Mostly Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe

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A good whole wheat sourdough bread recipe is essential for any home baker. It’s packed with fibre, nutrition, and a deep, nutty flavour that you just can’t get from white bread alone. Done right, whole wheat bread can be soft, hydrated, and wonderfully chewy—nothing like the dry, crumbly loaves many people imagine when they hear “whole wheat”.

Read all the way through to understand the basics of sourdough bread-making before making this mostly whole wheat sourdough bread loaf!

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Whole wheat sourdough bread is one of my favourite loaves—and it’s highly underrated. Whole wheat often gets a bad reputation because many people think of dry, crumbly, yeasted breads that didn’t ferment long enough to properly hydrate.

That’s where sourdough changes everything. The slow fermentation process allows whole wheat flour to fully hydrate, develop deep flavour, and create a loaf that’s not only nutritious, but genuinely delicious.

Whole wheat sourdough bread doesn’t have to be thought of as a “health food” you tolerate—it can easily become a well-loved staple in your home. Let’s bring back the beauty of real whole wheat bread!

Sourdough Starter

If you’re here, I’m assuming you have a sourdough starter and generally know how to use it. It is beyond the scope of this post to teach you how to create and maintain a sourdough starter.

However, if you don’t already have a starter and you want to make one and learn how to maintain it, sign-up down below and get yourself a free e-book guide. There, you’ll learn how to create your own sourdough starter with just flour, water, warmth, and time.

Once you have an established sourdough starter and you know how to identify when it’s active or needs a fresh feeding, you’re pretty much good to go. It doesn’t matter much whether its thin, batter-like, or stiff, a healthy starter will make healthy bread.

Whole Wheat Flour

Conventional whole wheat flour from the store usually comes in one simple form: “whole wheat flour.” But if you dig a little deeper into the world of whole grains, you’ll find there’s a whole range of options available. Some whole wheat flours are better suited for bread making, others are softer and more ideal for pastries. Then there are the cousins of wheat—like spelt—and varieties like sifted or fully whole grain flour.

Personally, I like to blend freshly milled hard red wheat, hard white wheat, and spelt for my bakes. It’s definitely not necessary, but I enjoy the balance of flavour and texture it brings. If you’re just starting out, using store-bought whole wheat flour is absolutely fine. You’ll still get a beautiful, hearty loaf!

Where To Source Fresh-Milled Whole Wheat Flour

If you’re living in a city, you can mostly likely find a bakery or fancy grocery store that sells fresh-milled flour. You can also buy fancier whole wheat flour online.

If you’re living in the country and you can source whole-grains, you may want to consider milling your own flour. You can start without making a large investment by using a powerful coffee grinder or blender that you already own. A step up would be purchasing a KitchenAid grain mill attachment.

If you’re really enjoying working with fresh-milled whole-grains and you have a reliable source of grain, you can also consider a Harvest NutriMill which is the one I use almost everyday and love both for its beauty and practicality.

Get your Harvest NutriMill when you’re ready to invest using this link and my discount code BRONSBREAD20 at checkout to get $20 off your order!

To Autolyse or Not to Autolyse

Autolyse is not always an essential step, but I’m realizing that it really does make a difference in the final result. I’ve always incorporated autolyse into my baking process, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ve been skipping it for beginner-friendly recipes.

While the loaves still turn out fine, I’ve noticed that the crumb tends to be tighter, drier, and denser—especially when using a high percentage of whole grain flour that absorb more water, like whole wheat, spelt and rye. Incorporating the autolyse step helps improve hydration, yielding a softer, more open crumb and a moister loaf overall that lasts longer.

You can still make a fine and impressive loaf without the autolyse step but if you’re a perfectionist like me when it comes to bread, it’s well worth the extra step.

What is autolyse?

Traditional autolyse involves mixing just flour and water, allowing them to rest before adding the starter and salt.

My preferred method is a variation called “reverse” autolyse or “starter” autolyse, where I mix the flour, water, and starter together and let it rest before adding the salt. This method kick-starts the fermentation process with the starter, helping to develop the dough’s texture and flavour before the salt is introduced.

How does holding back salt during an autolyse affect the dough?

Holding back the salt during an autolyse allows the flour to fully hydrate, which enhances gluten development and encourages the dough to become more extensible. Then, once salt it added, the dough has a perfect balance between elasticity and extensibility.

Without salt, the dough can absorb more water, which helps create a looser, more relaxed texture. This also kick-starts fermentation, as the starter can begin to work more effectively without the salt inhibiting its activity.

Salt, when added too early, can pull moisture from the dough, tighten the structure, and slow down the fermentation process, so waiting to add it gives the dough a better chance to develop a lighter, airier crumb.

What is the texture of a loaf that has undergone autolyse?

The texture of the crumb of a loaf that has gone through an autolyse is softer, shinier, more open, chewy, and hydrated.

I find loaves that haven’t undergone an autolyse come out with a tighter crumb that crumbles and stales quicker.

Water

The type of water used in sourdough baking is a topic of debate among bakers. In my experience, I’ve tried various kinds—city water, well water, filtered water, and even chlorinated water—and haven’t noticed a significant difference in the final loaf. Some bakers swear by their specific water choice, claiming it produces superior results, but I haven’t found that to be the case.

While water quality can influence the health of your sourdough starter, the variations in water types seem to have minimal impact on the outcome of the bread itself. Ultimately, use the water you have available and focus on other key factors like flour quality and fermentation time. I think if you can drink the water, you can make bread with the water.

Salt

Salt is another topic of debate among bakers. While I don’t think you’d notice much of a difference between salts, the salts that are less refined with a higher mineral content tend to support the fermentation process.

For example, Himalayan sea salt, Celtic grey salt, and Redmond real salt, will all support fermentation. Highly refined table salt may inhibit fermentation.

Warmth

Fermentation thrives in warmth, and maintaining the right dough temperature is key to achieving the perfect loaf. For optimal fermentation and a balanced flavour, aim for a dough temperature between 23-26°C (73-79°F).

When the dough temperature falls below this range, the bulk fermentation process can become very long, resulting in an excessively sour loaf and possibly tight crumb structure. On the other hand, temperatures above this range can lead to over-proofing, which weakens gluten strength and also produces a very sour loaf with a sticky crumb.

With practice, you’ll be able to adapt if the dough temperature goes out of range. For example, if its too warm, I’ll pop my dough in the fridge for an hour or so. If it’s too cold, I’ll keep it in the oven with the light on or with the ‘proof’ setting on until it reaches ideal temperature.

When the house is particularly hot, I’ll use cold water to mix my dough. If its particularly cold, I’ll use very warm water to mix my dough.

Time

The time your dough takes to double in size relies on dough temperature, hydration of the dough, and health of your sourdough starter. It is difficult to predict how long things will take when you’re just starting out.

If your dough is on the warmer side, wetter, or made with an active starter, it will proof faster.

If your dough is on the colder side, stiffer, or made with an immature, cold, or over-fermented starter, it will take much longer to proof.

Once you get the hang of it and understand how the dough behaves in your environment and how to manipulate it, timing will become more predictable.

Materials You’ll Need

Medium-Sized Mixing Bowl: A heavy set ceramic mixing bowl would work best.

Bowl Cover: Anything that covers and seals the bowl. I use these reusable elastic bowl covers but you can use a plate or wet kitchen towel.

Dough Whisk (optional): It is cleaner to get things started with a dough whisk but it’s definitely not necessary. I like using my hands to mix, it probably makes the dough better.

Plastic Bench Scraper: I find this tool very handy for cleaning and scraping the dough out of the bowl. It can also be used for dividing dough and pre-shaping.

Metal Bench Scraper: I use this tool for dividing dough, pre-shaping, and cleaning the table. Not essential though, as the plastic bench scraper can serve similar purposes, but I like using both.

Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups and Spoons: I prefer using a kitchen scale but if measuring cups and spoons is all you have then that’s all you need to get started.

10″ Proofing Vessel: I’m using a large round banneton basket but you can use a bowl lined with a cotton kitchen towel.

Razor Blade or Sharp Knife: I haven’t found a bread lame I really like so I just use razor blades as is. They’re cheap and sharp and easy to control. You can also use a sharp kitchen knife or any bread lame of your choice. A bread lame is a tool used to hold razor blades for scoring.

Dutch Oven: I’d like to say this one isn’t essential but it is very practical. Especially when you’re just learning and don’t understand steam. You can get great results as a beginner by just using a dutch oven.

I’m using a cast iron pan with a tray of water on the rack below for steam for this particular bake but a dutch oven makes it’s own steam which is easier.

Parchment Paper: For lining your dutch oven so your loaf doesn’t stick.

Cooling Rack: For cooling down your loaf.

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour: I use fresh-milled organic whole wheat flour but any whole wheat flour from the store will get the job done.

White Flour: I use Rogers all-purpose flour, nothing fancy.

Active Sourdough Starter: An active sourdough starter is bubbly with large bubbles, a domed top, double to triple in size, sweet and sour smelling, and floats in water. A perfectly active starter is essential for the perfect loaf but it’s not essential to make sourdough bread. You can work with the starter you have even if it’s not perfectly active, just expect inferior results.

Salt: I use Himalayan sea salt but any salt is good. Avoid highly processed table salt. The more mineral content, the better.

Water: Any drinking water can be bread-making water.

How To Make Mostly Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Mix the Dough: In a sturdy mixing bowl, combine lukewarm water and active sourdough starter. Break up the starter into small, shaggy pieces using your hands or a spatula.

Add Flours: Add whole wheat flour and white flour. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated, and there are no dry bits. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour.

Add Salt: Sprinkle salt on top of your dough with a splash of water. Incorporate by hand by squeezing and mixing until all salt is dissolved and incorporated. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour.

Stretch-and-Fold: After the rest, perform the first round of stretch-and-folds, gently stretching the dough and folding it over itself until the dough becomes tight (4-8 times).

Second Stretch-and-Fold: Repeat the stretch-and-fold process for a total of 2 rounds.

Bulk Fermentation: Allow the dough to rest until it doubles in size. This can take anywhere from 4-12 hours, depending on the ambient temperature (longer in a cooler environment, shorter in a warmer one).

Shaping & Bench Rest: After the bulk fermentation, turn the dough out onto the counter and shape into a round ball and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes. If the dough doesn’t feel gassy or relaxed after this time, allow it to rest for an additional 30 minutes.

Final Shape: After resting, tighten up the round dough ball once again by rounding it on your surface, creating tension. Place your tightly shaped dough ball upside down (seam side up) in a lined 10″ proofing vessel.

Cold Proof: Cover the loaf and refrigerate for 8-24 hours for a cold proof.

Bake the Bread: Preheat a Dutch oven in your oven for 1 hour at 500°F (260°C).

Score: Once preheated, flour the bottom of your loaf and carefully flip onto parchment paper or a silicone mat, lightly flour the surface, and score the top.

Insert Loaf: Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, place the scored loaf inside, cover with the lid, and return it to the oven.

Bake: Bake at 500°F (260°C) for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 10-15 minutes at 425°F (220°C) until the crust reaches your desired colour.

Cool: Remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and place it on a cooling rack. Allow the loaf to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Enjoy: Once cooled, enjoy your mostly whole wheat sourdough bread with a generous amount of butter!

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