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One of my weaknesses in life is bread. We seriously love this Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread Copycat, is there any better smell in the world than freshly made bread?
I used to be scared of making bread, but I have learned that practice makes perfect and I can whip out a couple of loaves in no time at all.
For this recipes I used a Bosch mixer to make my bread, but I have made it a couple of time without a mixer (just mixing by hand) and it still turned out delicious.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread, you will need the following ingredients:
- Water, very warm (see note)
- Active-dry yeast
- Honey
- Salt
- Whole wheat flour, (freshly ground if possible)
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to make Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread
- In a large bowl, add water, yeast, honey and salt. Let it rest for 5 minutes (or until the yeast foams).
- Add in flour 1 cup at a time, kneading it between each cup of flour added if you are making it by hand. If you are making it with a mixer (like a Bosch or Kitchen Aid), use a paddle attachment and just let it mix while you add the flour. We use a 6.5 quart mixer and it holds the dough just fine.
- Knead bread for about 5 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add only enough flour so that the dough barely pulls away from the bowl. Every time I make bread, the amount of flour I use varies – humidity and elevation will make a big difference too. I usually use between 10-11 cups.
- Preheat oven to 170℉; turn the oven off, and let dough rise inside the oven for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove bowl from oven. Spray the back of your hand with cooking spray and punch down the dough. Form into a log and cut in half, forming two larger-sized loaves. Put into 2 greased loaf pans.
- Again, preheat oven (if it’s not warm anymore) to 170℉ and let the dough in the pans rise in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size.
- Remove dough from oven and set oven temperature to 350℉. Once oven is pre-heated, place the loaves back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from pans immediately and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Favorite things to make with this bread
Here are a few of my favorite recommendations:
- Overnight French Toast Creme Brûlée Bake: This is the best French Toast you will ever taste. It is crunchy and soft, and full of sweet flavor. You will love it, especially with this bread.
- Cheesy Garlic Texas Toast: This is a perfect side for spaghetti, or any Italian dish. I love dipping my bread in my marinara sauce.
- Waldorf Turkey Sandwich: This sandwich is out of this world. Pair it with this bread and your life will be changed.
- BLT Grilled Cheese: Okay this recipe might win. It’s comfort food and deliciousness all in one. You will love how simple, easy, and delicious this sandwich is.
Storage Suggestions
This bread lasts about a week or two out on your counter or in your fridge, when kept in an airtight container, or ziplock bag.
We usually freeze the bread until we need it, then thaw it when necessary.
Enjoy More Delicious Yeast Breads
Browse our comprehensive collection of yeast leavened bread recipes here.
Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
This Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread, is so easy to make, and extremely filling. You'll love making it right at home!
Serving Servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups water, very warm (see note)
- 3 Tablespoon active-dry yeast
- ¾ cup honey
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 10-11 cups whole wheat flour, (freshly ground if possible)
Equipment
- 2 Loaf Pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add water, yeast, honey and salt. Let it rest for 5 minutes (or until the yeast foams).
- Add in flour 1 cup at a time, kneading it between each cup of flour added if you are making it by hand. If you are making it with a mixer (like a Bosch or Kitchen Aid), use a paddle attachment and just let it mix while you add the flour. We use a 6.5 quart mixer and it holds the dough just fine.
- Knead bread for about 5 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add only enough flour so that the dough barely pulls away from the bowl. Every time I make bread, the amount of flour I use varies – humidity and elevation will make a big difference too. I usually use between 10-11 cups.
- Preheat oven to 170℉; turn the oven off, and let dough rise inside the oven for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove bowl from oven. Spray the back of your hand with cooking spray and punch down the dough. Form into a log and cut in half, forming two larger-sized loaves. Put into 2 greased loaf pans.
- Again, preheat oven (if it's not warm anymore) to 170℉ and let the dough in the pans rise in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size.
- Remove dough from oven and set oven temperature to 350℉. Once oven is pre-heated, place the loaves back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from pans immediately and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Notes
You don’t want the water to be TOO hot, or it will kill the yeast. I would say that it’s maybe around 110℉. My rule of thumb is as warm as you can stand to wash your face in.
Recipe source: Kat’s Health Corner
Nutrition
Calories: 306 kcal · Carbohydrates: 67 g · Protein: 10 g · Fat: 2 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Sodium: 442 mg · Potassium: 288 mg · Fiber: 8 g · Sugar: 13 g · Vitamin A: 7 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 29 mg · Iron: 3 mg
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
After the loaf has doubled in size, in the 20-30 min, do you remove from the oven, heat it to 350 and then return to the oven to bake or leave it in while the oven heats to 350?
I took it out. My daughter got started on a batch a couple of weeks ago forgetting she had conflicts and it survived an extra punch-down and refrigeration before the final rise, so it’s pretty tough.
I’m working on this bread at high altitude (6000 ft) and my first effort wound up a little flat on top. Can you specify the bread pan size you’re using? I’m in 9×5 pans, but these loaves are huge, and I’m afraid the combination of low air pressure and no support as it rises contributed to the flat tops. My typical altitude adjustment involves adding gluten (and not using fast yeast, which seemed to be no problem here). But gluten dulls the taste, and I don’t want to touch the wonderful flavor of this bread if I can avoid it!
Hi Margo. We used the standard 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. We are at about 5000 feet and didn’t have a problem. Let us know how it all turns out. Thanks for stopping by our blog and have a great week.
No oil? Wow. Guess I need to try this to become a believer. 🙂
Hi Kimberly! So sorry about that- yes, take it out. 🙂 Let the oven preheat, and then return it to the oven. I am so sorry that I didn’t clarify! I re-wrote the instructions so that there is no confusion. 🙂 Thanks so much!
Hi. I was just wondering if you can cut this recipe in half? It seems like anytime I have tried to cut a bread recipe in half in past cases, it never turns out. What about with this bread?
You should be fine cutting this recipe in half to get one loaf.
Is this accurate? 10-11 cups of flour and this only yields 2 loaves of bread? I cannot fathom how big those loaves must be! I use 6-7 cups of flour in my current recipe and can get 3 loaves of bread out of it. Granted, they are in 8×4 pans, but still! 🙂
I love making homemade bread.
Does it have to be FAST active dry yeast? I just have active dry… also can I use the yeast packets? If so would it just be like 2 packets?
I too am wondering if this recipe should yield 3 or 4 loaves instead of just two … I tried following the recipe to a ‘t’ and after rising in the oven just 10 min, the dough of each loaf was already so huge, they were drooping over the sides of my 9×5 pans. The ingredient list feels like it should yield at least 4 as well, so I’m just a bit confused what I could be doing wrong here!
When you put the bread into the oven for the second rising do you turn the oven off like you did the first time or do you leave the oven temp at 107 degrees while the bread is rising?
Hi Janett!
I have only made this recipe using Fast Active Dry yeast, but if you try it with something else, let us know how it goes! 🙂
Hi Kristi!
To be honest, every time I have made this bread I have only gotten two loaves . . . I am not sure if it has anything to do with my altitude? I only know the very basics when it comes to bread, so I am not sure why yours didn’t turn out. I am so sorry!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Mary!
I turned it off while the bread was rising. 🙂
Hi! I made this recipe exactly as directed….EXCEPT….I used 3, 9X5 loaf pans. This made 3 nice sized loaves of bread. My altitude is 1500. So altitude could very well make a difference:)
Can you use this recipe in the bread machine?
Hi Christina!
I have only made this bread in the oven, so I don’t know if it would work in a bread machine or not. Let us know if you try it! 🙂
I make a recipe similar to this one, but for the flour I use 7-8 cups whole wheat flour OR 10-11 cups freshly ground flour. I wonder if that’ll work out better for some people.
And I make 2 large loafs plus 1 medium loaf with this.
Can you substitute instant yeast 1:1 for the active dry yeast here?
Has anybody made this with a KitchenAid stand mixer? My user manual says not to use recipes that call for moth than 8 cups of whole wheat flour so I am hesitant, but I really want to try this.
What size bread pans are you using?
9 x 5 inch or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch bread pans will work great.
In step 6 do you turn the oven off again while the loaves rise? Or leave it at 170 degrees?
Turn it back off after it heats up.
How long does the bread last after being made?
Can you freeze to serve at another time?
You can make the bread and then freeze it and use as needed. We always freeze it and pull a loaf out one at a time. Freeze in a freezer bag for freshness.
This bread recipe is missing a key ingredient – there is no oil or fat and it turns out like a dense brick of condensed wheat. Would recommend not making it or the author reviewing the recipe for missing ingredients.
It is designed to use no oil, for those of us who don’t use oil at all in any foods cooked or eaten.
It should be fine. Great Harvest uses fresh, block formed yeast. They make a loose dough called a poolish using the honey, water, yeast (not salt, at this point) and about a third of the asked for flour. Mix this by hand until incorporated, cover and let sit for about 20 minutes in a draft free and moderately warm space. After that, add the rest of the flour, a cup at a time, and salt and mix. Proofing the dough in the oven is something I have never tried but it could work. The bakery I worked at left the dough in the mixing bowl, covered, for about 40 minutes or until double in size. Then punch it down, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into loaves. Loaves were allowed to rise in a draft free place for another 30 minutes or so. Bake, cool and eat.
Trying to get the honey wheat bread recipe! Cant find it?
Do you use ground red wheat or white wheat?
We usually use white wheat. But here is some info on Red vs White – https://oureverydaylife.com/407230-hard-white-wheat-vs-hard-red-wheat.html
I have made this recipe 4 times this month since the beginning of our stay-at-home orders. The lack of oil is definitely not a problem- this is the most delicious homemade bread we have ever had!
Thank you for this delicious recipe! We love it so much at our home. ❤️ I have been getting 3 loaves each time though. We are at 5500’ so maybe that’s why? It has also been more humid and warm here which I’m sure changes things. Thanks for making our shelter-in-place orders more palatable!!
Have you ever tried making this with a sourdough starter or wild yeast? If so how would you change the recipe?
My bread turned out dry and crumbly. Any tips on making it turn out soft and chewy instead?
I made this and the recipe was perfect! It was better than I remember the great harvest bread sold at their shops. Wondering if I can switch out wheat flour for bread flour to copy cat great harvest’s country white bread? What would you recommend for modifications?
Here is a great post that explains the difference between types of flours.
https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniques/baking/difference-between-flours
Crumbly bread is often due to too much flour in the mixture. This can result, as we have said, from using the wrong quantities or from adding extra flour to compensate in dough that seems too wet. Many people also flour their work surface liberally when it comes to kneading.
With this recipe, we have only made it as directed.
Have made your recipe many times now, both for my family and for my bed & breakfast guests. The last time I made it I was out of whole wheat flour so I just used regular all-purpose. And it was still soooo tasty! Sometimes I toss in some culinary lavender and dried cranberries….Lavender Cranberry Bread, toasted, with butter, is just such a nice breakfast indulgence! Thank you for sharing this recipe with all of us home bakers.
So glad you like the bread recipe. The lavender and cranberries sound delicious! Have a great weekend and thanks for leaving us a sweet comment.
I make mine in a kitchen aid. You just have to watch it as it will start to labor and heat up. Maybe just give it a little chance to rest midway through to avoid any problems?
I weighed my dough then divided that into 3 equal loaves. They were still a bit oversized (but impressively so!!). I am making this again and will probably divide it into 4 equal loaves or two regular sized loaves and a couple of mini loaves to give away. 🙂
Any chance you could recreate the recipe for Great Harvest’s challah? It’s my absolute favorite, and unfortunately our local Great Harvest has permanently closed, a victim of the Coronavirus. I’d be so grateful!
So sorry about your Great Harvest closing because of the virus. Here is the link from one of our favorite bloggers. https://abountifulkitchen.com/challah-bread/
I looked at your bread and thought it’s too light in color to be whole wheat and after reading some if the reviews it turns out I was right as you used white wheat. When you state whole wheat, your bread would turn out a lot darker and more dense. That being said , this recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it. Thank you for sharing. Perhaps you could update the recipe to say white whole wheat. Thx again
Whoa – sounds amazing, but what if I don’t have an army to feed? Is there a scaled down version for making a single loaf?
I found this recipe to be a disaster. When it said to put it in an oven at 170 degrees and then turn off…it killed my yeast/bread. Anything over 140 degrees kills yeast so why this terrible suggestion? After a whole morning grinding wheat and getting this recipe going, I ended up with a hard lump of wheat brick. Sorry, next time I will rise at room temperature or use an oven heated to 110 degrees and turned off.
Can you tell me what size of mixer you used for this? I have a 5 qt, and my dough went all the way up the shaft and into the mixer head. I don’t know how I’m going to get it all out.
Oh no! We use a Bosch mixer and it’s a 6.5 quart.
I wonder if you suggest fresh ground white or red wheat?
For bread making hard wheat is the best. Hard red or hard white both work great.
My loaf is way too big 😂 I’m reading this right- just 2 loaves?
This is my new regular recipe fro whole wheat bread. I cannot believe it is so east and fast when it is so good- and no added oil. Works reliably. Have shared it with several friends. Whole grain and honey for your health! I need to look into your cookbook.
What is the serving size?
Grams? Slices? Size of slice?
# of servings in a loaf?
This makes 2 loaves, and you can slice it in as many slices as you want-the thickness you prefer. We sliced it to get about 8 slices per loaf and the nutrition information is at the bottom of the recipe card.
This is a great recipe. Thank you! I usually make a CC Dakota bread. Unfortunately, that takes 12- 18 hrs to rise. I enjoy the convenience of starting in the afternoon and having it available the same day!
I followed your recipe exactly. It took about 91/2 cups of flour. Elevation 915. The 2 loaves came out with glorious high tops (just like Great Harvest Bread), and are delicious! I have moved to an area that does not have Great Harvest Bread co. So I have searched and found the recipe that best resembles their Dakota bread recipe. Now, thanks to you, I have found the whole wheat bread recipe that best resembles theirs.
We are so glad that you liked the bread recipe! We love Great Harvest bread.
I have a wheat grinder, but haven’t used it a lot. What setting do you grind your wheat for this bread?
How to freshly mill flour at home for baking bread –
Empty the electric grain mill of berries.
Turn the mill on and set the grind as fine as possible until you just hear the burrs begin to touch, then quickly set the mill to one setting coarser.
Pour the whole grain berries into the hopper.
i am trying this recipe. i make all our bread and of course i’m going to play with the basic. i had great harvest bakery close when i lived in oregon. i remember getting a big round loaf with bits of apple and cinnamon. so this is going to be an experiment. i made mozzarella cheese this morning and save the whey. so that is now in the mixer for the liquid with the yeast and honey. i have extra jonagold apples so going to dice one and add to the dough with some cinnamon. and hope my experiment works.