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Copycat Recipes | February 17, 2014

Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)

Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)
Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)
Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)
Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)



I’m trying to figure out where the past 12 months went.
A year ago, this was our life…

February 2013.
The coldest February in the history of the world to move. Not kidding when I say the snow stayed on the lawn until April. It was that kind of winter.
Hooray for 2014. Yesterday, it was 55 and no snow in sight in the neighborhood. It’s feeling like SPRING out there. It’s kind of weird, really. This time of year is usually reserved for comfort food recipes. You know, “stay inside and bake up a storm while it’s snowing outside” type of food. It was practically shorts weather yesterday, but I was inside, pretending it was cold, baking bread.

This recipe is the closest I’ve tried to the Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat recipe. It’s made with five ingredients you can pronounce, and it is absolutely delicious. If you haven’t experimented with making wheat bread yet, read the tips onthis post, it will give you some helpful pointers.
Happy Baking!

5 from 10 votes
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Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast I like SAF brand
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour approx
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Instructions

  1. Combine yeast, water and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit for 5 minutes or until frothy and bubbly.
  2. Place the paddle attachment on the mixer, if using a stand mixer.
  3. Add 3 cups of flour, mix. Add salt and another cup of flour, mix until combined.
  4. At this point you should have added a total of four cups of flour. The recipe may take a little less, or a little more, depending on climate.
  5. The dough should barely pull away from the sides of the bowl when it has the proper amount of flour added. Using the dough hook, knead for 4 minutes on low. Cover dough and let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled.
  6. After the first rise, punch down dough with floured or greased hands, shape and place in a greased loaf pan.
  7. Let rise again until doubled.
  8. Preheat oven to 350, set rack in middle of oven.
  9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove bread from oven.
  10. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove loaf and cool completely.

Recipe Notes

-This recipe is easily doubled, I made two batches, side by side. I didn’t want to crowd the mixing bowl, so the flour would mix in properly.
-If you use freshly ground wheat flour, you might need to add 5- 5 1/2 cups of flour.
-You may omit 1/2 cup of the flour and add 1/2 cup of seeds such as sunflower, flax, oats, etc.
-When mixing the bread, add the flour a little at a time to make sure the flour is mixed well into the dough. I used about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 cups total in my dry climate. If you live in a more humid climate, you may need to use less flour.
-It is important to let the dough mix properly in the bowl. I set the timer to make sure it has kneaded for four full minutes after all of the flour is added. You will be surprised at how long 4 minutes is, when you are mixing and have the timer set!
-30 minutes seems like a short bake time, but it turns out perfectly.
-I used King Arthur 100% Whole Wheat Flour you can purchase at your local grocery, or purchase on Amazon, through this link.

44 thoughts on “Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread (copycat)

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Recipe Rating




  1. I love whole wheat bread Si. I add some natural Vital Wheat Gluten to mine to give it a little lift so it's not so dense. Yours looks delicious. I think spring is just around the corner and I can't wait.

  2. I don't have a stand mixer or bread machine, so I make bread the old fashioned way. Should I knead this bread for the standard 8 minutes, or go with the same time as your mixer? Thanks!

    1. Hi Catherine,
      Yes, I believe White Whole Wheat will work! It will have a different texture, but I am guessing the swap in flour will be nearly the same. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky!
      Si

  3. Horrible recipe. I tried it twice. First time, there was way too much yeast and the texture was off. The dough was too thin and had air bubbles. Very strange, and the baked loaves were short and heavy (although the yeast dissolved perfectly fine, so that wasn't the problem). So for the second try, I used 1 package of yeast, but the dough was still too thin, sticky and didn't rise correctly (although the yeast proofed perfectly fine). The baked loaves had a strange un-baked color, were too short and didn't rise. Strange texture too. There are missing ingredients: some fat of some sort (butter would be best) and less water. Too much water for the amount of flour. I love GH, but this is no way a replacement for it. I will keep looking for other recipes that can replicate the GH HWW.

    1. 5 stars
      Maybe we can help you with this recipe because it really is fantastic. Try adding a bit more flour and SAF yeast is the best.
      I found the dough to be slightly sticky, but it formed perfectly, rose and tasted fantastic. I always bake bread on convection. I baked at 335 for 26 minutes.
      Hope that is helpful! Happy baking❤️

  4. I used to bake bread every week when I lived in Oregon (elevation 500′). Since I moved to Nevada (elevation 5,000′ and a LOT lower humidity) all I can bake are bricks! I’ve been told not to use rapid rise yeast as it apparently rises too fast and then falls. I’ve tried adjusting the water, the amount of eggs, the amount of flour (not all at once). HELP! Do you have any suggestions to high altitude and low humidity?

    1. This is the perfect beginner recipe for baking bread. I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your comment, Stacey!
      xo
      Si

  5. 5 stars
    Loved this recipe. Very easy. Only problem I had was after first rise I put it in the pan and it already almost filled the loaf pan. Want enough room in pan to let it “double in size.” but even without Allowing it to risE much it turned out great! Thanks Si!

    1. I love how recipes like this bring back such good memories, thank you for sharing Cindy!
      xo
      Si

  6. 5 stars
    I make this bread at least 3 times a month and it always turns out great! It is simple to make and all of the ingredients are pretty inexpensive. The last time I made it I only had 1 packet of yeast left and it turned out delicious as usual, but needed a bit more rise time.

    1. Thank you Dana! I’m so glad to hear that, hopefully yeast will become more available in stores soon.
      xo
      Si

  7. I’m excited to try this recipe, looks great, thanks!

    Do you have Great Harvest’s Woodstock bread at your location? Sadly the one near me closed down almost a decade ago, and I’ve been failing at trying to recreate it! If you have a recipe for that, would love to try that too! =)

  8. 5 stars
    Ok so this was AMAZING as written. I made no changes. I will be making this every week for my kids sandwiches now!

    One question – sometimes I crave a slightly sweeter whole wheat bread. Can I simply double the honey or would that mess with the ratios too much? Thanks!

    1. Hi Brittney,
      So glad you loved this recipe! I’m not sure about doubling the honey. Since it calls for 1/3 cup, I’d experiment with 1/2 cup next time and see if that makes a difference, then just bump it up a little each time.
      Thanks for reading ABK,
      XO
      Si

  9. 5 stars
    SO YUMMY!!! This was my first attempt at baking bread in years (I cook and bake sweets regularly though so know my way around the kitchen), and I was THRILLED with the results. I halved the recipe and it turned out great.

    As a novice bread baker, i wanted to share a few notes that I would have found helpful my first time making this:
    – This dough is VERY wet and sticky when you finish with the paddle stage. I was tempted to add more flour but was committed to following the recipe as-is my first time. And glad i did, because it comes together in a jiffy when you switch to the dough hook!
    -“Let rise til doubled” – some more info on how long this takes would have been useful for this novice breadmaker. After googling, I gave it about 30 min for each rise and that did the trick!

    The texture and flavor of this bread are just fabulous. I honestly can’t believe it’s whole wheat, it’s just so tasty. And it was very easy to make! Looking forward to making it often, and to experimenting with adding oats to the mix!

  10. 5 stars
    Absolutely perfect. We live overseas and I’ve been craving great harvest..this turned out just as wonderful as the real thing!! And felt surprisingly simple. thank you for making this available!! .

    1. Hi Berit, I am so glad that this recipe turned out well for you. It’s always nice to have a taste of home when you are far from it! Thanks for reading ABK!
      Happy Baking,
      Si

  11. 5 stars
    I just made two small loaves in my multi-functional air fryer. We are plant-based and I have been looking for a whole wheat bread recipe. This is as good as it gets! I put honey water on top of the crust as soon as the bread was done….leaves the crust as tender as the whole loaf.

    Thank you for sharing this amazingly simple and tasty recipe! I am sold!

  12. 5 stars
    This recipe is exactly like Great Harvest. I live in Colorado so used exactly the same measurements. Please, please copycat Great Harvest cinnamon rolls.

  13. 5 stars
    Very good bread! I’m going to add vital wheat gluten next time because I like bread chewier. It made about a loaf and a half so I’m going to scale it down or up next time.

    1. Hi Trish!
      That is such a good idea and I’m sure it’ll help make the dough a little chewier.
      Happy Holidays!
      XO,
      Si