Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Learn how to make whole wheat sourdough bread with my favorite recipe. A hearty and robust whole wheat sourdough boule.

Course Sourdough

Cuisine American

Keyword sourdough whole wheat bread, whole wheat sourdough bread, whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 36

Additional Time 16

Total Time 16 51

Servings servings

Calories 142kcal

Author Lisa

Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the bread, ensuring it is active and bubbly and just about at its peak.
To a large bowl, combine water, active starter, salt, and flour with your hands for about 5 minutes.
Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for one hour for the water to hydrate the flour. This is a process called autolyse, where the flour becomes fully hydrated.

Instead of kneading, I like to do the stretch and fold method. This is where you take the dough on one side and pull it up about 6 inches, then fold it over the rest of the dough. Turn the bowl about 1/4 around and repeat the process. Do this a total of 3-4 times. This is considered one round. Cover.
First 3 stretch and folds – every 15 minutes.
Last 3 stretch and folds – every 30 minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to bulk ferment in a warm place until doubled. This usually takes my dough about 8 hours.

Shape it into a ball by gently spinning it toward you against the countertop, giving it tension. This will help the bread get really puffy.
Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes uncovered. This helps it develop a little bit of a skin, which helps prevent it from sticking to the lined basket.
Turn over on a floured surface and shape.
Transfer to a lightly floured banneton basket or bowl lined with a tea towel.
Cover with plastic and proof for 12-14 hours in the refrigerator. I will put the basket in a grocery bag and tie it. You could also let it rise in a warm spot for 2-4 hours. I like to do the refrigerator option because I can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to a week before baking, and also it is easier to create pretty designs on the top of the dough.

Place a Dutch oven into the oven and preheat to 500 degrees.
Whenever the oven is done preheating, remove the dough from the fridge, place on parchment paper, and score with a lame or razor. Find my favorite scoring patterns here.
Dust with flour on top to make the scoring pattern stand out more (optional).
Gently place the parchment paper and dough into the Dutch oven.
Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on and another 20 minutes with the lid off.
Allow to cool completely before slicing.

I like to use freshly milled whole wheat using my Mockmill, but you could also use a different kind of whole-wheat flour.
Don’t expect this to produce super fluffy bread like you would get at the store. This is due to the whole grains. If you want a fluffier loaf, try my no-knead sourdough bread.