Whole Wheat French Bread

Whole Wheat French Bread

Katrin Ray Shumakov / Getty Images

Prep: 2 hrs
Cook: 25 mins
Total: 2 hrs 25 mins
Servings: 10 servings

Sure, you can buy some whole wheat French bread at the store, but you won't get the same delicious flavor as homemade French bread. This is a very easy recipe to use, great for beginners, and it does not require any fancy pans—just a baking sheet.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. In a medium bowl, mix water and yeast. Add brown sugar, salt, and whole wheat flour. Mix well. Slowly add in remaining bread flour, enough to make a dough that follows the spoon around the bowl.

  2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes, adding more flour as needed until the dough is soft and smooth to the touch.

  3. Place dough in a medium-sized greased bowl. Turn dough over in a bowl so that the top is also lightly greased.

  4. Cover dough with a clean cloth and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

  5. Grease and sprinkle cornmeal over a baking sheet. Punch down dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 4 minutes or until the bubbles are out of the bread.

  6. Roll out dough into a long rectangle, about 15 inches in length. Roll up dough along the long side. Pinch seams and tuck under ends. Place loaf on a prepared baking sheet.

  7. Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.​

  8. Use a sharp knife to cut 4 or 5 slashes across the top. Bake bread at 375 F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove bread from the sheet and let cool on a rack.

Tips

  • Bread flour has a higher amount of gluten than all-purpose flour. This means that bread made with bread flour will rise higher than bread made with all-purpose flour. You can make your own bread flour by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons gluten to each cup of all-purpose flour you use in your bread recipe.
  • Keep yeast stored in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. Heat, moisture, and air kills the yeast and prevents bread dough from rising.
  • Store flour properly to keep it from spoiling.
  • Spraying rolls with water while they bake will produce a crispy crust. Brush rolls with egg white before baking to produce a shiny crust, brush with milk to produce a dark, shiny crust, and brush rolls with butter immediately after baking to produce a soft crust.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
101 Calories
1g Fat
21g Carbs
4g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 10
Amount per serving
Calories 101
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 1%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 118mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 21g 8%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 8mg 1%
Iron 1mg 4%
Potassium 77mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)