100% whole wheat bread or atta bread recipe with step by step photos – a recipe to give you a really good wheat bread with the ingredients you have at home.
This is a soft bread with a light crumb. the recipe does not have the typical denseness and heaviness which is found in 100% whole wheat bread. There is a special & secret ingredient in the recipe that helps in the gluten development.
I embarked upon this ingredient one day when I was making naan. Typically the Indian Naan and Bhatura have one ingredient that helps in the leavening process and gives a soft texture, even when the naans are made without yeast. I thought why not try using this ingredient in a bread. And it worked like a charm.
Later while studying more about bread baking, I came to know that an acidic medium in limits, helps in gluten development. So no wonder that this ingredient worked. So before you ask me what is the secret… Let me tell you – its Curd or yogurt.
Well the bread has a slight taste of yogurt, but really it does not matter. Later I experimented with another two acidic ingredients – Vinegar and lemon juice and these too worked very well. With vinegar the bread had a slight taste of vinegar, but we had no issues. As a vegetarian, you can use dairy yogurt and as a vegan you can use cashew yogurt or vinegar or lemon juice.
To make this bread, I have used instant yeast. i have mentioned the proportions of Dry active yeast, as well in the recipe details and the method too. I brought the instant yeast from amazon.in and the brand is gloripan instant dry yeast.
With instant yeast the leavening and rising time is faster than compared with dry active yeast. you also don’t need to proof the instant yeast like the dry active yeast. You just add the yeast into the flour and knead the dough.
I kneaded the dough with hands just to show you the texture of the dough. You can use a food processor or stand mixer also to knead the dough. At times I use kitchenaid to make dough for White bread, Brown bread And Sandwich bread.
I have also used chakki ground(stone ground) organic atta. You can use any good quality atta to make this bread. I made veg sandwich, paneer bread roll and cheese chilli toast with the atta bread.
Step by step 100% whole wheat bread recipe
1. Mix the whole wheat with salt and add in the instant yeast.
2. Add in the yogurt and ghee or butter or oil.
3. First mix well and then knead into a soft dough adding water at intervals. The dough will be slightly sticky but after the initial rise, it will be fine. If the dough looks dry, then you can add some more water. If the dough looks too sticky, then add some more flour. Knead very well. Kneading for an overall 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Keep the kneaded dough in a wide bowl and just lightly brush water all over it.
5. Keep covered for 30-35 minutes. The bread dough after the first rise.
6. Later punch and lightly knead the dough. Make a log of the dough and seam the edges.
Making wheat bread
7. Place the dough log in a greased loaf pan of 9 x 5 inches and let it rise for 40 to 45 mins.
8. The bread after the second rise. Before baking preheat the oven for 20 minutes at 220 degrees celsius. If using a convection oven or oven with a fan, then preheat at 200 or 205 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.
9. Make a 2 to 5 mm cross or slits on the bread and lightly brush with milk. Brushing with milk is an optional step. You can even brush with some oil or butter or ghee.
10. Bake the whole wheat bread in a preheated oven for 220 degrees celsius for 22-25 mins. If using convection oven or an oven with a fan, then bake at 200 or 205 degrees celsius or reduce the time of baking.
When the wheat bread is still hot, remove from the pan and keep it on the wire rack to cool. Once cooled, Serve the bread or wrap in a cling film or keep in a bread box. Serve wheat bread whenever required. You can also use this atta bread to make various recipes like Bread pakora, Bread rolls etc.
More bread recipes
wheat bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups 100% whole wheat flour (atta) - 360 grams
- 1 to 1.25 cups water - 250 ml to 312 ml - i added 1.25 cups water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast or ½ tablespoon dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon regular salt or rock salt (sendha namak)
- 1 tablespoon regular sugar or unrefined cane sugar
- 2 tablespoon ghee or oil or butter
- 2 tablespoons curd (yogurt or dahi - dairy or vegan) or 1 to 1.5 tablespoon vinegar or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- some milk for brushing the top of the bread (dairy or vegan) - optional
Instructions
preparing bread dough with instant yeast
- Sieve the flour with salt or just mix the flour with the salt.
- Add the 1 tsp instant yeast and just lightly mix.
- Then add sugar, oil (or oil or butter) and curd.
- First just mix everything lightly and then slowly adding water in intervals knead to a smooth, soft dough.
- Add more water if required. The dough should be slightly sticky.
- Brush some water all over the dough and keep in a deep wide bowl covered with a lid or kitchen towel for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove and then lightly punch & knead the dough again.
- Make a log of the dough and seam the edges.
baking wheat bread
- Place it in a greased loaf pan for 40-45 minutes.
- Cover and let it rise.
- Preheat the oven at 220 degrees c for atleast 20 minutes.
- Once the bread has risen in the loaf pan, keep in the oven and bake at 220 degrees celsius for 22 to 25 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
- If the wheat bread begins to brown from the top, then cover with butter paper or aluminium foil.
- When whole wheat bread is still lightly hot, remove from the loaf pan and keep it on a wired tray to cool.
preparing bread dough with dry active yeast
- Warm 1 or 1.25 cups of water.
- Add 1 tbsp sugar and dry active yeast.
- Stir and let the yeast activate.
- This usually takes about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Sieve both the flour with salt.
- Add the proofed yeast mixture, ghee/butter/oil and yogurt.
- Mix all the ingredients first.
- Then begin to knead the dough.
- Add more water if required. The dough should be slightly sticky.
- Continue to knead, till you get a smooth dough which when stretched doesn't tear.
- Rub or brush water all over the dough and keep in a covered bowl to leaven for 1.5 to 2 hours.
- After 1.5 to 2 hours, remove the dough and punch and deflate it lightly.
- Roll a single log of the dough.
- Tuck the edges down on both sides of the bread loaf.
baking wheat bread
- Place the bread in a greased loaf pan (9×5 inches) with the tucked edges facing downwards.
- Cover the loaf pan and let the dough leaven for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven at 220 degrees c for at least 20 minutes.
- Once the bread has risen in the loaf pan, give a 2 to 5 mm cross or slits on the bread and lightly brush with milk.
- Then keep in the oven and bake bread at 220 degrees celsius for 22 to 25 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
Hi, I tried your bread recipe. It wasn’t a total failure but it was quite dense. I followed all the steps as you mentioned. Is it supposed to be dense. Not quite soft like the market bought one. What did I miss?
when the bread turns dense, one of the main culprit is the yeast. either it is the quality of yeast or the yeast has not activated well enough. which yeast did you use? in the market what they sell as instant yeast is actually dry active yeast and it needs to be activated separately. if it is added directly to flour, the yeast will not activate and the bread will be dense. let me know.
Hi Dassana, Thanks for your reply. I used Bluebird instant dry yeast. And I mixed it directly into the flour. Maybe next time I will proof it first. Also, the dough was not as sticky as it shows in certain videos.
Can you please give metric measures for this recipe. Sometimes cup measures are not accurate and I have seen that metric measures are always better with no room for errors.
hi runa, thanks for replying back. the bluebird instant yeast needs to be activated in a warm water solution to which sugar has been added. i have used bluebird yeast many years back and the bread texture even after activating the yeast would not be soft. later i switched to using instant yeast and the results were good. the dough can be slightly sticky, but not too much. i will be taking better photos and update in the recipe. i bake often and make different types of bread. i will update the measurements in grams. thanks.
you can consider buying this instant yeast (link below) which i use and it is really a good one. i keep in the freezer for a longer shelf life.
link here – https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00K5IJIMS/