Whole Wheat Pull Apart Bread

This whole wheat pull-apart bread is my perfect hybrid of a French brioche, a Japanese milk bread and a whole wheat dough. It’s so soft, so satisfying and all of my favorite things. Plus it’s just fun to make. It always comes out looking a little ridiculous, but that’s part of the charm! One of the reasons I love bread baking is you can really shape it and make it your own – even with this whole wheat loaf, it feels like adult play-doh 😉

But first, let’s talk about enriched dough

Ah enriched doughs, one of my favorite bread types. They are soft, fluffy and slightly sweet. Think: brioche or milk bread.

Enriched dough just means the dough contains either milk, eggs or butter, or sometimes all three. Unlike other breads, which just contain water, salt, flour and yeast, enriched doughs go that extra step with just a few extra ingredients.
These ingredients add a richer texture and flavor to the dough, which is why you see enriched doughs used for things like cinnamon rolls, pastries and thick, fluffy loaves. As much as I love all kinds of bread (and if you know me, you really know) there’s always been a special place in my heart for enriched doughs.

Ingredients you will need for this whole wheat pull-apart bread

I love how with all breads, you can get an amazing result with minimal ingredients. Here’s everything you need for this brioche-milk-bread-hybrid:

• 240 mL milk or plant-based milk, 1 cup at 100-115F
• 120 mL water, 1/2 cup at 100-115F
• 56 grams melted butter of choice, 1/4 cup
• 55 grams granulated sugar, 1/4 cup
• 8 grams active dry yeast, 2 & 1/4 tsp or one packet
• 290 grams whole wheat flour, about 2 cups
• 290 grams all-purpose flour, about 2 cups
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (or egg wash)

How to make pull-apart bread

The process for this bread is relatively simple. It all comes down to the waiting time and the proofing time, after that, the shaping and baking is pretty easy!

You can knead this recipe by hand, but I’ve designed it for a stand mixer (to save your arms!)

Below is a step-by-step break down of the full recipe for this whole wheat bread:

• In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the milk, water, butter and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the top and stir to combine. Let this sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flours and salt and mix.
• When the yeast mixture is foamy, pour the liquid in with the flour.
• Use the paddle attachment on low to mix together the dough until the flour is fully saturated. Then switch the mixer to medium-high and mix the dough for 10-15 minutes.
• The dough is ready when it can pass the gluten window-pane test. This is where you pull a golf ball size piece of dough and stretch it out, if it gets thin enough to see through like a window pane without breaking, you have developed enough gluten.
• Move the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let it rise in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in size.
• When the dough has risen, punch it down and move it onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 16 pieces and shape them into small “discs.”
• Layer the disks in a 8″x5″ loaf pan. See photos for reference.
• Cover the loaf pan and let rise for another 45 minutes to an hour, or until the dough has risen to over the top of the loaf pan.
• While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375F.
• When the dough is ready, brush it lightly with maple syrup to give it some color.
• Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until golden. Let cool for a few minutes and then eat!

Looking for similar bread recipes?

I have a few enriched doughs (some vegan, some buttery!) on the blog. Here are my current favorites:

Why is this pull-apart bread recipe in grams?

Baking, and bread especially, is a very finicky and exact science. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is through measuring by weight, and not volume. As much as I wish I could give you multiple ways to measure ingredients, in this recipe measuring by cups might cause some volatility and miss-matched results. I want to ensure you get the best results with this recipe (and I want to keep this recipe fool-proof!) so I highly recommend getting a small affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this bread recipe.