Name: Dark Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1210 min
Ingredients: 30 g Sourdough starter; 30 g Water (- luke warm); 60 g Flour (- you can use whole wheat flour or bread flour); 300 g Whole Wheat Flour; 255 g Water (- warm); 75 g Leaven (- the remaining leaven will be your starter to keep in the fridge for the next use); All of the autolyse dough; 7 g Fine sea salt (- fine grain salt is easier to distribute evenly throughout the dough.)

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This dark and nutritious whole wheat sourdough bread is made of purely whole wheat flour, water, salt, and leaven. The result is a rustic and flavorful loaf with a nutty aroma and a soft and moist crumb.

Note: For this recipe, you need a sourdough starter.

A whole wheat sourdough loaf with a white tea towel on a copper colored backdrop.

Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need

Sourdough starter – for this recipe, you need a sourdough starter that’s strong enough to double in size within 4 – 6 hours of feeding. If you haven’t fed your stater in a while, give it a few additional feedings before baking to make sure it’s strong and active.
Whole Wheat Flour – dark wholemeal flour derived by grinding the whole wheat berry. It’s rich in nutrients like fiber, protein, and vitamins.
Water – warm tap water works best.
Fine sea salt – fine grain salt is easier to distribute evenly throughout the dough.
Digital kitchen scale – for best results, always weigh your ingredients. It’s more accurate than measuring by volume.
Fork or dough whisk – to mix the ingredients.
Bench scraper – to help shape and handle the dough.
Round banneton – to help the bread retain its shape while proofing.
Plastic bag or tea towel – to cover the dough while resting.
Bread lame or sharp serrated knife – to score the bread before baking.
Dutch oven or large oven-safe stock pot – this creates a steamy environment for the bread to be baked in and results in better oven spring, a softer crumb and a thin and crispy crust.

Close-up of a dark whole wheat sourdough bread on a copper-colored backdrop.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

In the morning, prepare your leaven: Mix the sourdough starter with lukewarm water and flour and let it rest in a warm spot (around 28 degrees Celsius) for 4 hours. It’s ready to use when it has doubled or tripled in size, looks bubbly and still has a slightly domed top.

Step 2

After mixing the leaven, you can start the autolyse: In a mixing bowl, combine the whole grain flour and warm water and make sure that there are no dry patches of flour left. Cover with a tea towel and let it sit on your counter until the leaven is ready to use. The autolyse will jumpstart the gluten development and allow the flour to fully absorb the water. After the autolyse, the dough will be a lot softer and more elastic without doing any kneading.

Step 3

Prepare the main dough: When the leaven is ready, add it to the autolyse dough and give it a quick knead to bring everything together. Add the salt and dimple it into the dough with your fingers. Then, perform a few rounds of the slap & fold technique to build dough strength, about 2-5 minutes. After slapping & folding, the dough should feel smooth and retain its shape on the counter without spreading out flat immediately.

Step 4

For the bulk fermentation, place the dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and let it rise in a warm spot (28° C). Perform a few rounds of coil folds in 45-60 minute intervals to build strength and elasticity. After 3-3.5 hours, you should see visible signs of fermentation. At this stage, the dough should have grown in size. You should see lots of smaller air bubbles throughout the dough and some larger ones on the surface. If the dough still looks dense, let it rest longer.

Step 5

Flour the banneton and set aside. Time to pre-shape: Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, bring all 4 corners of the dough into the center, overlapping, to form a loose ball. Flip it over and let it rest for 10-20 minutes. During the bench rest, the gluten will relax and the dough will spread out a bit. Flip the dough over again and shape a boule. Transfer the dough to the banneton, cover it with a plastic bag and put it in the fridge overnight.

Step 6

The next morning, pre-heat the oven to 230° C with the Dutch oven inside. Turn the dough out on a piece of parchment paper, score, and bake for 30 minutes inside the dutch-oven. Then, gently lift the bread out of the Dutch oven and finish baking directly on the oven rack for another 10 minutes, or until the crust has a deep brown color. Let the loaf cool down completely before slicing. If you cut into it while it’s still hot, you risk ending up with a gummy and sticky crumb. The wait is worth it!

Tips & Tricks

In the winter, or when your room temperature is much lower than 28° C, you can let the dough rise in the oven with just the light turned on. Or you can place a baking dish filled with hot water on the bottom rack. This creates a warm and humid environment for the dough to rise in.
If you want to achieve a more open crumb, you can substitute up to 30% of the whole wheat flour with strong bread flour.

Common Questions About Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

Using whole wheat flour in bread baking has many health benefits as it is full of fiber, vitamins and minerals. It yields bread with a more intense flavor, a nutty aroma. It will usually produce a denser yet soft and moist crumb. Wholegrain flour also tends to ferment faster than white bread flour. If you want to achieve a more open crumb, you can use a mix of bread flour and whole grain flour. The higher the ratio of whole wheat flour, the denser the crumb.

It’s possible that your starter wasn’t strong and active enough. When you make the leaven, make sure that it doubles or triples in size within 4 hours and contains lots of air bubbles. That’s a sign of strong fermentation. Also, make sure that you let the dough rise in a warm spot. Sourdough ferments best at temperatures between 25-30 degrees Celsius. Warm temperatures speed up the fermentation, lower temperatures slow it down. If your dough looks dense, give it more time to rise.

If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can bake the bread on a pre-heated baking stone and cover it with a large oven-safe stockpot during the first 30 minutes of baking. Just make sure the pot is large enough for the dough to expand and rise in.

The crust should have a deep brown color and if you tap the bottom of the loaf with your knuckle you should hear a hollow sound. If it sounds muffled, bake for an additional 10 minutes and check again.

Close-up of a dark whole wheat sourdough bread on a white tea towel.

Sample Baking Schedule

Day 1

8 AM: Make the leaven and start autolyse
12 PM: Make the main dough and start bulk fermentation
12:45 PM: Coil fold #1
1:30 PM: Coil fold #2
2:30 PM: Coil fold #3
3:30 PM: Pre-shape
4 PM: Shape and proof it in the fridge overnight

Day 2

6 AM: Pre-heat the oven
6:30 AM: Bake

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Dark Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

published by: Julia

This whole wheat sourdough bread is made with a high-hydration dough using only whole wheat flour, water, salt and leaven. The result is a rustic and flavourful loaf with a nutty aroma and a soft and moist crumb.

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Prep 20

Cook 40

Total Resting Time 19 10

Total 20 10

Course Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine Bread

Servings Loaf

Calories 1088 kcal

Equipment

Digital kitchen scale – for best results, always weigh your ingredients. It's more accurate than measuring by volume.
Dough whisk or fork – to mix the ingredients.
bench scraper – to help shape and handle the dough.
Round banneton – to help the bread retain its shape while proofing.
Plastic bag or tea towel – to cover the dough while resting. – to cover the dough while resting.
Bread lame or sharp serrated knife – to score the bread before baking. – to score the bread before baking.
Dutch oven or large oven-safe stock pot – this creates a steamy environment for the bread to be baked in and results in better oven spring, a softer crumb and a thin and crispy crust.

Ingredients

For the leaven:

30 g Sourdough starter – for this recipe, you need a sourdough starter that's strong enough to double in size within 4 -6 hours of feeding.
30 g Water – luke warm
60 g Flour – you can use whole wheat flour or bread flour

For the autolyse:

300 g Whole Wheat Flour
255 g Water – warm

For the main dough:

75 g Leaven – the remaining leaven will be your starter to keep in the fridge for the next use
All of the autolyse dough
7 g Fine sea salt – fine grain salt is easier to distribute evenly throughout the dough.

Instructions

In the morning, prepare your leaven: Mix your sourdough starter with lukewarm water and flour and let it rest in a warm spot (around 28 degrees Celsius) for 4 hours. It’s ready to use when it has doubled or tripled in size, looks bubbly and still has a slightly domed top.
After mixing the leaven, start the autolyse: In a mixing bowl, combine the whole grain flour and warm water. Make sure that there are no dry patches of flour left. Cover with a tea towel and let it sit on your counter until the leaven is ready to use.
Prepare the main dough: When the leaven is ready, add it to the autolyse dough and give it a quick knead, to bring everything together. Add the salt and dimple it into the dough with your fingers. Then, perform a few rounds of the slap & fold technique to build dough strength, about 2-5 minutes.
For the bulk fermentation, place the dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and let it rise in a warm spot (28 degrees Celsius). Perform a round of coil folds in 45-60 minute intervals to build strength and elasticity. After 3-3.5 hours, you should see visible signs of fermentation. At this stage, the dough should have grown in size. You should see lots of smaller air bubbles throughout the dough and some larger ones on the surface. If the dough still looks dense, let it rest longer.
Flour the banneton and set aside. Time to pre-shape: Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, bring all 4 corners of the dough into the center, overlapping, to form a loose ball. Flip it over and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. Flip the dough over again and shape a boule. Transfer the dough to the banneton, cover it with a plastic bag and put it in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, pre-heat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius with the Dutch oven inside. Turn the dough out on a piece of parchment paper, score, and bake for 30 minutes inside the dutch-oven. Then, gently lift the bread out of the Dutch oven and finish baking directly on the oven rack for another 10 minutes, or until the crust has a deep brown color. Let the loaf cool down completely before slicing. If you cut into it while it's still hot, you risk ending up with a gummy and sticky crumb.

Notes

In the winter, or when your room temperature is much lower than 28 degrees Celsius, you can let the dough rise in the oven with just the light turned on. Or you can place a baking dish filled with hot water on the bottom rack. This will create the perfect warm and humid environment for the dough to rise.

If you want to achieve a more open crumb, you can substitute up to 30% of the whole wheat flour with strong bread flour.

Nutrition

Calories: 1088kcalCarbohydrates: 230gProtein: 42gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 2733mgPotassium: 1090mgFiber: 33gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 27IUCalcium: 111mgIron: 11mg

Keywords bread baking, dark bread, Sourdough bread, whole wheat, wholegrain