One of my best memories about my childhood is the smell of fresh baked bread in the morning. Every summer my sister and I spend time at our grandparent’s farm. My grandma had spoiled us with all kinds of yammy foods, a warm piece of bread and a cold cup of milk are some of my favorite memories.
She is the one who taught me how to make delicious bread using whey. It’s been a long time since those lessons, but now that I’m making a lot of farmer cheese at home for my kids, I have a lot of left over whey, so I decided to recreate my grandmother’s recipe.
Whey is the liquid that remains after milk has been curdled and strained. Very rich in protein, whey can be successfully used in bread, crepes and many other recipes.
There is something magical about making your own bread. I will not lie, bread made with whey has an unique taste but I like the soft and airy inside and the crispy golden-brown crust on the outside. Most of all I love the incredible smell of freshly baked bread that fills the entire house.
This is how I make it…
Ingredients:
2 cups warm whey
2 teaspoons active yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 cups whole purpose flour
Step 1
In a mixer bowl add 1 cup of warm whey, 2 teaspoons active yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Give a quick stir and set aside for 15 minutes.
Step 2
In a clean bowl sift the flour.
Step 3
When the yeast mixture slightly rises and you start to see bubbles, add the second cup of warm whey, salt, olive oil and flour to the yeast and knead the dough. Keep the mixer on low speed and add the flour in parts so you can have control of the dough’s consistency. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
Step 4
Transfer the dough to a pre-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour and a half.
Step 5
When the dough doubles in size, carefully knead the dough with your hands and transfer it to a pre-oiled baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and set aside for another 30 minutes (don’t make the plastic too tight, so the dough has room to rise).
Step 6
After 30 minutes place the baking dish into a preheated oven at 375 degrees and bake the bread for 30-35 minutes.
Step 7
Leave the baked bread in the baking dish for 5 minutes. Then very carefully, pull the bread out and let it cool completely (or until you can touch it in order to cut it).
P.S. The process of making bread at home may look complicated, but believe me, your family will appreciate your work!
Notes:
When the bread is in the oven, check it half way through to see if the top of the bread seems to burn. If it does, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil.
- 2 cups warm whey
- 2 teaspoons active yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cups whole purpose flour
- In a mixer bowl add 1 cup of warm whey, 2 teaspoons active yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar. Give a quick stir and set aside for 15 minutes.
- In a clean bowl sift the flour.
- When the yeast mixture slightly rises and you start to see bubbles, add the second cup of worm whey, salt, olive oil and flour to the yeast and knead the dough. Keep the mixer on low speed and add the flour in parts so you can have control of the dough’s consistency. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a pre-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour and a half.
- When the dough doubles in size, carefully knead the dough with your hands and transfer it to a pre-oiled baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and set aside for another 30 minutes (don’t make the plastic too tight, so the dough has room to rise).
- After 30 minutes place the baking dish into a preheated oven at 375 degrees and bake the bread for 30-35 minutes.
- Leave the baked bread in the baking dish for 5 minutes. Then very carefully, pull the bread out and let it cool completely (or until you can touch it in order to cut it).
- When the bread is in the oven, check it half way through to see if the top of the bread seems to burn. If it does, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil.
Could I make buns with this recipe?
Hi Jackie,
That’s a really good idea, I’m sure you can try, after all it’s a yeast dough and it can be used in different ways. just don’t forget to adjust the baking time. Baking time depends on the size of the bun. Let me know how it turns out)
Can I use my Sourdough starter as my yeast?
Hey Gina,
I`m not sure, I have never tried it.
Please let me know how it turns out.
Thank you
I read you canfeed your starter with whey
Yes, you can make rolls or buns with just about any dough that’s for bread. They bake a shorter time, maybe 20-25 minutes.
Hi Felis,
Yeast breads baked with the whole grain flours (like whole wheat) are more compact and lower in volume than those made from white flour. You can replace part but not all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour when baking. … When baking, use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. And remember that the end product might not look the same, and it could have a coarser texture and less volume.
Thanks
Thank you. Made with 4 cups wheat and 1 cup white came out awesome.
That’s great!!! Thank you Felis for letting me know, I will try myself to make it your way))
I don’t see why not. Let me know how it turns out)
Did you try it in the bread machine?
Not yet but I’m sure to try it.
Hi Valeriya! I’ve made your recipe several times now, and each time it turns out fantastic. I’ve used different types of flour combinations and even have used brown sugar instead of white for fun. I buy whole milk on sale, make ricotta cheese that I use in Italian cheesecakes — and then turn the whey left over in the best bread from your recipe. Thanks!
Thank you so much for your comment! I am so happy that you like my recipe and more importantly that you took it up on yourself to experiment with different ingredients. Enjoy!
Can you use whey protein powder to make the bread?
Hey Lara
I`m not sure, I have never tried it.
I think that if you use the right amount of liquid with the powder as directed it should work just fine.
Please let me know how it turns out.
Thank you
How many loads does this make? My dough is overflowing the bowl for the first rising. I’m think8ng I’ll need two bread pans to fit it all. Or maybe just make one big round loaf on my baking stone. I used 3 cups all purpose flour and 2 cups whole wheat. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Hi Cindy! The dough is suppose to grow a lot after the first rising, than you need to knead it a little and let it rise again. After second rising you knead it again and transfer to your baking dish. I use 8.5*4.5 inch baking dish and from this amount of dough i’m getting one bread load. Let me know how it turned out!
This bread was effortless and came out great. I even used whole wheat flour, since I wanted to finish the bag I had. Slid right out of the dish and onto the rack. Nice tall loaf. O greased with coconut oil and also floured the dish. The next time I will try just greasing the baking dish and skip the flour.
This is incredible! I had a gallon of milk that expires tomorrow so I googled “What to do with a gallon of milk” and google told me to make ricotta. So I made ricotta and had all the whey so I googled, “What to do with whey” and it took me to this recipe. Oh my gosh, this is the easiest and tastiest bread I’ve ever made. Light enough to eat on it’s own, sturdy enough to make a sandwich, and just absolutely delicious.
I’d definitely like to make it again but wonder if it can be made with water instead of whey? Since I don’t plan on making ricotta again any time soon?
Hi Madi! Thank you so much for the positive feedback. Yes, you can make it with water but it may change the final taste and texture of the bread. Please let me know how it turns out.
I made your Whey Bread last Friday and it turned out beautifully. I regularly make yoghurt and strain it so always have lots of whey on hand. We actually just finished the loaf today and I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted as good today as it did the first day!
So easy and foolproof, I’ll definitely be making this again.
This is exactly how I wound up here! I made farmer’s cheese!
That’s how I got here as well! I love the opportunity to use as much of what I have as I can!
I have been making yogurt in my Instant Pot for a year now. I have struggled to use up all the whey that is a byproduct of straining it to make Greek style yogurt. Finally, I tried your recipe. And I used my Instant Pot to proof the dough! (One hour, in an oiled bowl). I had a huge amount of dough and baked a round loaf in my 9” pie dish. This bread is simply glorious! I have found “my” forever bread recipe! Thank you!
Gosh! I do the same thing – make yoghurt in the instant pot and strain the yoghurt. But I’ve always wondered what to do with the whey, other than adding it to chicken curries, etc. what a great idea to make bread with it and thank you for the idea to proof the bread in the instant pot!
What is the best way to warm the whey and to what temperature should I aim for?
Hi Carol,
you can warm it up using a microwave or in a saucepan on the stove to a temperature 90-92 degrees Fahrenheit.
When you say warm whey, how do you warm it?
Hi Lori,
you can warm it up using a microwave or in a saucepan on the stove)
Great, easy recipe that comes out every time. First time made in two 8″ round pans, second time in loaf pans. Very tasty, moist, and dense which is what I look for in a bread. Thank you!
Hi Debra,
I’m so glad you like my recipe!
thank you for finding the time to let me know)
Hi Valeriya! I’m trying this recipe for the first time. I’m not an experienced baker or anything so I wouldn’t know if the dough suppose to be very sticky. Also is there a way to prepare the dough ahead and bake it the following day?
Hi Claudia,
first of all, congratulation for being brave and trying to bake my recipe! The dough is supposed to be slightly sticky. If you need to add a little bit more flour, just do it. In general, yes, you can make an yeast dough ahead and bake it the next day. When you make the dough, put it in the plastic bag or leave it in the bowl covered with plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated. I did it with different types of yeast dough, but I never did it with this one. Good luck!
Made in the 303 today. If only I could post a pic of how mine turned out. Before and after look like yours and the loaf is twice as tall as the pan. Lol. When they say yeast loves whey, they aren’t kidding.
Hi Janet,
I’m so happy that you like my recipe and you get great results!
Thank you for finding the time to let me know)
Hi Valeriya!
Can I use Coconut flour or Millet flour instead?
I’m gluten sensitive, trying to avoid regular flour.
Hi, Robert! To adapt gluten-full recipes to be gluten-free can be a little bit tricky. Think of gluten as the miraculous net that holds bread together; it helps dough rise by trapping gas bubbles during fermentation and gives bread its unique texture. If you will substitute gluten flour for non floure, you will get completely different result. My best advice is to find gluten-free recipe from a reliable source and start from there.
I have made your bread twice now and have so much whey it is a great way to use it. This recipe makes one big Loaf. I am very pleased with this recipe. It makes great rolls and sandwich bread.
Hi, I am an old guy who has been making bread and using the whey from his yogurt cheese for years… I love this recipe. Thanks, it has added to my repertoire.
One silly thing: you have a typo, where you intend to say “warm whey” you say, “worm whey”. I laughed for half an hour as I made my latest batch of vanilla not-ice-cream. (Greek style yogurt cheese made with Mtn High Vanilla whole milk yogurt.) No worms in my whey. 🙂
Hi, Dr. Jack,
I’m glad that you liked the recipe and thank you for telling me about “worm whey” situation! English is my third language and although I check everything, apparently I missed that one)
English is your third language. Wow – I would never have picked that up if you hadn’t mentioned it.
Thank you)
This is wonderful bread! I have made it in my 2 lb. loaf bread machine 3 times now, it makes a nice full loaf but has not over flowed the pan. I make it with 1 pack of the dry yeast. We are a family with five boys and the loaves disappear. The five boys keep us busy and although I would love to make it by hand, the bread machine is what we need.
Hi Margaret,
i’m so glad that you and your family liked my bread recipe!
May I ask your adjustments for making it in your bread machine?
Hi Rebecca,
I’m not sure about what adjustments you’re asking?
I never made the bread in a bread machine, but my readers made it in 2 lb. loaf bread machine and it makes a nice full loaf but has not over flowed the pan. They used 1 pack of the dry yeast.
I hope that info will be useful to you)
I love this recipe, we used the whey from making a double batch of instapot yogurt, and it came out great! I ended up replacing the olive oil with canola oil and seseme oil 2-1, greasing the pan with the seseme as well. The other change I made, was that rather than beating it down, I stretched the dough, giving it a twist before seating it into the pan for its second rising. Worked great, and the loaf came out beautiful!
Thank you so much for this recipe, its my new favorite bread recipe!
Hi Andrew,
I’m so happy that you like my recipe and you get great results with all the changes that you made!
Thank you for finding the time to let me know about it)
I’ve tried several bread recipes for using up the whey from my yogurt making. No recipes have been worth trying a second time until now! Your recipe is light, delicious and so easy to make. It’s my new “go to” recipe and I feel so wonderful about using the whey after making yogurt. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your comment! I’m glad you like my recipe)
I came across your Grandma’s recipe, when wondering what to do with leftover strained yoghurt whey. There wasn’t enough whey for the recipe, so the liquid added to the flour was 50:50 with tap water. Well, the dough went in the oven and took a leap for the skies. Fabulous. I stuck it in a 2lb loaf tin, and it probably would have done equally well spread across 3 x 1lb tins. Thank you!
Hi Gill,
Thank you so much for sharing your little experiment! I’m glad that you really like my bread recipe)
I just made it! Nice recipe I put jalapeño and the cheese I made into the dough. Was excited to use the whey I had left over. Thanks so much for the post
Hi Don,
I’m so glad you like my recipe!
thank you for finding the time to let me know)
This is amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe. No more wasted whey!
You are welcome)
I brew beer, and therefor have a lot of left over ‘spent’ grains. I mix these with regular flour to make bread. It rarely raises like I would like. I’m going to try using whey from my girlfriend’s yogurt, as you describe, to give the yeast something to work with. Thanks for the great idea!
Hi Jeff,
I’m glad you like it!
Can you use fresh yeast in this recipe? Can anyone tell me how much I would need to use.
Hi Maggie,
Yes, you can use fresh yeast in this recipe. 2 tsp = 7g of dry yeast, you need to multiply by 3, meaning 7 grams or dry yeast becomes 21 grams of fresh.
What is “whole purpose” flour? Is it a mix between all purpose and whole wheat? If so, is the ratio 50/50? The pictures look like it is white bread (all purpose flour).
All-purpose flour is a regular white flour that can be found in any grocery store)
At what temperature would you recommend heating the whey up? Around 116 degrees like when you are making yogurt or activating yeast, 100 degrees F (like making a milk bread), or like lukewarm tap water?
Hi Rebecca, I will say like lukewarm tap water)
I made your bread recipe today but used 2 cups of whole grain bread flour and 3 cups of strong white bread flour. The dough rose brilliantly but… I think I should have used a slighter higher heat when baking it. It looks great and tastes divine, but I’m sure Paul Hollywood would have noticed (as I did) that the texture of the bottom quarter was denser than the top part. I’m pretty sure I can remedy this by a higher heat.
Hey Katherine, I’m so glad you took a step forward and upgraded the recipe! I’m sure you’re right about the temperature. Everyone has different oven and you need to figure it out for your own. Plese, let me know how it goes the next time))
I made this & did the mixing in my bread machine but baked in the oven. I substituted bread flour for the all purpose & from that I replaced equal amounts of the following: 1 cup of whole wheat, 2 T rye flour, 1 T oat bran, & 1 T milled flax seed.
It turned out great!
Hi Joy, I love your little experiment! Thank you so much for sharing with us!))
The bread was absolutely delicious. It had a great flavor, almost sourdough-like. It rose very high and was light and tender yet sturdy and held together. It’s the perfect loaf of white bread. My Better Half was thrilled. We had it with butter and I can’t see how it toasts.
Here’s what I did in my bread machine: I added a teaspoon of vital wheat gluten since I didn’t use bread flour and the machine doesn’t knead as well as a dough hook or by hand. The dough was pretty sticky so at the second knead I added about 5-6 heaping soup spoons of flour. Other bread machine users might just use the same proportions listed in the manual for white bread, especially if you can’t hang around to make adjustments.
Thank you so much for posting this. It’s our new go-to recipe.
Hi Diane, thank you so much for sharing this! I’m thrilled that you liked the recipe))
It’s great toasted, too. Thanks so much for a simple, yet perfect bread recipe!
Delicious and easy. Thank you! Like others said, this is a little much for my loaf pan. Today I doubled the recipe, and made two loaves and a batch of cinnamon rolls with it. Yum!
Hi Cristina, I’m glad you like it! I think it depends on the yeast. Sometime my glass loaf is enough but some time is a little to much…)))
I just made ricotta cheese and didn’t want to waste the leftover whey. I found your recipe and cannot wait to try it tomorrow. Do you think this would work in a large Pullman pan?
Hi Holly, Yes I think it will work. Good luck! Let me know if you liked the bread))
This is my favorite bread recipe. I let it rise once and then I roll it out and I put cinnamon sugar and raisins in the middle and roll it up and then let it rise the second time that way to make cinnamon swirl bread. Other variations I’ve done is cocoa powder, sugar and chocolate chips or butter, rosemary and garlic salt with grated parmesan. I make a double batch of this twice a month with the whey from our homemade yogurt. And share the loaves with the neighborhood I get 4 perfect size loaves from each double batch.
Hi Leia, I love it!!! You’re so creative! Thank you so much for sharing these ideas!!)
Can I us
E frozen whey?
If you mean that you preserve some way in the freezer, then yes. Just defrost it and warm it up a little bit)
Hello, I am trying your recipe for the first time, when I add the second lot of whey and flour how long should I be mixing it. It didn’t say to actually knead the dough before the first rising??
Thank you
What a pleasant surprise. After 8 years of baking using various methods, no-knead, Sourdough, Wild Yeast Water [one of my favorites], regular yeast bread, and making some great tasting breads, I did not expect much from this given it’s simplicity. Well, after being hounded by my wife for just a universal white bread, this was a home run.
I mill my own flour, so I’ll be experimenting using fresh milled flour in this recipe.
I figured this would be a one and done recipe but now I have a great reason to ask for more homemade cheese so I can use the whey.
Hi Craig, thank you so much for giving me this feedback! I’m really happy to hear that))
Hi! I’ve made this recipe and we love it. I’m wondering if I can use a bread maker? I have one, but never used it…
Loved this recipe. It worked perfectly for the extra whey I had after making cream cheese. Thank you I’ll be making this all the time.
I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for letting me know))
Can I use a cast iron Dutch oven for baking this bread?
I have been using whey in bread baking for many years I love your recipe!
I love the flavor of the bread, but when it came to slicing the bread I found it to be very fragile. Am I doing something wrong? Is there anything I can do to make the loaf firmer?
I made a double recipe of this to fit a 16” long industrial school district loaf pan that a friend gave me. Turned out beautifully. I used 2:1 whole wheat flour to white flour and sprinkled sesame seeds on top right before baking. Also set a tray of water in the bottom of the oven. Pretty as a picture. Thanks for sharing!
Love this recipe, I started out making a single loaf but it was way to big for the loaf pan so I tried to make it 1 1/2 fits in the loaf pans we have, tastes great but it isn’t as sturdy as I could like. It’s kinda crumbly. This last batch I tried a little less flour but my husband said it is still a little crumbly. Help any suggestions?