for a great flavor as well as a wonderful chewy texture. Yum!
Emily, such a great tip with the flour combo. I totally agree, a hint of wheat flour makes it so good. Have a great day!
how to make a starter for sourdough bread?
Hey Eve, I actually got mine from a friend. You can purchase a good one on amazon as well, here is a good one: https://amzn.to/3sRwuRs. Enjoy