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I’ve had several requests for my Mom’s rye whole wheat bread recipe. Mom bakes it all the time and it’s the same bread I showed you on Instagram (@natashaskitchen). The rye whole wheat flour make it a healthier bread and I feel so good about giving a warm buttered slice to my 3-yr old son (he’s in line just as soon as it comes out of the oven!). As an added bonus and because I really want you to succeed in making this bread, I’ve also included a complete photo tutorial for this recipe. So read on!
Quick breads like the no-knead artisan bread are gorgeous and are a great choice for dinner parties but they are best eaten the same day they are baked. My mom’s bread is one that keeps well in the fridge or freezer without becoming crumbly (if that makes any sense to you).
This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread. Eat one and freeze the other. My mom usually bakes 6 loaves and if all five of her girls (I have 4 sisters) stop by, she’s usually left with one loaf at the end of the day.
Watch How to Make Whole Wheat Bread:
This recipe is an all-day project (lots of effortless rising time) so it’s worth-while to double or even triple the recipe and freeze the extras for weeks of enjoyment. You do not need a bread-maker for this recipe. P.S. If you don’t have rye flour, you can substitute with more wheat flour.
Ingredients for Rye and Whole Wheat Bread:
2 1/4 cups luke warm water
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup whole wheat flour *measured correctly
3/4 cup rye flour *measured correctly
3/4 cup better for bread flour *measured correctly
plus 2 1/2 cups better for bread flour *measured correctly
2 Tbsp canola oil plus more to grease counter and pan
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
How to Make Rye and Whole Wheat Bread:
1. In a large kitchen aid mixer bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups warm water (about 100˚F), 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 Tbsp salt; stir to dissolve.
2. Sift the 3/4 cup wheat flour, 3/4 cup rye flour and 3/4 cup better for bread flour with 2 tsp yeast into the salted water. Do not discard anything left in the sifter (it’s the good stuff!); toss it into the batter. Whisk together until well blended. Let it rise on the counter uncovered for 3 hours, stirring the batter about once every hour. It will be bubbly.
3. Using the dough hook attachment add 1/2 cup Better for Bread flour until well blended, scraping down the bowl if needed. Blend in the rest of your Bread flour (2 cups) a heaping Tbsp at a time, letting the dough dissolve the flour in between each spoon (this takes about 20 min).
4. Once all the flour is incorporated, add 2 Tbsp canola oil. Let mix for an additional 20 more minutes on speed 2 with the dough hook or until dough is no longer sticking to your bowl. Note: after you add the oil it will look like it’s coming off the walls and then it will appear to get stickier, then towards the end of your 20 minutes, it will actually stop sticking to the walls as it mixes. Just let it do it’s thing and everything will work out ;). Remove dough hook and Let it rise in the bowl, uncovered, until double in volume.
5. Grease your bread pans, counter and fingers a little with the canola oil. Punch down the dough and transfer it onto the oiled counter
6. Pinch the dough in the center to form two sections with your hands. Grease your pan lightly with oil. Place dough into each prepared bread pan and mold the dough to the base of the pan (no gaps in the corners). Let it rise on the counter until 2 1/2 to 3 times in volume (about 1 1/2 hours). Bake at 360˚F for 55 minutes.
7. When done, brush the tops with butter as soon as bread comes out of the oven. Remove bread immediately from the pans and cool on a wire rack. If you leave bread in the pans, it will get moist from the steam in the pan. Once bread is just warm, butter up a slice of soft and delicous bread and enjoy. You deserve it!
Mom's Rye and Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups luke warm water
- 1/2 Tbsp salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup rye flour
- 3/4 cup better for bread flour
- plus 2 1/2 cups better for bread flour
- 2 Tbsp canola oil plus more to grease counter and pan
Instructions
- In a large kitchen aid mixer bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups warm water (about 100˚F), 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 Tbsp salt; stir to dissolve.
- Sift the 3/4 cup wheat flour, 3/4 cup rye flour, and 3/4 cup better for bread flour with 2 tsp yeast into the salted water. Do not discard anything left in the sifter; toss it into the batter. Whisk together until well blended. Let it rise on the counter uncovered for 3 hours, stirring the batter about once every hour. It will be bubbly.
- Using the dough hook attachment add 1/2 cup better for bread flour until well blended, scraping down the bowl if needed. Blend in the rest of your bread flour (2 cups) a heaping Tbsp at a time, letting the dough dissolve the flour in between each spoon (this takes about 20 min).
- Once all the flour is incorporated, add 2 Tbsp canola oil. Let mix for an additional 20 more minutes with the dough hook on speed 2 or until dough is no longer sticking to your bowl. Note: after you add the oil it will look like it's coming off the walls and then it will appear to get stickier, then towards the end of your 20 minutes, it will actually stop sticking to the walls as it mixes. Just let it do it's thing and everything will work out ;). Remove dough hook and let it rise in the bowl, uncovered, until double in volume (45 min).
- Grease your bread pans, counter and fingers a little with the canola oil. Punch down the dough and transfer it onto the oiled counter.
- Pinch the dough in the center to form two sections with your hands. Grease your pan lightly with oil. Place dough into each prepared bread pan and mold the dough to the base of the pan (no gaps in the corners). Let it rise on the counter until 2 1/2 to 3 times in volume (about 1 1/2 hours). Bake at 360˚F for 55 minutes.
- When done, brush the tops with butter as soon as the bread comes out of the oven. Remove bread immediately from the pans and cool on a wire rack. If you leave bread in the pans, it will get moist from the steam in the pan.
This looks interesting and I would like to try it out. Can I use bread maker for this recipe by just throw everything in and let the machine do all the work?
Hi Eugene, I haven’t tried in a bread machine. It depends on the size of your bread maker, whether or not you will have to adjust the recipe proportions – if your bread maker is large enough, it might possibly work to do the full batch as one large loaf. With a bread maker, you will probably want to addd the yeast with the initial water and sugar and let it proof for 5-7 minutes before adding in all of the flour and switching it on. I just haven’t tested it myself.
I have made this bread a few times now with great success I will keep this recipe for ever,as I will enter my bread in our local show see how I go
Great to hear that, John! Love it. Thank you for your great review.
Would glass pans work as well as the one’s that you use? My husband has been begging me to make bread. Can’t wait to try out your recipe. Thanks so much!
Hi Tammy! I haven’t tried that is a glass pan, I imagine it should work! If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Hi, regarding using glass – I tried this recipe over the weekend and because I only have one proper bread pan, I had to use glass for one of the loaves. It worked perfectly! Both loaves were amazing. Also, I used sprouted rye flour. My family couldn’t get enough! I don’t have a Kitchen-aid, so kneaded it for 20 minutes…. very therapeutic. 🙃Easily the best bread I’ve ever made. Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Laura! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!!
Hi, I can’t wait to try this recipe but i have a question. In the photos you show punching the dough down before removing from bowl and pinching to two pieces but the instructions don’t mention that.
Hi Sharon, you are right! I missed the punching the dough section – I added that to the photo and print-friendly instructions. Thank you so much for pointing that out!
Thank you very much for this recipe, I’ve added 1/2 cup of ground flax seeds instead of 1/2 cup of white flour & the bread turned out great!
You’re welcome Halyna! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Natasha,
I would like to try this recipe but I don’t have rye flour and bread flour.
Can I use wheat flour instead?
Please advise what would be the quantity I need to use?
Hi Sneha, that is correct. We have that note in the recipe. If you don’t have rye you are definitely welcome to use wheat.
Natasha, thank you for the recipe! The bread turned out amazing! Did you try to bake it in a bread maker? If yes, how shall I adjust the recipe?
Hi Inna, I believe my Mom has made it in a bread maker but I’m not able to ask her right now since she is on vacation. It depends on the size of your bread maker, whether or not you will have to adjust the recipe proportions – if your bread maker is large enough, it might possibly work to do the full batch as one large loaf. With a bread maker, you will probably want to addd the yeast with the initial water and sugar and let it proof for 5-7 minutes before adding in all of the flour and switching it on. I just haven’t tested it myself.
Thank you! I will try to bake the whole batch and proof water, sugar, and yeast
You’re welcome Inna! 🙂
My father in law loves rye bread but dislikes sugar in his bread, so I made him these loaves without sugar. Tastes great, and there was no discernable difference in rising times, perfect!! Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe!
You’re welcome Ianna! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your great review with other readers!
If I don’t have whole wheat flour, should I just replace that with regular flour (ya, I don’t even have bread flour), or should I add more rye flour?
Hi Ada, regular flour will work. You might enjoy some of our other bread recipes that just call for either all-purpose flour or bread flour and in most cases, those two flours can be interchanged in our bread recipes.
Just started this recipe and wondering what speed to use for the 20 minute dough-hook mixing? Usually, I’d just play it by ear, but if it’s running for 20 minutes, the speed will make a big difference!
Hi Jake, with a dough hook, you should not be exceeding speed 2 according to the Kitchenaid manufacturers instructions so I always mix on speed 2 when using a dough hook. I will include that detail in the recipe. Sorry for the late reply. We traveled all day yesterday.
A wonderful recipe – I came across it last Summer and have been making it ever since – it’s a favorite of mine. I especially love adding Carraway and onion to the dough. Thank you for sharing this!!
That’s great to hear Nica! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe so much! Thanks for sharing 😀
I too like adding caraway seeds. Sometimes, I also add fennel seeds. This week I felt like doing something very different. I chopped about 3 handfuls of walnuts and added them to the dough before adding the last half of the wheat flour to make sure that they get mixed in evenly before the dough gets too thick. I brushed the surface of the dough with oil so it wouldn’t dry out while rising. I did not put any oil in the dough, since the chopped nuts have their own oil.
Made this today. Turned out perfect. Crusty outside and fluffy inside. I milled my own rye flour. Very fresh.
Thank you for such nice review, I’m so happy to hear that you liked it 😄.
My husband and i are new to making our own bread. This looks so good and will be making it but how do you keep your bread fresh for a couple days?
Hi Lindsay, usually, I will keep it loosely wrapped in a plastic bag for a couple of days on the counter, and after that I store bread in the refrigerator since it lasts much longer in the fridge. It’s not super fresh after refrigeration though so my favorite way to eat refrigerated bread is sautéed in a small amount of butter. I freeze the second loaf right away if I’m not planning to eat it for awhile. I have found that if you freeze it fresh, it will taste fresh when you thaw it 🙂
I am trying to figure out how to use the recipe for imperial as I find cups very confusing , my attempts to convert have failed miserably, any help would be most helpful.
Eric
I am trying to use metric measurements with my current baking posts but I did not weight the flour for this one. Next time I make it, I will try to remember to include that. You’ve probably seen charts like this online, but for now, I would recommend searching for specific conversions on google.
I came across your bread recipe while searching for a rye bread to practice on for baking class! It was a long process but so worth it. Thank you for sharing. I would make this bread again. Great with some wild honey!
A baking class sounds so fun! I’m so happy you enjoyed the bread and thank you for the awesome review! 🙂
Hi Natasha. I came across your site just today and I immediately made your No Knead Artisan Bread. It was a success though mine is a bit flatter than yours. I will try to do it again. Now I see this Rye Whole Wheat Bread and I can’t can’t wait to try this. Your other recipes are wonderful too. And your Dessert Recipes….Oh my goodness! By the way, my husband and my youngest son loved the bread. God Bless you.
Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for this great recipe. Could I use only whole wheat and rye flour for this recipe? I also would like to incorporate whole grain rye to make it healthier. What do you think would be a good proportion for everything?
By the way, Thank you for creating this wonderful website with our Ukrainian cuisine for people to enjoy.
I haven’t tried those substitutions, so it’s really difficult to guess. Baking is such a science that it really needs experimentation in order to give you exact measurements. I think if you leave out the all-purpose flour, the bread probably would not be as soft. I wish I could be more helpful with your question. Thank you for your sweet comment comment 🙂
Thank you, Natasha! I will experiment 🙂
You are too sweet!
Hi Natasha! I want to bake this bread as one whole, just like the other one you have here on website. So what temperature and for how long would i bake it? Thank u!!
I haven’t tried making it as a single loaf outside of the pan so it would have to be an experiment. I imagine it is going to be about the same as the original recipe since it will be more spread out.
Hi Natasha,
I tried your “no knead artisan bread” two days back and it was a hit. Ofcourse that motivated me to try this wholesome bread as well…eventhough it’s a day process but the end result is superb! My son simply loved it. Thank you for sharing such great recipes!
Thank you Seema for the great review, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe :).
Hi Natasha,
Have you tried the same recipe with milk? I was going to try it out but thought of checking with you if it worked well?!
I haven’t tried it yet, but if you do test it out, do let me know how it goes :). I’ve made bread with whey from making cheese but haven’t tried milk.
Hi Natasha,
I tried this recipe replacing water with milk and results were really good. I would say that taste wise it was a notch higher. But during the 40mins of kneading, the dough appeared dry compared to the original version. So I added extra milk during the kneading process…say 1/8-1/4 cup more. Next time I will note the amt I increase n let u know.
Natasha, no way will my husband eat wheat bread. I was wondering if I can omit the wheat and rye flour and increase the white flour. I have been looking for a light bread recipe so I am anxious to try this on.
This doesn’t taste like a traditional wheat bread. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised :). I haven’t tried any other combination with this bread. If you want a really easy white bread that is super soft and quick to put together, you might check out my no-knead bread: https://natashaskitchen.com/2012/02/26/no-knead-artisan-bread-recipe/
Have been making your Artesian Bread for several months and it is easy to make, has a wonderful texture and taste. Makes me look good every time I make it.
I love that! Thanks for sharing your great review!
Hi, can i substitute regular white flour for better for bread flour?
Thanks
Ina
Bread flour is typically better for breads since it has a higher level of gluten which creates a stronger rise, but it would work if aren’t able to get the bread flour.
I think my husband makes a similar bread. It took him some time to develop his own process and proportions. Usually it’s overnight. Great additions: dried cranberries and walnuts or pecans. Another option: chopped olives.
Regarding the freezing for those who asked: let the bread cool down on wire rack. Then slice it as thin as you like, put in zipper bag and freeze. This way it’s so easy to take out just as many slices as you need.
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂