100% Whole Wheat Atta Bread
Moist, soft, fluffy 100% Whole Wheat Atta sandwich bread loaf recipe which is 100 percent whole grain. Made with Indian atta. Step by step pictures.
People are crazy behind baguettes, crusty breads, french loaves etc…but what gives me a lot of joy is a good old soft sandwich loaf with a lot of flavor. I belong to the soft fluffy kind when it comes to bread loaves. “Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods, and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” Here is that one 100% whole wheat loaf you were looking for. Lets jump into making a 100% Whole Wheat Atta sandwich loaf. If you are going to be baking with 100% Whole Wheat Atta please read this before you continue ! I am sorry. I am a little bossy. Thank you for understanding.
First lets get the yeast working. Add quarter cup of warm water plus a pinch of sugar to the yeast and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy. If it doesn’t foam, discard and start again with a fresh batch of yeast. Indian yeast is temperamental. so do not skip this step if you are in India.
Measure all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Do not pack the flour while measuring. Use the “scoop and sweep” method. Add in the vital wheat gluten and the salt. Set aside.
Measure 1 1/3 cups of warm water in a bowl. Add in quarter cup of olive oil. Add in quarter cup of honey. There is a neat little trick I learned a long time back. By measuring oil first and measuring honey next, the honey will just slide into the bowl without sticking because of the coating of the grease. Neat trick.
Now add in the water mixture and the yeast mixture.
Mix until roughly combined. We are not trying to knead anything yet. Once combined, let it rest for 20 minutes. Letting it rest will hydrate the dough well and activate the gluten.
So back in business. Once the rest has been completed, lets knead. I used a kitchen-aid to knead my dough. Its very easy to over knead in a stand mixer. Knead for 4 minutes on medium speed. Finish kneading on the table by hand. Shape the loaf and let it rise in a bowl until nearly doubled.
Why only nearly doubled ? Rose Levy Beranbaum writes about her whole wheat epiphany loaf and she says “I discovered that the secret to lightness of the crumb was not only the freshness of the flour but also not allowing the dough to double during rising which tears the more fragile gluten.” So the first rise – Do not allow it to over proof. Gotcha?
After the first rise, gently deflate the dough and shape it into a log.
Place it in a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan and cover the pan with a lightly greased plastic wrap. Allow it to rise for 1 to 2 hours, till it’s crowned about 1 or 2 inches over the rim of the pan.
My pan is tall. so it did not rise above the rim. The below picture shows the difference between the traditional 9 inch by 5 inch pan and my tall pan. I just showed this picture so no confusion.
Preheat the oven to 180 C for 20 minutes. Bake the bread for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan to cool.
100% Whole Wheat Atta Bread Printable Recipe
- 1⅓ cups lukewarm water
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 tablespoon Vital wheat Gluten
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon Active dry yeast
- pinch of sugar
- ¼ cup warm water
- First lets get the yeast working. Add quarter cup of warm water plus a pinch of sugar to the yeast and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy. If it doesn’t foam, discard and start again with a fresh batch of yeast.
- Measure all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Do not pack the flour while measuring. Use the “scoop and sweep” method. Add in the vital wheat gluten and the salt. Set aside.
- Measure 1⅓ cups of warm water in a bowl. Add in quarter cup of olive oil. Add in quarter cup of honey. There is a neat little trick I learned a long time back. By measuring oil first and measuring honey next, the honey will just slide into the bowl without sticking because of the coating of the grease.
- Now add in the water mixture and the yeast mixture.
- Mix until roughly combined. We are not trying to knead anything yet. Once combined, let it rest for 20 minutes. Letting it rest will hydrate the dough well and activate the gluten.
- Once the rest has been completed, knead for 4 minutes on medium speed. Finish kneading on the table by hand. Shape the loaf and let it rise in a bowl until nearly doubled.
- After the first rise, gently deflate the dough and shape it into a log.
- Place it in a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan and cover the pan with a lightly greased plastic wrap. Allow it to rise for 1 to 2 hours, till it’s crowned about 1 or 2 inches over the rim of the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C for 20 minutes. Bake the bread for 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan to cool.
Great Help,
While my loaf always came good with Maida + Gluten,we always struggled with the whole wheat atta, we have mill at home, will try your recipe
is our Maida close to Italian -00- flour
also is French T45 flour is our Maida
let me know if you have an idea about this
You’re right ! Gluten makes a whole of difference. Earlier when I baked wheat bread it used to be sticky and wet. This receipe’s bread was very fluffy. I baked with two pans instead of one so the size turned out a little bigger than rusk biscuits. I loved it ! Thank you, now I can say I found the perfect receipe for bread after many disasters. 3rd receipe I have tried from your site. Kudos to you!!
Thank you.
Hello, I bought the Whole Wheat Atta, I am gonna make an attempt to make this bread. It looks good. I have a question about this Aashirvaad Atta, do you know if this wheat company does not genetic modified their wheat? Thank you.
Hi…
Sounds interesting…. where is gluten available in Chennai?
I am not sure where its available in Chennai.
U can get it in Arife Ashok nagar or cake craft thiruvanmiyur
Hi Suguna,
I live in Chennai and have trouble finding wheat gluten here. It’s not available online either. Can you tell me where we can buy this from
You can buy in amazon.
Already searched for it in Amazon. Couldn’t find it. Any links ?
Thanks for the wonderful recipes….Tried whole wheat bread. It came out good but little dense inside, and crust was bit thicker( Tastes Good). I did not add gluten. Could this be the reason ?. Any tips
And, i tried EGGS JEANETTE. It was too good and simple to make 🙂
Regards,
Priya.
The bread needs gluten else it will be dense.
Hi, I cook for a coeliac, so have at hand Xanthan gum which helps the baking of bread etc. with the gluten free flour…. Can you tell me if I can replace this for the ‘wheat gluten’ in your recipe ??
thanks, Val
I have never tried with gluten free flour. So do not know how much liquid it will absorb etc..
Do you have a weight measure for the 4cups of flour?
Thank you Suguna….??
Hi Suguna,
Gud evening..! I made the bread today, it tasted yummy.. this my second time making this bread.. but some reason in the middle it is a bit wet. It happened earlier too.. can you help what would have gone wrong..? First time when I baked for 45 minutes, it became dark brown.. so this time I took it out when it is light brown.. can you help? Thanks in advance…
Chris
Try covering the pan with a foil to avoid burning.
The batter being wet means that the dough is not cooked yet!
Also, try calibrating the oven for temperature. If the oven is heating up more than it should, this problem may occur.
hi, i finally made the bread yesterday and it was awesome thanks so much for the recipe… i added 1 cup maida instead of atta, will now try full whole wheat bread… just wanted to know what should be the consistency of the dough should it stiff like we do for chappaties or loose and sticky because mine sunk a little from top while baking.
thanks
Hi gauri, The dough will be slightly tacky. Not stiff like chapati dough.
The reason why the top usually sinks may be because of too much yeast or over proofing of the dough.
hi, need to know as to why honey is added in the recipe also is there any other substitute of honey.
will surely write back once i try this recipe
Honey is a sweetener. You can omit honey if you do not want to add.
Hi Suguna,
Is there is any difference between vital wheat gluten and wheat gluten??
I just orders wheat gluten from eBay. Wanted to check with you, are they same or different??
Yes, the two names are used interchangeably.
Hi Suguna,
I want to try your recipe in my bread maker but 4 cups of flour is more than it can handle. I was wondering how this recipe can be scaled for a smaller loaf. Do you think it would work if all ingredients are halved ?
Thanks,
Varsha
Sure. you can halve the ingredients.
Did you try this recipe in the bread maker? Did it come out well?
Can I use wholewheat and maida.and other combination od flours.and and add gluten . Will it turn out thr same. Soft and fluffy.
I have never tried with multiple flours for this recipe.
Hi Suguna,
Would like to know if anyone has used baking bread using bread maker.
Using normal atta is not ok for bread but if adding gluten powder is the key, want to know if you or others have used this for bread maker machine please.
Many thanks for your article.
I dont own a bread maker. Always have baked bread in an oven only.
made this bread twice and liked it a lot. Thanks!! I would like to try it again but i want it less sweet this time. If I eliminate or reduce the honey,will it still work? Should i replace it with yogurt, maybe?
Sure. you can substitute. It will work I guess.
Suguna,
Can I use this recipe for 100% Whole White Wheat flour – Say, King Arthur brand?
Thanks
Vijj
Sure. you can. But personally I have not used white whole wheat. So do not know if the water quantity needs to be adjusted. Just check their site for additional info.
Hi! I’m just a couple of bakes old and haven’t really invested in too many tools. I was wondering if one may convert this loaf to rolls( no loaf pan) and if yes, then what about baking temperature and time?
Baking temp around 350F – 180C, It will take about 20 min.You will need to add vital gluten and don’t add extra flour while kneading!
Hello, This looks like a great recipe. I would like to know if there is any substitute for vital wheat gluten. I live in India and it’s not easy to find here. Thank you!
You will need vital gluten.
Hi, Nice blog regarding whole wheat sandwich bread recipe. I done from my home by using surabhi.
I have tried your sponge cake and it was delicious. Thank you. I have tried other recipes of whole wheat breads and it turns out very dense. I am going to try your recipe this time. Can you recommend any brand of vital gluten that I can get in Bangalore.
Thanks,
Preethi
There is no branded gluten available in market. I get mine from general food additives, seshadripuram.
Hi
If i wan to use breadmaker for this recepi….still need to follow same step??
Sure. You can.
Hi… Will surely try this but will this recipe work even if I knead the dough entirely by hand and not in a machine?
sure. But dont try adding more flour than specified in the recipe.
Autolyse, according to other souces is combine water and flour with rest only! without combine any yeast , sugar or salt. If you add yeast to it then rest, then it is not autolyse.
Hi. Bread was great. But whenever I made it, it did rise giving it a typical dome shape on top, but got flat later on. Please help me.
may be oven temperature or over proofing might be the problem.
Hi Suguna. Thank you for the receipe. Every time I bake whole wheat bread it is very dense. After reading your article I now understand. Please tell me where you get vital wheat gluten.
Cake supply stores.
HI, I am making this loaf and followed the recipe correctly, but while kneading i felt the water was very less. I add abt 1/3 cups of extra water and still i feel the dough is kinda hard. It does not have the softness of maida dough. Is it ok? I have kept it for rising. Its half an hr but have not seen any rise yet. where did i go wrong?
How did you measure? It wont be as soft as maida dough but looks like you measured more flour.
The bread came out very tasty but dense…… It look almost 4 hrs to size! I took 4 cups of flour. But u see, the cup measure that is available here in india is 1 cup = 200 mls. so 1/4 th cup is 50 mls. I think that is where the mistake happened. But then i thought since i am measuring atta with 200 ml cup 1/4th cup for all other measure would be proportionate. But i think i was wrong. Would it be possible for u to give me atta quantity in weight? I really want this bread. 🙁
I will update the weight soon!
Hi- can I make this loaf using ashirwad or any other pre- packaged Atta available in the Indian market?could you also let me know how many grams is one cup atta or what is the size of the cup used -how many ml water can it hold? I have got door stoppers- completely dense and heavy bread when I have tried baking whole wheat bread in the past- really looking for a good recipe!
Yes you can use store bought atta. But you will have to add vital gluten to the recipe. 1 cup is 250 ml.
Tried your wholewheat sandwich bread recipe… Came out soooo good. Thankyou very much for sharing the recipe Am not able to attach the photo though
Thank you so much vidhya. You can send a mail to me with the pic at sugunaindia at gmail.
CAN V SUBSTITUTE HONEY WITH BROWN SUGAR
is vital wheat gluten same as gluten powder
Yes vital gluten and gluten powder are the same. If you want to substitute honey, you can do it with maple syrup.
But where do you find gluten. Neighborhood stores do not carry it
You can find it in cake supply stores.
Thank you thank you so much for nicely explaining the differences of wheat. I am from the USA and all of my friends here in Bangalore come form either Japan or Korea. We have been cracking brains trying to find out why our breads do not raise. So I have been going to the US and they to either Japan or Korea to purchase the flour that we know will make our breads a success. We all use bread machines which make the proccess of finding the right ingredients here evene more complicated.
BUT
Thanks to you, I have found the info and will share with my friends.
Best wishes to you.
Hello,
Much thanks for recipe and all the information. I have been wondering about the reasons as to why in India it is so hard to bake a decent loaf of bread. Using this recipe I got much better loaf then any other recipe using atta. Mine was still dense to my liking. Could it be because I did not knead it enough..or old vital wheat gluten?
Thanks, Namrata
maybe!
Hi Suguna
Your blog is so awesome, with innovative recipes. Thank you. Can I half the ingredients for baking just 1 loaf will it turn good? Can I use bread flour instead of vital gluten?
Hi Madhari, You can halve the ingredients – no problem but bread flour is not whole wheat.
Hi…loved the effort you have put into the bread baking. Can i know what oven you use for baking? I have numerous failed attempts at bread baking. Thanks!
I have a KAFF cooking range that I use Saylee!
Nice recipe.. I’m planning to try.. Can you let me know where can I get vital wheat gluten in India?
You can get in baking supply stores.
Hi,
I wanted to try this recipe but I have a rather stupid doubt. Sorry!! Is your cup measure 200 ml or 250 ml. What would be the gram equivalent of these measures.
Thanks so much!!
Hi Sher Khan, One Cup is equal to 250 ml. I do not have gram measurements for this recipe. The other measurements used are 1 tablespoon = 15ml and 1 teaspoon = 5ml. Hope this helps.
Hi – tahnk you for the detailed description on the types of whole wheat. So when you say you grind your own flour – do you own a roller mill ? which one to buy and is it easy to use?
I don’t own a roller mill. I give it in the mill nearby and grind the flour.
Nice article. Very informative on wheat types in India. I always struggled to make good loaf in India when my loafs come out great in US with hard white wheat. Wondering is gluten powder available in India? Is there any home based substitute for gluten powder? Next I visit, I’m sure to try loaf with Sarbati wheat. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid stone milling in India since that what the home chakkis are. In fact, I use stone flour mill in US to grind my hard white wheat, though the bread comes out fine.
Thanks a LOT.
Thanks for your kind words. Gluten is available in India.
Hi is there any replacement for vital gluten?
I am afraid not.
Being a co-blogger, I also believe in extensive reading & analysis to understand how different ingredients work in different conditions & different recipes. I can totally see the effort that you must have put to gather all the info and I really appreciate that and btw, that whole bread loaf looks so soft & wonderful! Keep going girl…
Thank You very much!
Guna,
Wonderful recipe. So much research…You are super…Cheers!
Thank you so much Sreekanth!