Whole Wheat Italian Bread — Crusty, Rustic Homemade Loaves

Homemade crusty Italian bread is the perfect comforting side dish to most any meal.

This easy fresh bread goes great with your Italian dishes as well as your fancy feast celebration meals.

Rustic and hearty these whole grain loaves of bread are sure to be welcome at every meal you serve.

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

If you have some bread baking experience under your belt and would like to try some baking with whole-wheat flour this is a great recipe to try.

Baking with whole wheat flour is just slightly different than breads with 100% all purpose or white bread flour.

The great thing about these wider, oblong loaves is that they hold together very well even if you haven’t quite perfected kneading whole grains.

While a beginner could make these loaves it is definitely helpful to have some kneading experience under your belt to have the best success with this recipe.

Sponge Technique

This recipe uses a sponge technique, which is just letting a bit of the flour soak with the water and yeast before finishing the rest of the bread.

In my experience, this is a great way to make whole grains, as the soaking helps make the bread a bit smoother, which is helpful for folks who like it a little less grainy. 

This does mean you have to allow the dough to rise a total of three times but this just sitting and hands-off time.

Flour Choices

To keep this a rustic Italian bread, I used a mixture of whole wheat flour and bread flour. The bit of bread flour keeps it a little lighter and more likely to be embraced by more folks.  

You could use 100% whole wheat flour, if desired, add the flour slowly as it will absorb more water than the bread flour and you may need less.

There is a commercially available white whole wheat flour – I did not that test that in this recipe but imagine it would work out just fine.

If you don’t have bread flour on hand, unbleached all-purpose flour would work as a substitute. 

If you’d like a hands-off whole wheat option, my light whole wheat bread machine recipe lets your machine do all the work.

Make It Even Crustier

Do you want a very crusty loaf of bread? Add some moisture to the oven while baking.

One of the easiest ways to add the moisture is to put some water in spray bottle and spray down the oven walls after you put the bread in the oven and close the door quickly.

Like french bread, you can also use a pastry brush to brush some cold tap water onto the dough before baking.

Troubleshooting

My whole wheat loaves are very dense. Some density is normal with whole wheat flour, it’s a heartier loaf than a white Italian bread by nature. The sponge technique helps with this, but if the loaves are denser than you’d like, try increasing the bread flour ratio slightly and reducing the whole wheat. Also make sure you’re giving the dough the full rise time at each stage — whole wheat doughs need the time.

My dough is very sticky and hard to knead. Whole wheat doughs are always slightly stickier than white flour doughs — that’s normal and mentioned in the recipe. Resist the urge to add too much extra flour, which will make the loaves tight and dry. Flour your hands and the board, work quickly, and trust the process.

My loaves spread wide instead of holding their shape. This usually means the dough was slightly over-proofed during the final rise or the dough was too wet. Shape the loaves firmly and make sure the final rise is just until doubled — not beyond. A slightly shorter final proof gives better oven spring and helps the loaves hold their shape.

The crust isn’t as crusty as I’d like. Try the water spritz method described above — spraying the oven walls right after loading the bread makes a real difference. Also make sure the oven is fully preheated before the bread goes in.

Bread Shape

A wide oblong loaf of bread is the shape of the white flour Italian bread of my youth and so the shape I always go with here. 

It’s not the only choice, however, you could do long thin batards or round loaves. You could also bake in regular bread pans if desired.

Make buns or rolls by dividing the dough into 12 or 24 and shaping small.

Watch the baking time – larger loaves will likely need more time, rolls will likely need about 10 or 15 minutes less. 

How to Serve

The great thing about homemade bread is that there isn’t really a wrong way to serve it.

Serve slices with butter, a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, and roasted peppers as an appetizer.

It’s the perfect bread to serve alongside hearty one dish meals like creamy chicken noodle soup or with light salads to round out a meal.

We definitely use it for sandwiches and basic toast in our house.

For a slightly sweeter whole wheat sandwich bread, my honey wheat bread machine recipe is a reader favorite.

How to Store

Keep leftovers in an airtight container and they will stay fresh for up to 4 days.

For longer term storage, wrap loaves in plastic wrap or store in freezer bags and freeze. You can also use a sharp serrated knife and slice the bread before freezing.

Use up any frozen bread within 6 months for best flavor. 

Thaw frozen bread at room temperature prior to serving.