You might be surprised that you can make a 100% whole wheat sourdough bread that is actually delicious! You can also make a 100% whole wheat bread that isn’t unappealingly dense and heavy. My favorite whole wheat sourdough bread recipe produces a wholesome, nutty, and wheat-y loaf of bread. Yes, wheat-y! And, bonus – it’s not super dense, gummy, and heavy. If you’re venturing into the world of whole grains, try out this 100% whole wheat sourdough bread recipe. I’m sure you’ll love it!
I make this 100% whole wheat sourdough bread in the same style as my regular sourdough bread. It’s a free-form hearth loaf that’s baked in a Dutch oven and not in a pan. A such, I score it and bake it just like my standard sourdough bread, with one long slash and baked at a high temperature! It comes out dark and crusty on the outside, but moist and soft on the inside.
Here are the ingredients and steps for how to make it.
Starter (aka Levain) Ingredients
Sourdough Starter……………………….50g (or 10g if you want to let it ferment overnight)
Whole Grain Wheat Flour…………..50g
Water…………………………………………….50g
Dough Ingredients
Whole Grain Wheat Flour – 450g
Water – 350g
Active Sourdough Starter – 100g
Salt – 10g
Some of My Favorite Baking Tools (Affiliate Links):
Baker of Seville Bread Lame
Oval Banneton Basket
Non-Stick Bread Pan
Non-Stick Focaccia Pan
1. Feeding Your Starter
Mix the leftover sourdough starter with the water and whole wheat flour. Let it ferment for 3-4 hours until it has doubled in size and it’s ready to use. If you want to feed yours starter the night before, use just 10g of leftover starter instead of 50g and it should be about doubled in size in the morning.
Learn how to make your own sourdough starter from scratch with my free guide.
2. Mixing The Dough
The recipe requires just a simple mix. No autolyse or anything complicated is required. Pour all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir them together. Mix everything around with a wooden spoon or a bowl scraper until it forms a rough dough. You’ll find that even at 80% hydration this dough really holds together well. 100% whole wheat flour is thirsty!
3. Bulk Fermentation
- Once the dough is mixed, cover it up with a kitchen towel or a linen and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- A half hour later, perform the first set of stretch and folds. Then, cover and let the dough rest again for 30 minutes.
- Next, do stretch and fold number two! Cover and rest for another 30 minutes.
- After this last thirty minute rest, perform the third and final set of stretch and folds. You’ll find that the dough keeps building more and more strength during each set of stretch and folds and the subsequent rest periods. It should be a night smooth ball of dough now without any clumps.
- Now that you’ve done all the stretching and folding, move the dough to a clean container if desired, cover, and let it bulk ferment in a warm place for 4.5 more hours, or until roughly doubled in size. In the colder months, I like to keep my dough in the oven, turned off, of course, with the light on.
4. Shaping
- Remove the dough from its container and pre-shape it into a ball on the counter. Use a little whole wheat flour on the counter if necessary.
- Let the dough rest and relax, covered, for 30 minutes.
- After the bench rest, shape the dough into a batard (oval) shape as seen in the video. Flip it seam-side-up into a banneton basket dusted with rice flour.
5. Proofing
Move the banneton basket to the fridge to let it proof overnight in a cold environment. Make sure to let it proof for at least 8 hours in the fridge and up to 24 hours. If you want to proof it at room temperature, leave the banneton basket covered up on the counter and it should be ready to bake in two hours.
6. Scoring
- Pre-heat your oven to 500°F/260°C (or as high as it can go) for 30 minutes. Put your dutch oven or other baking vessel in the oven to pre-heat along with the oven.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and turn it out onto a sheet of parchment paper.
- Score the dough with one long slash using a razor blade or a dough lame.
- Transfer the dough with the parchment paper and all into the dutch oven.
7. Baking the 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
- Bake the bread at 500°F for 20 minutes with the dutch oven lid on.
- Remove the lid after 20 minutes and admire the oven spring!
- Keep baking for 15-20 more minutes with the dutch oven lid off. You can remove the bread when it has the color you’re looking for.
- Let the bread cool for at least and hour before slicing and enjoying!
Flavor and Texture
This 100% whole wheat sourdough bread has a very slight tang. You almost don’t notice the tang while eating it, but if you compare it to a yeasted whole grain bread, you definitely notice the superiority of the sourdough! The whole wheat offers a super deep and complex flavor that you don’t get with a mostly white country loaf.
This whole grain loaf is not as fluffy as a sourdough bread made with mostly bread flour, but’s it’s definitely not dense or heavy. I would describe it as full and wholesome.
This bread is AMAZING toasted with a slather of butter. The toasting caramelizes the natural sugars in the bread and transforms a slice into a delicious breakfast item.
Video
If you’re diving into the world of 100% whole grain sourdough breads, definitely give this recipe a try! You won’t be disappointed.