The key to any delicious moist and airy bread is the starter “sponge” which activates the yeast before it is mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. After that, it’s just a cinch to make! Really, Really ! Let that sink in: you too can make homemade whole wheat bread and get it just right every single time—chewy, dense and just perfect, and oh the aroma in the kitchen! I hear from people who tell me that they would love to be able to bake their own bread but think it’s just too difficult. Well, here is the thing: Try this one EXACTLY (Don’t forget the rule about measuring flour) as I describe it — step by step — it is foolproof. Believe me, that’s the old neuroscientist in me– I need to replicate my data multiple times before I believe it myself, and this one has been replicated over and over again, much to the delight of my family and my guests over the years! And yes, you read right: There is no salt in this bread, it just doesn’t need it!
Watch my Cooking Class video to watch me make this yummy bread!
- “sponge”
- ½ cup lukewarm water*
- ½ tsp sugar
- 3 tsp dry yeast
- Remaining Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water*
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- Preheat oven to 400
- Place ½ cup of lukewarm water* in a small cup and add the sugar and active yeast, stir and let sit for 5-8 minutes until the yeast becomes foamy. It will double in size.
- While the yeast is rising, pour the remaining cup of lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and add olive oil and whole wheat flour.
- Add the foamy yeast mixture to the remaining ingredients and turn on the mixer on low speed until the dough forms a ball.
- Turn up the speed to medium for an additional minute. The dough will appear sticky at first, but be patient, within 2 minutes it will form a perfect ball!
- Take out the sought and sprinkle with a little dusting of flour (less than 1 Tbsp) so your hands won’t stick to it.
- Gently shape the dough into a large ball and place it on a non-stick baking sheet dusted with a little flour and cover loosely with a clean hand-towel.
- Let rise for 30 minutes.
- When ready, uncover the dough and place in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
ALWAYS USE DRY MEASURING CUPS TO MEASURE FLOUR!
The dough never really formed a ball. I turned it out onto a floured surface and shaped it. It was quite sticky (even though I had floured my hands.) We’ll see how it comes out!
Ken, I am sorry about that–I am really puzzled. Let me know how it turned out in the end!
Today is the fourth time that I have made this wonderful bread. Happened upon this recipe/site looking for salt-free items. I have limited baking skills, and the first two times were a challenge for me. Now, it has become a Sunday afternoon routine. I add a little unsweetened granola and a but of molasses and it is wonderful. Catherine-thank you for sharing this, it is working out well for me.
I am delighted to hear it Dave!! I just love that it has become a Sunday afternoon routine, how truly special!! 🙂
Catherine-
Thank you so much for posting this salt-free bread recipe. I am a good scratch cook, but not a baker. I FOLLOWED YOUR INSTRUCTIONS, AND IT CAME OUT SPECTACULAR. I have now added some molasses and raw grains to the mix and even salt eaters love it. Great recipe, thank you so much!
Delicious, wonderful bread. All the bread I make for mu mum has no salt added. This works out beautifully and not long to put together. Thank you!
You are so very welcome Julie! 🙂
Absolutely delicious and super easy. If your bread doesn’t turn out well, you’ve just not tweaked it enough. If the dough is too wet to handle,add more flour. I let my dough set for a bit after kneading in mixer and it came together/tightened up. Mine was damp, but I could handle it. My grandmothers never really measured anything. Through a little trial and error, they made perfect bread without a single measuring cup. They knew how the dough should look and feel. I think baking bread is somewhat of an an art that is well worth working to perfect. What says love to family and friends like a fresh homemade loaf of bread!! Let your kids and grandkids help. Thanks for the great recipe. ? your website!
A Kansas lovin’ Granny
Thank you Cindy for this absolutely wonderful note! I love everything about it! You are right on and I couldn’t agree with you more! I can’t tell you how touched I was by it!! 🙂
You are such a gracious lady. Always kind in your response to people no matter what they say. God bless you.
oh my goodness, Cindy, what a lovely thing to say! sending you love! 🙂
Sorry, but not a good recipe at all. Dough was far too wet, and came out tasteless. Will likely end up in the trash can.
Famee, I am really sorry to hear that.
Great recipe, but it needs a pinch of salt! I enjoyed the taste much more the second time once I added salt.
Thanks Patrick! I like it without salt because I often make it, to have with fruit jam, so, in that case the salt is unnecessary but I agree, for regular bread to go with a savory dish or just sliced for sandwiches, a little salt, I would say no more than 3/4 tsp is great!
Adding salt will only enhance the flavor of the jam! Even the sweetest cookies include salt in the recipe.
The bread in your pictures is much darker than how mine turned out. How can I get it to come out darker?
Hi Ashley, I am not sure why! What kind of oven do you use? I personally have a convection oven which may make a difference? If yours is a conventional oven it may just be a matter of baking it longer. let me know how it goes! 🙂
Not a fan. (1) The recipe was unclear (should you combine the ingredients in the mixer before adding the sponge?; the directions are to mix for one minute, but then say that after 2 minutes is will come together – so which is it? Mine never formed a ball – finished kneading by hand.)
(2) The flavor of the bread is super boring. Didn’t hold its shape, so made a fairly flat loaf rather than a boule. Will definitely not make again.
Hi Nancy,
I am so sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. I very rarely, if ever, get such negative reviews so I very much take yours to heart. I am not sure what went wrong as this is a bread that I make on a regular basis on the spur of the moment when I realize I forgot to buy bread at the market! I will go back and try to fix any wording that might have confused you–My sincere apologies for that! There is no need to premix anything, just as the recipe states, you just add the yeast sponge last and then mix everything together. I have a cooking video I had posted a long time ago in my kitchen that might have clarified it for you. https://youtu.be/SHU7B2eTeLA I can tell you were frustrated by this and I completely empathize as I personally can’t stand when I follow a recipe and it doesn’t come out as it says. I actually pride myself in making sure my recipes come out as I say so I will absolutely go back to this one and try it out as though I were new to it to trouble shoot it. Thank you for your feedback and again, so sorry you disliked my recipe so much.
Have baked breads before off & on over the years and sometimes you need to adjust it a little/ when I tried this recipe the dough was still a little wet so I had to add about another 1/2 cup of flour & another tablespoon of olive oil & the dough balled up on the hook fine, proofed it for 30 minutes & proceeded as per your recipe & it turned out great!
My husband spent seven years in Paris in his youth and loves all things French, including the wonderful breads (baguette, croissant,etc.) that the French are famous for. Unfortunately he recently received a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and has been struggling with what I call his “white bread addiction”! I thought I would try your whole wheat boule recipe and served it last night for supper to accompany my home made vegetable soup. It was a big hit and I think it is destined to be our go to bread from now on. I have just discovered your website and can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. When I told my husband that the lady I got the recipe from was French he said “But of course! That’s why it’s so good!”
HAHAHAHA Karen, I absolutely LOVED your comment (except for the diagnosis pf Diabetes, of course)!!! I am so glad the boule will now be part of your repertoire! Please let em know how you like (love!) any other recipe you try!
Love from “la Française”! 🙂
Check out a plant based diet to reverse type 2 diabetes. Research testimonies on Forks Over Knives website, Dr Greger at nutritionfacts.org. Dr Greger says its fat that causes diabetes. recommends a low fat plant based diet. https://www.forksoverknives.com/how-i-reversed-my-diabetes-and-stopped-all-medications-with-a-plant-based-diet/#gs.3P4_=zU
Is there a reason why you’re not letting the dough rise before shaping it? All the breads I’ve made so far require it. Also, mine ended very dense… although very tasty. I’m not too sure why it was so dense as I followed the recipe to the letter (using King Arthur flour, although I did add 3/4 tsp of salt to the flour). Ideas?
Hi Fran,
The reason that I don’t need to let the dough rise before shaping is that this type of dense chewy texture that I am looking for in a whole wheat boule, doesn’t require it and I always make it when I am in a rush and realized I forgot to buy bread at the last minute!! So it’s quick easy and always dependable. If you look at the photo, you’ll see that it’s meant to be dense so I think that’s how yours turned out as well. Maybe you were looking for a lighter fluffier texture, in which case a different, lighter flour and, you are absolutely correct, letting it rise first would work best. But again, it would have to be a different recipe. I hope this is helpful! 🙂
Yes it makes sense! I admit it’s the first 100% whole wheat recipe I’ve seen that doesn’t taste dry at all, so thanks!
My pleasure, truly Fran! 🙂 🙂
Catherine, I’m happy to report that I doubled the recipe and it worked just fine. The only issue I had — and I can’t explain this — is that once the dough hook works the dough into a ball, if I keep going for even several seconds longer, the ball of dough quickly unravels. Like the whole thing goes into reverse. I tried adding more flour to bind it together more but that didn’t really seem to help. Didn’t have this happen with the same mixer with the single batch, so there’s something odd about having that much dough for the hook to work. The trick is just to catch it in time and stop mixing … or patiently work it back into a ball by hand (stopping the mixer, folding dough back onto the hook, turning the mixer back on, etc.) But either way, the double batch produced two beautiful loaves, each time I’ve done it. Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Hmm that’s interesting Steve!! I’ll have to try to see if the same thing happens to me too!! It sounds like you got it under control so I am so happy for that!! By the way, I love the beautiful stories of your rescued dogs, what a gift you are! 🙂 🙂
I’ve just discovered your blog and videos and they’re great. This seems to be a fab recipe, my husband was just diagnosed with high blood pressure so salt is out the window for him. Just one question concerning the “400” number for the oven – 400 whats – I guess Fahrenheit?!! I’m in Switzerland so that seems on the high side for our oven (Celsius)… Thank you!
Yes indeed Maréad! You’ll find the Celsius equivalent here: https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/temperature/fahrenheit-to-celsius.htm
Also, I am sure you are aware of the hidden sodium in processed food, but it’s somewhat surprising at times, even when you are weary so just in case, I wrote about it here: https://cuisinicity.com/put-salt-in-its-place/
Thank you for your lovely comment! 🙂
Thanks Catherine,
I’ve found some more time to browse through your website. It looks like it’s going to quickly become our “go-to” for fast, easy, DELISH recipes. I can’t wait to try some of them.
The “salt in its place” article was eye opening. Indeed, reduced salt means less sugar is needed to hide the saltiness. It’s hard to break habits of a lifetime that we truly believed to be the healthy “homemade” option but…
Keep cooking up a storm 🙂
Keep up the good work Mairéad! So happy to have you at the Cuisinicity table!:)
Hello Catherine,
We just got a Kitchen Aide mixer as a wedding present and this is the first recipe we’re trying. We followed the directions exactly and seemed to be able to make a ball in the mixer on low speed which flattened out and got a bit stickier wen we turned the speed up to medium. Is it supposed to keep in a ball after the speed is turned up to medium. We tried adding a bit of flour and mixing a bit longer to no avail. We just went ahead with the recipe, bread is in the oven now and seems to be doing (and smelling) great, but wanted to see if we should have been expecting a ball in the mixer after we turned up the speed.
Thanks a ton,
Ben
Hi Ben,
I am honored that my recipe was the very first one you made to try your wonderful wedding present and I hope that the bread turned out delicious for you! I am not sure exactly what happened but I think 2 things may help answer your question. First, take a look at how you measured the flour–I specify a little bit more here: https://cuisinicity.com/measure-flour/ and then, this little video of me making the boule in my own kitchen may help as well: https://youtu.be/SHU7B2eTeLA Please let me know if that was helpful, OK?…and CONGRATULATIONS on your wedding!! 🙂
Catherine, I made this wonderful bread a second time and it came out just as beautifully. One quick question: I’d like to make two loaves at a time. Is there any reason I can’t just double everything, make one large ball in the mixer, then divide into two? I would appreciate your advice. Thank you!
I don’t see why not Steve! Let me know how it goes!! 🙂
Catherine, I bake whole wheat bread every week but my first attempt at this bread recipe today started with disaster … and ended with perfection! The dough just kind of flattened out in the nonstick baking pan I was using (didn’t have a baking sheet, but just as well given how it spread out) … then it stuck like glue to the pan once baked … and it completely fell apart when I tried to pry it out of the pan.
But I tasted it and thought, hmm, light and fluffy but definitely needs salt. So I started over … made the mistake of adding salt to the sponge mixture, which for some reason kept it from rising.
Started over a third time, added the salt to the flour in the mixing bowl instead … lightly greased a nonstick loaf pan to hold the dough … and out came a PERFECT, DELICIOUS loaf of whole wheat bread! It was the best whole wheat bread I’ve made, and will replace my standard recipe. Thank you for sharing this!
OH MY GOODNESS STEVE WOW YOU ARE THE BEST!!!! I just LOVE your persistance and your trust in my recipe which paid off in the end! But it really just touches me how you didn’t just come to the conclusion that I had just gotten it wrong for you and just kept going–you are AMAZING!!! THANK you thank you so much for such a lovely comment! 🙂
Tried to make this recipe twice today, both times it came out very under-risen, with a mealy texture and smelling of yeast.
I’m assuming the issue lies somewhere in my sponge preparation, though I believe I followed the instructions. I gave it about 10 minutes until the volume had roughly doubled from the starting volume. Using Red Star active dry yeast. Any advice?
Thanks!
Keith, I am so sorry to hear that! Did you check my tip about measuring the flour?
https://cuisinicity.com/measure-flour/
Sometimes the flour gets too packed if it has been in the fridge or if you have had it for a while? I am really not sure, because your sponge seemed good. This has been such a consistent recipe for me. I am so sorry. Did you watch the video to see if there is something that you did differently from me?
https://cuisinicity.com/cuisinicity-video-whole-wheat-boule/
Hello,
I have decided to try this bread today adding raisins to the recipe…Yum! What are your thoughts about this and how much would you suggest adding? Thanks in advance for your thoughts! ?
What a lovely idea, Theresa!! Walnuts would also be a great addition with the raisins- I would say 1/3 cup raisins and (if using) 1/4 cup coarsly chopped walnuts– just guessing!! I may try that myself !!! Thank you so much !!!
Oh my!! I made it and it is heavenly! I put in raisins and cinnamon (no walnuts this time) and it is yummy! It reminds me of a great “raisin tea bread”… I love this recipe! Your recipe here is the easiest, best tasting whole wheat bread that I have ever tried. ( Believe me, I have tried ALOT) ??. One question for you please. My bread stuck in my loaf pan. I have a real nice ceramic loaf pan that I used this time which normally does not stick, and it stuck a tad. What might I do next time differently to avoid this? I did olive oil the sides and bottom of my pan however it still stuck. Please advise. Thanks for all your help! ?
OH MY GOODNESS THERESA THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 🙂 🙂 What a heartfelt wonderful comment, it went right to my heart! (can you tell I am still smiling?!!). I am sorry it stuck in your beautiful ceramic pan. I usually keep it free-form as a ball (boule) on top of a lightly floured baking sheet. I think that if you prefer it in the shape of a loaf maybe best to try it in a lightly floured regular non-stick baking loaf pan? Not sure…
Hello,
I made this bread yesterday and it was wonderful, however I just have one question. May I substitute organic honey for the 1/2 tsp of sugar? If so, how much honey would I use? Thank you! ?
Thank you Theresa! ? I think 1/2 tsp honey will suffice- just make sure your yeast sponge still rises before proceeding per the video I my kitchen! Hope this is helpful!
I’ve made bread for about forty years, but I’ve never made a good bread that contained no salt. I’m hesitating to try this–any salt-free bread I’ve made in the past has been insipid, and people will not eat it. Can it be made with salt?
Hi Anne,
I love this bread just this way, without any salt but I understand exactly what you mean about worrying that it may “insipid” or, as we say in French “fadasse”! It sure doesn’t hurt to add some salt to it, if that’s your preference. In fact, I talk about it in my video here: https://cuisinicity.com/cuisinicity-video-whole-wheat-boule/ and specify that in fact, I like adding about 3/4 tsp salt to my soft wheat buns recipe because they are meant to be “salty”. This whole wheat boule could go either way. I love it with a good fruit jam so I like it best without. For what it’s worth, my sister, who absolutely LOVES all my cooking and baking preferred to add the salt to this bread recipe and loved it that way, because that’s what she is used to. So my recommendation– don’t make perfection the enemy of good–add 3/4 tsp salt and you’ll be all set!
…faite et refaite!!! très bon pain, j’ai juste ajouté a teaspoon de sel, alors, on est française ou on ne l’est pas!!!!! ah! ah! boenne journée et merci! martine de France
Merci Martine! Oui bien sûr, si vous le préférez un petit peu salé, une petite teaspoon, c’est parfait!!
Have you ever added nuts, seeds or flax to this? Would I have to adjust flour amount to add these things?
Debra, what a nice touch that would be! I haven’t in this particular recipe but I think, as long as it is not too much–2 or 3 Tbsp–you can keep the proportions of the recipe. Let me know how it goes, I always love to know!
I can’t get my dough to form a ball in the mixer. My yeast sponge was very foamy. Measure flour carefully. Do I add more flour to the mixer?
Hi Mary,
I replied to you directly via e-mail right away, but wondering how you made out. I am surprised because I make this bread all the time–almost with my eyes closed by now, it is so reliable. I am trying to figure out what happened. In any case, I was telling you to add a little more flour, as it was probably an issue of measuring it exactly as I do. I think that’s why serious bakers only use scales to measure their flour but in my case, as a busy mom, I found that using cups is faster. The problem of course is that my description may leave room for a little variation in your kitchen. I am so sorry for that!
Thank you so much for your advice both here and the email. I did add a bit more flour and I have produced a baked loaf! It is very cold here in NC today. As long as you think it will not compromise the texture to adjust the flour as needed to get to that ball stage-I will keep trying. I will start with the 3 cups and go from there. Now to make my sandwich!
Love your site and all the recipes!
Way to go Mary!!! I think you’ll get the hang of it now that you know how it’s supposed to “just make itself” into a ball, and if you need a little more flour (maybe you were even more of a perfectionist in keeping it fluffy when you poured it into that cup–which is how I describe it but it’s so subjective!). The important thing is that it ends up being chewy and delicious!! Thank you so much for your kind words, it keeps me going–really!!
I am not a baker but have recently started using a bread machine to make salt-free breads for my dad (who was recently diagnosed with CHF). This recipe sounds wonderful, and I would appreciate any tips or suggestions for tweaking the recipe for a bread machine. Thanks so much!
Hi Jennifer!
I could have sworn I replied to you right away but maybe I did so via e-mail directly to you. Just in case others have the same question, here is what I would do for a bread machine:
Place the warm water (all of it), then oil, then sugar, then flour and last dry yeast directly in the container of your bread maker machine and follow the rest of the directions for your particular bread machine–that’s it!
Thank you Catherine! I will give it a try in the bread machine and report back on my success (or lack thereof). I love this site and your spirit!
You go Jennifer!!!! Please tell me how it goes, OK?!
I’m excited to try this! My question is it really 3 tsp of yeast. I bake a lot and have always been told when you double a bread recipe you do not double the yeast. It seems like a lot for 3 cups of flour. It’s not specified what type of yeast, will bread machine yeast work? Thank you.
Hi Julie,
I think 2 tsp dry yeast (bread machine is fine) would work as well but I don’t know for sure since I did not vary that amount to check, when creating this recipe. I have baked breads before with just 2 tsp as well, but this one uses such a “heavy” flour and no bread flour to lighten it up that it is the amount of yeast I worked with to start with and have not found reason to decrease since as it works beautifully and is not detrimental to taste nor nutritional value. I hope this helpful!
Thank you for your prompt reply. I am grinding my wheat & I will try the recipe as written.
Great Julie, please let me know how you like it!
excellent ! magnifique , y a plus qu’à le gouter! vous me faîtes bien rire quand vous précisez de bien mesurer la farine en mettant la lame de couteau bien plane! ah! ah! la farine n’est pas la même en France , j’ai ajouté un peu plus de farine et de …four!! ah , la France , c’est romantique! ! merci et bonne soirée à vous de France !
Absolutely Tina, it has to look BEAUTIFUL too!! So far we got that one! I can’t wait to hear how your husband and you like (love?) it!! I am just like you, I love to whip one up in no time while my soup is on the stove!
Since my last post, this has been the official bread in our house. My husbands taste buds were very impressed! Love your blog. Every recipe is fantastic. I don’t change a thing, love everything as is! You’ve become my favorite foodie go to chic! Thanks for all you do.
WOW!!! What a FANTASTIC note! It made my day!!! Thank you so much Tina!!!
I just made your bread recipe. I am a baker, and this boule is beautiful! We eat with our eyes first though don’t we? It just came out of the oven, and now waiting for it to cool before I cut into it. I loved how fast it was to put together, and it wasn’t long before it was ready for the oven. It’s a rainy, chilly day here, and it will go perfectly with the homemade vegetable soup simmering away on the stove right now. I used a course grind wheat flour, called Ellisons Trojan ( local grinder). My husband hates wheat breads (store bought), and have my fingers crossed that this will pass over his taste buds gently. We shall see……thanks for the recipe.
you know you are going to make me buy a mixer … birthday and Christmas/Holidays coming up 🙂
Too bad I don’t get a commission! Just kidding of course! I amazed you’ve been doing all this great baking all by hand. WOW!
Vraiment Martine, c’est un plaisir, surtout pour une personne si charmante que vous!
Ne vous en faites pas pour le pain! Une fois que vous aurez pris l’habitude de faire cette petite “éponge” avec la levure et l’eau chaude avec la 1/2 cuillerée de sucre, le reste se fait tout seule:
Pendant que la petite “éponge” gonfle (ca prendra à peu près 8 à 10 minutes),
mettez le reste d’eau chaude (1 cup), la farine complète (3 cups) et l’huile (3 Tablespoons) dans le grand bol d’un mixer électrique automatique qui tourne tout seul.
Une fois vote petite “éponge” bien levée, verser ca par dessus le reste, et voila!! mettez ca en marche et ca y est!!
merci! c’est encore plus facile en ..français! mon pain se présente bien pour le moment!!
bonsoir de France , décidément, j’adore votre blog, c’est bien gentil de partager toutes ces belles recettes avec nous, merci beaucoup! vous insistez sur le fait de bien suivre vos instructions , n’ayez crainte , nous les suivrons pas à pas avec grande confiance! la neuro-scientifiaque que vous êtes , a dû expérimenter énormément avant de …publier! ah!ah! je cours faire votre pain , je pensais que c’était plus difficile que ça à faire!!! je vous dirai! et ….merci encore!! martine
Does the whole-wheat flour that you use have wheat germ in it?
Yes, Jenn! I use Hodgson Mill 100 % stone ground Whole Wheat flour which preserves the bran and germ as well.
Thanks! I’m in Canada and our whole-wheat flour does not include the germ. I will add it back in. Look forward to trying your bread recipe. Thanks!!
My pleasure! let me know how it goes! I love this bread!
Are you using whole wheat bread flour? Or just whole wheat – that always confuses me…
Just good old whole wheat flour!