Soft Sourdough Honey Wheat Bread
Forget everything you thought you knew about wheat bread—this honey whole wheat sourdough loaf is in a league of its own. Soft, light, and unbelievably fluffy, each dreamy, creamy slice melts in your mouth while delivering the rich flavor only real sourdough can bring. Kissed with honey and topped with wholesome oats, this loaf bakes up with the perfect tender crumb, making it absolutely irresistible for sandwiches, toast, or simply slathered with butter. If you’ve been searching for the ultimate sandwich bread, this is the loaf you’ll come back to again and again.The combination of honey, butter, milk powder, cornstarch, oats, and sourdough discard creates a tender loaf with a soft crumb and excellent keeping quality—perfect for toast, sandwiches, or simply eating warm with butter.Did you make this recipe? Scroll down, below this recipe to the comment section, leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! Your review helps other bakers find recipes they'll love and supports my small baking business. I read every single one.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 300 g warm water 105°F / 40°C
- 150 g honey
- 7 g active dry yeast 1 packet
- 120 g sourdough discard
- 35 g salted butter melted
- Optional: 20 g molasses I always add this to mine
Dry Ingredients
- 285 g whole wheat flour
- 285 g all-purpose flour
- 25 g dry milk powder
- 16 g cornstarch
- 10 g coarse kosher salt
- 60 g old-fashioned rolled oats I use sprouted oats from Costco
For Topping
- 1 Tbsp rolled oats
- Warm Honey for lightly brushing over bread so oats will stick. Microwave it for 10 seconds so it's easy to brush over the dough.
Instructions
Instructions
Activate the Yeast
- In a large bowl, combine:
- * Warm water
- * Honey
- * Molasses (if using)
- * Active dry yeast
- Allow to stand for 5–10 minutes until foamy.
Add Remaining Wet Ingredients & dry ingredients
- * Sourdough discard
- * Melted butter
- * Whole wheat flour
- * All-purpose flour
- * Dry milk powder
- * Cornstarch
- * Salt
- * Rolled oats
Knead
- Using a dough hook, mix on low for 8-10 minutes.
- The dough should be soft and slightly tacky. Add a little extra flour only if necessary. All flour absorbs water a little differently. What my flour likes your flour might not be as happy about. If the dough is not coming away from the sides after 8 minutes of mixing, add in all purpose flour by the Tbsp until the dough releases from the sides. This is not meant to be a hard dough. Keep it light and kind of sticky to the touch.
- Note: if it sticks slightly to your hands it’s ok! A little tiny bit of stick means it’s going to be a light fluffy loaf.
First Rise
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl.
- Cover and allow to rise for 60–90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Shape
- Divide the loaf into 2 halves.
- Roll each half about 1” thin. This step removes any large air bubbles.
- Roll up each half like a cinnamon roll log.
- Place into 2 greased 9×5-inch loaf pans.
Second Rise
- Cover and allow to rise for 60-90 minutes, until the dough doubles.
- Score a line down the center so it can open while baking.
- Microwave a tablespoon or so of honey for 20 seconds and brush it lightly over the loaves.
- Note: Keep a light hand with the honey - if it goes down the sides of the bread it will darken and caramelize or burn while baking.
- Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with a tablespoon or so of rolled oats.
Bake
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 35–45 minutes.
- The loaf is done when the internal temperature reaches 195–200°F (90–93°C).
- Note: if your oven runs hot, bake, uncovered for 25 minutes and covered for the remaining amount. Once the oats look lightly toasted, go ahead and cover the bread. I bake my bread uncovered the entire time and mine usually takes the entire 45 minutes.
Cool
- Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before slicing.