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Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
By Alexandra Stafford
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Last Updated: 01/22/2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Made with a small portion of stone-milled whole wheat flour, this sourdough bread is so flavorful, aromatic, and tasty. Using a mix of both bread flour and whole wheat flour keeps the texture light while providing a nutritional boost and lovely flavor. 🍞🍞🍞🍞
If you are looking to add more nutrition to your bread, a logical first step is to replace some of the white flour with whole wheat flour. The trouble with this idea is that not all whole-wheat flours are created equal.
Let’s get straight to it. Most commercial flour (both white and whole wheat) is made from roller-milled wheat, meaning a roller mill has separated the wheat kernel into three parts: the endosperm, germ, and bran. White flour is made from the endosperm. Whole wheat flour is made from a combination of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Much research shows that as soon as the wheat kernel is separated into the various parts, much of the nutritional value is lost — even when the bran and germ are added in after the fact.
So what’s the solution? Seek out stone-milled flour, which is flour made from wheat that passes through a stone mill, the process of which keeps the endosperm, bran, and germ together. Much research shows that keeping the components together preserves the nutritional value.
What’s more, the bran and germ present in stone-milled flours lend so much by way of flavor, texture, aroma and hue:
The recipe below calls for a mix of both bread flour and stone-milled flour. Using a small amount of stone-milled flour gives your bread a boost of nutrition while preserving its light texture. Once you’ve made the recipe once, if you like what the whole wheat flour is contributing to your loaf, you can increase the proportion of stone-milled flour next time around.
How to Make Whole Wheat-ish Sourdough Bread, Step by Step
First, gather your ingredients: you need an active/fed sourdough starter:
To ensure it is ready, drop a spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready:
Place 300 g of water, 100 g of starter, and 10 g of salt into a bowl.
Next, weigh your flour: you need 400 grams of flour. For this whole-wheat-ish loaf, my preference is 350 grams of bread flour (King Arthur Flour) and 50 grams of stone-milled, freshly milled flour (I use a mix of Anson Mills rye and graham).
Mix until a sticky dough forms.
Then transfer to a straight-sided vessel for the bulk fermentation (the first rise).
After 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough:
You’ll repeat this stretching and folding 3x at 30-minute intervals…
… then you’ll leave the dough to rise until it increases in volume by 50-75%:
Transfer dough to a clean work surface. I prefer to use no flour and minimal handling to shape it into a ball.
After the initial shape, let the dough rest for 20-40 minutes; then shape again and transfer to a flour sack-lined bowl.
Transfer bowl to fridge to proof (second rise) for 18 to 24 hours
After 18 to 24 hours, transfer dough to a sheet of parchment paper. This video shows how:
Score as you wish; simple is fine.
Transfer to a Dutch oven and bake, covered, at 450ºF for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes.
Store the bread at room temperature in a ziptop bag for 3 to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months:
Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)
- Total Time: 48 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Description
Made with a small portion of stone-milled whole wheat flour, this sourdough bread is so flavorful, aromatic, and tasty. Using a mix of both bread flour and whole wheat flour keeps the texture light while providing a nutritional boost and more flavor.
Notes:
Special equipment: Straight-sided vessel for the bulk fermentation, Dutch oven, flour-sack towel
Digital Scale: Do not attempt this recipe without a scale. This one costs $10. Troubleshooting what goes wrong with sourdough bread is impossible if you’ve measured with cups. They’re simply not accurate.
Troubleshooting: If you have issues with your dough being too sticky, please read this post: Why is my sourdough so sticky? The 4 common mistakes.
Flour:
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- I prefer making this bread with 350g bread flour and 50g of freshly milled, stone-milled flour, which provides both flavor and color. I love using a mix of Anson Mills graham flour and rye flour, but there are many great stone-milled flours out there, and you may have a local source, which is even better.
- Where to buy stone-milled flour? In the past few years, it has become easier to find stone-milled flour, and if you are up for it, you should seek out locally, stone-milled flour. Why? Because if you’re buying locally milled flour, you likely can find out how recently it was milled. Because stone-milled flour perishes more quickly than roller-milled flour, it’s best if you can find a local source, which will ensure it will be fresh. Note: Store stone-milled flour in the freezer if you don’t bake regularly.
- I find locally milled stone-milled flours at a local co-op, Honest Weight Food Co-op, and I also order online from various sources. Here are a few I love: Cairnspring Mills, Anson Mills, and Community Grains
- 50g may seem like a tiny amount of stone-milled flour for this recipe, but I am constantly amazed by how much flavor this small amount of freshly milled flour adds.
Ingredients
*Please read notes above before proceeding. Watching the video is helpful, too.*
- 300 g water
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 10 g kosher salt or sea salt
- 350 g bread flour, see notes above
- 50 g whole wheat flour, preferably stone-milled, see notes above
- rice flour, for dusting
Instructions
- Mix the dough. In a large bowl, combine the water, starter, and salt. Stir with a rubber spatula to loosely combine. Add the flours, and stir with a spatula to combine — it will be a wet, sticky dough ball. Transfer to a straight-sided vessel and cover with a tea towel or bowl cover for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold. After 30 minutes, grab a corner of the dough and pull it up and into the center. Repeat until you’ve performed this series of folds 4 to 5 times with the dough. Let the dough rest for another 30 minutes and repeat the stretching and folding action. If you have the time, do this twice more for a total of 4 times in 2 hours. [Video guidance here.] Note: Even if you can only perform one series of stretches and folds, your dough will benefit. So don’t worry if you have to run off shortly after you mix the dough.
- Bulk fermentation: Cover the vessel with a tea towel or bowl cover and let rise at room temperature (70ºF/21ºC) for 4 to 18 hours (times will vary based on the time of year, the humidity, and the temperature of your kitchen). The bulk fermentation will end when the dough has nearly doubled in volume, and you can see bubbles throughout the dough and on the surface. (Note: Do not use your oven with the light on for the bulk fermentation — it is too warm for the dough. To determine when the bulk fermentation is done, it is best to rely on visual cues (doubling in volume) as opposed to time. A straight-sided vessel makes monitoring the bulk fermentation especially easy because it allows you to see when your dough has truly doubled.)
- Shape: Gently transfer the dough to a clean work surface. I prefer to use no flour and a bench scraper at this step, but if you find an unfloured work surface to be difficult, feel free to lightly flour it. [Video guidance is especially helpful for this step.] Fold the dough, envelope style: top third over to the center; bottom third up and over to the center. Then repeat from right to left. Turn the dough over and use your bench scraper to push the dough up, then back towards you to create a tight ball. Repeat this pushing and pulling till you feel you have some tension in your ball. Place the dough ball top side down and let rest 30 to 40 minutes. (FYI: This is called the bench rest.)
- Proof. Line a shallow 2-qt bowl (or something similar) with a tea towel or flour sack towel. Flour sack towels are amazing because the dough doesn’t stick to them, and therefore, you need very little rice flour, but if you only have a tea towel, you will be fine. If you are using a tea towel, sprinkle it generously with rice flour. If you are using a flour sack towel, you can use a lighter hand with the rice flour. After the 30-to 40-minute bench rest, repeat the envelope-style folding and the bench scraper pushing and pulling till you have a tight ball. [Video guidance here.] Place the ball top side down in your prepared towel-lined bowl. Cover bowl with overhanging towel. Transfer bowl to the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. (Note: When you remove your dough from the fridge, visually it will likely look unchanged. This is OK. You do not need to let it then proof at room temperature before baking.)
- Bake. Heat oven to 500ºF. Remove your sourdough from the fridge. Open the towel. Place a sheet of parchment over the bowl. Place a plate over the parchment. With a hand firmly on the plate and one on the bowl, turn the dough out onto the parchment-paper-lined plate. [Video guidance here.] Carefully remove the bowl and towel. Carefully remove the plate. Brush off any excess rice flour. Use a razor blade to score the dough as you wish. I always do a simple X. Grab the ends of the parchment paper and transfer to the Dutch oven. [Video guidance here.] Cover it. Lower oven temperature to 450ºF, bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover. Lower the temperature to 400ºF. Bake for 10 minutes more or until the loaf has darkened to your liking. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack.
- Cool. Let the loaf cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
- Prep Time: 48 hours
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: Global
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
1,106 Comments on “Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish)”
I love both your homemade sourdough recipe and this recipe. However, my homemade sourdough tends to burn at the bottom. I put three sheet pans on the oven rack below my Dutch Oven and baked the loaf on the rack without the DO for the last 10 minutes – still browning more than I’d like.
I was wondering if there is a reason why the oven temperature is lower for this recipe? Could I try this oven temp with the original sourdough recipe?
I think you could — you definitely want the DO to be sufficiently heated to encourage that oven spring, but I suspect if you lowered it to 400ºF, it might be totally fine, especially if you preheat the DO long enough. Give it a shot!
Hello Kelsey,
I had the same issues in my oven baking in my Dutch Oven. I tried everything suggested, but it still had a very dark and hard-to-cut-through bottom crust. I saw a comment in a YT video about using a silicone trivet during the baking of sourdough bread. Problem solved! Put it down first in your DO before lowering the dough using parchment paper. Hope that helps you too.
Be very careful with silicone trivets in very hot Dutch Ovens – I had one melt. Now I make sure they are able to withstand 600F.
Made it as directed. Starter obtained from local bread shop would not double after three tries but rose some and spoonful floated.
Used prior suggestion of preheating oven at 400 for a minute and turning it off for ideal environment. Had doubled dough in 3 hours.
On my first crack at sourdough, this recipe came through. The starter came from the local bread shop and was tentative in its development after feeding it three times. It expanded but never doubled but it finally bubbled nicely and floated, so I moved on with the process. I used Bread flour and spelt flour (just cause I had it). For the rise I remembered your tip of preheating an oven for one minute and turning it off, and the dough doubled in the oven in about 3 hours. I left it in the fridge for 36 hours, followed all the instructions to the letter even buying a cast iron pot like yours and it’s beautiful.
Great to read all of this, Matthew. Thanks for writing and sharing all of your notes — so helpful for others 🙂
EXCEPT, when using your tip on making your oven the perfect place to let dough rise, when you turn your oven on to preheat to 400 for one minute REMEMBER TO TURN IT OFF after you put the dough in, or you will return from your one hour bike ride to find a sour dough brick in you oven. 🙁
hi there , i am completely new to sourdough . i plan on using this recipe for my first loaf . i have everything needed except stone milled whole wheat . i have king arthur’s whole wheat flour. would that change anything ? i plan on starting tomorrow. i am excited and nervous at the same time lol i am following this to a t so hopefully it works out for me .
You can definitely use the KAF whole wheat flour in place of the stone-milled flour. Good luck!
My bread dough was impossible to fold like an envelop and then to let it rest on the counter it was coming out like a blob. Very sticky! What did I do wrong? I live in Southern California so I am not sure if my climate is messing this up. I’ve been struggling to make sourdough successfully. Please help!
Hi! Are you using a scale to measure? It sounds as though your dough has over-fermented. This troubleshooting guide might help: Why is my sourdough so sticky? 4 Common Sourdough Mistakes + Answers to FAQ’s
Hi. Made my first loaf of sourdough yesterday before finding your site. When I went to transfer the risen loaf to parchment paper for baking, it deflated from handling and being tipped over unto the parchment. Since the Dutch oven was already hot, I couldn’t let it rise in the pan to recover,. But it came out tasting yummy.
Hi! Bummer to hear. Were you transferring it straight from the fridge? Or did you let it come to room temperature first?
Hi. It has been rising on the counter all day. it was one long day of making sourdough bread! 😊
OK! I think that is your issue — I take this one straight from the fridge (no room temp rise after it’s been in the fridge) and transfer it to my Dutch oven. Did you have it in the fridge for a day or two?
Love love love this recipe! I’m new to sourdough and this is so easy to follow and makes an amazing loaf every time!
Great to hear! Thanks for writing 🙂
I started making this during the winter using your technique of pre-heating the oven for a minute to create a nice warm spot for rising. Things went along just fine and the recipe was manageable to handle. But in the last month or so, the dough has become unreasonably sticky and impossible to shape even after adding more dusting flour in that process. I haven’t changed anything as far as ingredients or water, following the instructions to a T. I wonder if the warmer kitchen from the weather (though it is not that much warmer) may be playing tricks with the process?
Hi and yes, I think so: I’d skip the warm oven trick now — it’s possibly overfermenting your dough. Also note that as the seasons change, flours and humidity change, so the flour you are using may be absorbing water differently. It’s possible you may need to use less water, but I would start by changing one variable: see how it works doing the bulk fermentation on your countertop; then adjust next time around if the dough is still too sticky.
It’s taken me over 40 years to find a great recipe. And this recipe is great
It’s taken me over 40 years to find a great recipe. And this recipe is great
Great to hear! Thanks for writing 🙂
This recipe is great. I live in Colorado so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out the first time around. I made 2x the recipe for a large loaf. I also used 50% whole wheat flour (red) and 50% artisan white flour. I added 20 g of salt after the first 30 minutes instead of right away, and then let dough rest for another 30 mins. I also used my bread machine for the first mixing cycle to make my life easier. I folded by hand tho. My dough rose very quickly (1 hr and 20 minutes to increase in volume by 50%). It’s Colorado, also it’s summer and hot. So it was very helpful to know that I’m looking for a 50% increase in volume vs specific time. I left the dough in the fridge for 20 hours overnight until the next day. I followed the baking instructions except for I heater the oven to 500 degrees with my Dutch oven in it, then decreased to 450 to bake for 30 minutes (I added a splash of hot water under the parchment paper) and then uncovered for 10 minutes. I let it cool off a bit before cutting. It turned out amazing! Delicious, not overly salty, chewy and sour but not too much. I’ve made other breads before but this was my first time working with sourdough, and I couldn’t be happier with the result! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Oh wonderful! Great to read all of this Tetiana. Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes — so helpful for those baking at elevation.
I am new to baking and I have tried to make your recipe on several occasions. I always have trouble when I am trying to shape the dough. It is always too sticky and won’t hold its shape. I purchased the same container you use and maybe I am letting the dough rise too far.
Hi! It’s possible you are letting the dough rise too long or that you are using too much water. You can hold back some water from the start as an experiment.
Questions:
Are you using a scale to measure?
What type of flour are you using?
Do you live in a humid environment?
I use a scale. 500 grams King Arthur bread flour. Southern California.
OK! Well it sounds as though you are doing everything right re scale, bread flour, etc. I would try holding back 50 grams of water from the start next time and see if that helps. Do keep an eye on the bulk fermentation: use a straight-sided vessel if you are not already to accurately monitor the growth of the dough during the bulk fermentation.
Love this recipe! Could I proof it for 48 hrs in the fridge once shaped?
I have left it 48 hours many times and it turns out beautifully!
Nevermind, just saw you already answered this for someone else! We’ll see how the flavor develops! Thanks for all your amazing recipes!
Hi this is my go to recipe for sour dough bread. I really like it. Usually it turns out really well. I followed the recipe. However, this time, there is a slight doughy section at the bottom of the bread. Any suggestions as to why? Thanks
Hi! Great to hear 🙂
Questions:
Do you use a scale to measure? Is it humid where you are? What type of flour are you using?
Hi, Thanks for the quick turnaround! I weigh everything. I use a very accurate scale. and it is a white bread flour, which I have used before. It has been very humid and rainy the last few days. As well, I wonder if I left it in to long for the bulk fermentation (doubled the height) Thanks!
It’s possible the humidity is affecting the bake — you could try holding back 50 grams of water until the weather turns. I wouldn’t worry about the bulk fermentation if your dough had strength and elasticity when you shaped it, but if it felt slack/weaker when you shaped it, then it’s possible you pushed it too long.
Thanks for your suggestion, I will try a bit less water if it notice it is really humid. The elasticity and strength of the dough was actually very good which suggests it was not not the bulk fermentation. Thanks again!
Excellent, easy recipe. My compliments to the chef.
Great to hear, Richard! Thanks for writing 🙂
Hi
I love this recipe, and the bread comes out really well
If I wanted to bake this bread according to your recipe in a loaf pan, would I be able to go directly from the fridge to the loaf pan after the proof stage, or would you recommend letting it rise at room temperature until it reaches the rim of the pan, like you do with your sandwich bread, (which I like as well!) Your help appreciated.
Hi! Great to hear 🙂 I would recommend letting it rise at room temperature until it reaches the rim of the pan. You can definitely transfer it directly from the fridge to the loaf pan; you can also place the dough in the loaf pan after the bulk fermentation and store it in the fridge in the pan (tucked in a large ziplock bag or sealed with plastic wrap).
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it is my go to for sourdough bread. I add a touch more wholemeal but that’s just due to preference.
I just bought a bigger banneton so I can make larger loaves. Can I double this recipe and if I do, how long do I bake for?
Great to hear, Kirsty! Thanks so much for writing. And to clarify: you’re making a double recipe but forming one large loaf as opposed to two regular-sized loaved? If that is the case, I think you could add 5 minutes to the cook time at each phase (covered and uncovered). You may need to add more than 5 minutes to the uncovered phase, but just rely on visual cues when determining its doneness.
This recipe turned out lovely! I was wondering if you could give me measurements for a slightly bigger loaf? Perhaps a 500g or a 600g loaf. I reduced the water 20h because I used AP flour instead of bread flour. I would just like a bigger loaf, I am not an expert on adjusting measurements yet!
Thank you, kindly appreciated 🙂
Hi! You could try this:
500 g flour
12 g kosher salt or sea salt, see notes above
375 g water
100 g active sourdough starter
No need to increase the amount of starter. Good luck!
Hi Ali. A store near me carries Millstein premium sour blend flour & Have you heard of this? Also, my dough has been sticky recently. I guess it’s bc of the weather. It’s even hard to remove from the banneton. I’m going to purchase the flour sack towels that you recommended here. I’m in NJ. Should I decrease the water from 375 to 350 or 340g? Thx a bunch
I have not heard of that flour but it sounds lovely. Are you using anything in the banneton or just flour at the moment? The Dot and Army flour sack towels are so nice but any flour sack towel will help prevent sticking. If you have noticed your dough being sticky, you could try decreasing it to 350 grams, especially if it is humid where you are.
I do prefer using a flour sack towel, and I actually don’t even sprinkle it with any flour because the flour sack towel does not stick to the dough. I store bread in airtight zip-top bags or containers — I find this keeps the crumb the freshest the longest. I always reheat day old bread either in the toaster oven or regular oven before serving it.
Usually I like your stuff but this didn’t come out nearly brown enough. Might be my oven. any suggested changes? I usually do 450f 25m lid on 25m lid off.
Yeah, definitely rely on the visual cues: it’s possible your oven is cooler than mine or that your Dutch oven wasn’t preheated sufficiently.
What kind of flour are you using?
Bread flour. Wait… I’m sorry I just realized the problem. I multiplied the recipe by 1.2 but didn’t change the cooking time. My bad… anyway I put it in for 30 mins on 20 mins off at 450 and it came out nicely. I might do it a bit longer lid on next time.
No worries! I hope it browns better for you next time around.
I’m trying your wheatish sourdough recipe for the first time and only the second recipe of sourdough, so I’m very much a newbe. My question is, can I bake in the oven thats not preheated and not a preheated dutch oven with the same results as a very hot oven along with the very hot Dutch oven?
Thank you for sharing your recipes! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
I’ve totally enjoyed the pizza & bialy’s very much along with others…
Hi Robin! Great to hear 🙂
You need some sort of vessel to create steam for the initial portion of the baking. Do you have a pizza stone or Baking steel? If not, you can preheat an old sheet pan. And you can use a turned over aluminum bowl or turned over disposable lasagna pan to cover the loaf during the first 15 minutes of baking.
Made this in my bread tin, just in the oven on a pizza stone and worked out perfectly!! The second bulk ferment after overnight refrigeration worked a treat.
I’ll be cooking this again as white bread is a fave of my hubby also.
Thank you for a new reliable recipe with perfect crust and light, open crumb.
Great to hear, Deb! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. So glad the tin worked well 🙂
Have you made any videos where you use the 50g or whole grain flour? I’m wondering if the dough acts or looks any different during the process? Is adding the 50g of whole grain flour still your preference? Thank you!
I don’t have any videos! Dough looks the same if maybe slightly wetter. Yes, still my preference to use 50 grams freshly milled flour 🙂
I’ve tried my hand at a couple sourdough recipes. They’ve been okay. One was a quick sourdough from Masterclass. I loved that recipe. It helped me develop a feel for bread. But it wasn’t a true sourdough. The next recipe was a true sourdough from a cookbook of a prominent blogger. Uff duh. I had to play around with the liquid amount quite a bit to not have a bowl of almost soupy dough that would not form into a ball. All this to say, I just made your recipe for the first time. It formed a ball that didn’t flatten out. It felt…. good. It felt happy during the process. And it was stellar compared to the first loaves on those other two recipes. Thank you for this recipe. A recipe that I will only have to tweak according to my environment.
Great to read all of this, Marcy! Thanks for writing and sharing your experience. A little bit of tweaking is so important with sourdough given that humidity and flour are constantly changing. Wishing you continued success!
I am a beginner sourdough baker and have tried several of your recipes. You gave me the confidence that I needed. Your recipes are absolutely outstanding. The information you provide is extremely helpful and your videos showing the proper techniques just put everything over the top. Your book is amazing as well. Thank you very much for all your hard work and dedication. My family and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Rich, thank you so much for your kind words! This all means so much. Happy baking to you, and all my best to you and your family 🙂
I have this recipe cold proofing in the fridge now, since last night. I just realized I read the directions wrong. After the bench rest, I did not do the envelope fold again and reshape, I just put it in the proofing bowls. What should I do?
Should i shape it and let it cold-proof again or just bake it?
It will be fine! Just bake it 🙂
I was wondering if I can use spelt flour for the 50 grams whole grain. Would I have to adjust the amount of water?
Yes! No adjustments needed.
Hi Ali, What would the measurements be for all-purpose and whole wheat flour? I just bought these flours and didn’t want to go out and buy bread flour. Would like to use up one of these and will buy more of what you suggested. Thanks Ali.
Try 325 grams all purpose flour and 75 grams whole wheat flour.
I’m trying desperately to make sourdough. I have the same issue every time. Once I pour out the dough after the first rise (almost doubled overnight), I cannot get it to form a ball. It’s too wet and will not come together. Any idea why I’m repeatedly failing at the beginning?
P.s. I love your Detroit style pizza dough recipes!
Hi! It sounds as though the dough is overproofing during the bulk fermentation.
Questions:
Are you using a scale to measure?
What type of flour are you using?
Are you using a straight-sided vessel for the bulk fermentation?
Roughly how many hours is the bulk fermentation?
Hi Alison,
Thank you for your quick reply. I started again with 50grams less water and had great success baking this morning! Wish I could send you a photo!
Great to hear, Denise!! Thanks for circling back 🙂