A simple four ingredient whole wheat sourdough bread, made with purely whole grain flour. It’s a delicious, flavourful, and wholesome loaf!
While we have a 25% whole wheat sourdough already on Baked, and our sprouted grain sourdough is made with over 40% whole grains, this pure whole wheat sourdough is a first. And it’s good.
Using all whole wheat flour makes for a nutty, ultra flavourful loaf, and one that can really hold up to any toppings you can throw at it. Strong cheese, spicy jams, cured meats – anything that might overwhelm a white-flour loaf.
This loaf isn’t as light and airy as an all white flour sourdough bread, due to the bran content cutting the gluten strands. If you like a slightly denser loaf, with a tighter crumb (great for sandwiches!) this is your bread.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
Method
Two Nights Before
Make the levain: Take out about 1-2 tablespoon of your starter from the fridge and mix it with 50g of room temperature water and 50g of flour (sifted bread flour, whole grain, spelt, or a combo – whatever you prefer as long as the flour to water ratio is 1:1).
Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the counter to ferment overnight for approximately 8-12 hours.
One Day Before
Once your levain is ready, combine all of it with 350g of the water. Add the flour to the water mixture and, and using your hands, mix to combine.
Once the dough is mixed, cover with a tea towel and let it sit at room temperature for 40 minutes to rest.
After the elapsed 40 minute of resting time is up, add the salt and remaining 25g water. Mix well until combined then cover with the tea towel and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes.
Do the first fold: To do this get your hands damp and reach under the dough on the opposite side of the bowl from you. Pull the dough up and over towards you. Here’s a whole post on how to stretch and fold sourdough. Complete 6 more folds (one fold every 30 minutes) for 3 hours total.
Shaping the dough: Begin by taking the dough out of the bowl and letting it rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your banneton by dusting it with flour, or layer a clean tea towel in a medium mixing bowl and dust liberally with flour (50-50 wheat flour and rice flour is a great dusting combo).
Shape your dough making sure you get as much surface tension as possible without tearing the outside of the loaf. Once shaped, turn the loaf into the lined and floured bowl or banneton (top-down, seam side up). Gently flour the top (previously the bottom) of the dough before covering with the edges of the tea towel. Set in the fridge overnight.
Day of Baking
The next day, your bread should be almost doubled in size. Place your dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 260°C (500°F) or as hot as your oven can go, but no higher than 500’F. After the oven has come to temperature, let the dutch oven continue to preheat for another 30 minutes.
Once the dutch oven has been preheated, take your bread out of the fridge. Gently invert the dough onto a piece of parchment paper that will be large enough to lift your bread into and out of the dutch oven. Gently score the bread with a sharp knife or bread lame.
Using oven mitts, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, take off the lid and then carefully lift the dough into the pot using the parchment paper.
Using oven mitts, carefully place the lid back on the dutch oven and put the entire dutch oven back into the heated oven. Reduce the heat to 230°C (450°F) and bake for 25 minutes.
Carefully remove the lid (be careful of steam) and bake for another 20 minutes with the lid off. Remove the pot from the oven and carefully lift out the loaf using the edges of the parchment paper and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Tips and Notes
As with any sourdough bread, it must cool completely before slicing to avoid gumminess. With whole grain recipes, this is even more important, and we encourage leaving the loaf for at least 12 hours before slicing.
This recipe isn’t more difficult or advanced compared to a purely bread flour sourdough, but it will result in a different loaf. There won’t be as a great of an oven spring and the bread won’t be as tall – these are typical for whole grain loaves and definitely not a bad thing. As mentioned below, if this is an issue, you can sub a higher gluten flour.
You can also bake this in a bread tin. Follow this recipe, but using the directions for our pan loaf, if you don’t have a dutch oven or prefer a square slice.
Substitutions
If you don’t feel confident with all whole wheat flour, you can certainly sub in some all-purpose or bread flour to the mix. We love red fife wheat flour here, for a really excellent flavour, but any kind of WW will work. Use up to 250g of white or bread flour for an easier to work with loaf.
Try adding some nuts or dried fruits to the mix after you’ve made the loaf once or twice. Cranberries, raisins, walnuts, anything like that is great with the more complex flavour in this recipe!
More Great Sourdough Loaves
Everyday No-Knead Sourdough Bread
Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Gluten Free Sourdough
If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.
Recipe
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Description
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Tea towel
- Banneton
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- Dutch oven
- Parchment paper
- Oven mitts
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 100 grams levain or active sourdough starter
- 500 grams wholewheat flour
- 375 grams water, divided (20°C/68°F)
- 10 grams salt
Instructions
Two Nights Before
- Make the levain:Take out about 1-2 tablespoon of your starter from the fridge place it in a bowl. Mix with 50 grams of room temperature water and 50 grams of flour (sifted bread flour, whole grain, spelt, or a combo – whatever you prefer as long as the flour to water ratio is 1:1).
- Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the counter to ferment overnight for approximately 8-12 hours. For more information, see this post on how to make levain.
One Day Before
- Once your levain is ready, combine all of it with 350 grams of the water. Add the flour to the water mixture and, and using your hands, mix to combine.
- Once the dough is mixed, cover with a tea towel and let it sit at room temperature for 40 minutes to rest.
- After the elapsed 40 minute of resting time is up, add the salt and remaining 25 grams water. Mix well until combined then cover with the tea towel and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, it is time for the first fold.
- Do the first fold:To do this get your hands damp and reach under the dough on the opposite side of the bowl from you. Pull the dough up and over towards you. Repeat this so the side closest to you folds over to the side away from you and the side on your left folds towards you right, and your right folds towards your left. Think of it as wrapping a package. Then, scoop your hands under the ball of dough and flip it over completely. This completes one “fold”.
- Complete 6 more folds (one fold every 30 minutes) for 3 hours total.
- Shaping the dough: Begin by taking the dough out of the bowl and letting it rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your banneton by dusting it with flour, or layer a clean tea towel in a medium mixing bowl and dust liberally with flour (50-50 wheat flour and rice flour is a great dusting combo).
- Shape your dough making sure you get as much surface tension as possible without tearing the outside of the loaf. Once shaped, turn the loaf into the lined and floured bowl or banneton (top-down, seam side up). Gently flour the top (previously the bottom) of the dough before covering with the edges of the tea towel. Set in the fridge overnight.
Baking Day
- The next day place your dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 260°C (500°F) or as hot as your oven can go, but no higher than 500°F. After the oven has come to temperature, let the dutch oven continue to preheat for another 30 minutes.
- Once the dutch oven has been preheated, take your bread out of the fridge. Gently invert the dough onto a piece of parchment paper that will be large enough to lift your bread into and out of the dutch oven. Gently score the bread with a sharp knife or bread lame.
- Using oven mitts, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, take off the lid and then carefully lift the dough into the pot using the parchment paper.
- Using oven mitts, carefully place the lid back on the dutch oven and put the entire dutch oven back into the heated oven. Reduce the heat to 230°C (450°F) and bake for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the lid (be careful of steam) and bake for another 20 minutes with the lid off.
- Remove the pot from the oven and carefully lift out the loaf using the edges of the parchment paper and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Laurie Douglass-Wilson says
I’m experimenting with sprouting grains (trying for something akin to Ezekiel Bread) in a sourdough loaf. Do you know if I would need to adjust the hydration if I subbed some of the whole wheat with say 1/4 c. lentil flour, 1/4 c. kidney bean flour, and 1/2 c. spelt flour? Thanks!
Sophie Mackenzie says
Hi Laurie! Yes, spelt flour usually requires 25% less water than wheat flour, so you might want to cut down the hydration. I’m not sure how much water the bean flours will need, but you will be replacing a gluten containing flour with a lot of gluten free fours, so I think that much bean flour could drastically affect the structure of the loaf. If you want to try some sprouted loafs, we have a spouted wheat berry loaf that is great or you can try this manna bread recipe
Chris says
I followed the recipe, all good, my starter passed the float test but my dough didn’t seem to rise enough in the fridge. I left it for about 28 hours and still it doesn’t seem to rise much, if at all. The recipe says it should’ve almost doubled. What could be wrong?
Sophie Mackenzie says
You’ll get some rise in the dough as you fold it (while the dough is at room temp) but you won’t get much rise from the dough while it is in the fridge—the coolness of the fridge retards the fermentation and that is normal. It will puff up once the loaf hits the heat of the oven, though. I recommend baking it and seeing what happens.
Dilu says
To make this 100% whole wheat, what tips do you have for the sourdough starter to also be whole wheat?
Alexandra Daum says
You can just feed your starter with whole wheat flour : ) it might ferment a touch faster from whole grains, but otherwise you don’t need to make any changes.
Alexandra says
Made this recipe with my whole wheat starter- amazing! I will definitely make this again and again!
Mary Abramczyk says
Very good loaf. Starter did not float, and the dough did not pass the windowpane test – still rose well and has a good crumb!
bonnie thompson says
wow! thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! i’ve been making sourdough bread for the past few months and there really aren’t many recipes on the web that use 100% whole wheat flour (which is what i wanted). i have been winging it for awhile after getting the hang of white bread flour but i was using too much water and your method for preheating the pot gave me my first beautiful ear! stove was a little too hot and i got a burnt bottom so i will adjust my temps a bit next time. interior was a tight crumb and a bit gummy i am hoping if i bake it a little longer at a lower temp that might be resolved? may also try to increase my cold ferment time. regardless it was the prettiest and yummiest whole wheat loaf i’ve made, thank you so much!
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Bonnie, we’re so happy you found the recipe! With the tight crumb, that will happen with 100% whole wheat, but you can increase the bulk ferment to try to mitigate that a bit. With the gummy interior we recommend leaving it to fully cool for a longer time, upwards of 12 hours, which should help!
Jon says
I wouldn’t recommend baking at a lower temp. Definitely increase the bake time a little, but halfway through place a room temp baking sheet directly under the Dutch oven. That will prevent a burnt bottom. To be clear I don’t mean place it on the next rack below the Dutch oven. Place it on the same rack and then put the Dutch oven on top of the sheet pan.
Fabiola says
I’ll be cooking this recipe in silicone bread molds, but I don’t see the alternative instructions you mentioned for cooking with a bread tin. Is there a link to those instructions? Thank you!
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Fabiola, you can find more detailed instructions in this post.
Heather Strickland says
I just did this today! The bread is in the fridge overnight and hopefully will be ready tomorrow. Did you use a cast iron Dutch or an enameled Dutch oven?
Kelly Neil says
That’s awesome Heather! I always use an enamelled cast iron Dutch oven, and I *think* Alex may have a Staub iron Dutch oven without enamel. I think it’s fine whichever way as long as you use parchment and the lid fits snug!
Heather Strickland says
Thank you, Kelly!! I don’t have an enameled one, so I will use what I have. I’m hoping it works great for me! This is the easiest recipe so far I have found and used. The dough actually did what it was supposed too.
So if it doesn’t double in size overnight, should I go ahead and just bake it? Or try to allow it to rise more?
Kelly Neil says
Sourdough baking is so different from yeast! Mine never doubles in the fridge overnight—it pretty much looks the exact same as when I put it in. The real rise come from the first section of the baking process with the lid on the pot! Let us know if you have any other questions!
Heather Strickland says
Thank you! I baked it this morning and it was awesome! The dough was perfect when I put it in the oven! I let it cool about 3 hours and couldn’t resist ha! It was so good!!! The only thing I need to figure out is how to not let the bottom get too hard. I put a baking sheet under the oven on the next rack. I read that may help, but it didn’t. Any suggestions?
Kelly Neil says
I haven’t tried this myself, but I have seen other bakers line the bottom of their Dutch oven with a layer of raw uncooked rice to buffer the loaf from the pot. And still use parchment so you don’t have a crunchy bottom! lol
Heather Strickland says
The only thing I need to figure out is how to not let the bottom get too hard. I put a baking sheet under the oven on the next rack. I read that may help, but it didn’t. Any suggestions? Should I bump the temps down? I am baking again tomorrow.
Kelly Neil says
Hi Heather! Did you see my comment about the layer of raw rice inside the bottom of the pot?
JT says
Great recipe, thank you. We have to use exclusively whole grains due to a condition, and love sourdough, so this recipe has really has done the trick. I’ve been using a probe thermometer between 190-206F once I pull the lid, sometimes this loaf flies and others it take its time depending on if I spray water under the lid as I close it; my next loaf I’m definitely borrowing that tip about the rice under the parchment. I’m using white whole wheat instead of red and am still working to get more spring in my crumb, so I’ve been increasing the mixing times, lowering the salt little by little, reducing the number of folds during bulk fermentation from 7 to 3, even using a heating pad to get my levain to rise in the mornings, and it’s getting there. Every loaf I’ve made with this recipe has been really fantastic, in a world of “20% whole wheat” recipes I greatly appreciate your effort getting this amazing recipe out there.
Wanda says
I left my levain on the counter for approx. 10 hours and tried the float test but it didn’t float. What should I do next if the levain is sluggish?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Wanda, if your levain isn’t floating, it might have gone too far (if the room is warm, for example, 10 hours might be too long) and you’ll just need to start a new levain for the bread.