Healthy Whole Wheat Bread Recipes

Banana bread is the perfect vehicle for using bananas once they are past their prime.

This recipe makes enough dough to bake three specialty breads—boules, breadsticks, rolls and more (see Associated Recipes). The dough will develop a tangier flavor the longer it hibernates in the fridge.

Lisa Asuncion Feliciano of Manila, Philippines, shared this recipe in our Kitchen to Kitchen department. She recommends making extra loaves when zucchini is abundant because they freeze well.

This homemade, yeasted whole-wheat pizza dough requires only one rising, not two, so it's quicker to make than you might suspect. Although bread flour provides more gluten to help the dough maintain its elasticity when shaped and baked, we tested the recipe with all-purpose flour and had good results. This sturdy dough was developed for grilled pizzas, but it can be used in any pizza recipe calling for 1 pound of pizza dough.

Nonfat plain yogurt stands in for sour cream to add moisture and tenderness to this lightened-up pineapple coffee cake. Best of all, you can mix the batter and have this wholesome breakfast treat in the oven in under 15 minutes--that's healthy in a hurry.

This easy no-knead bread can be made with any number of mix-ins for several variations on a go-to whole-wheat bread that's the perfect addition to any meal, cheese board or appetizer spread. Our favorite combination was rosemary and lemon zest, but you can't go wrong with olives or dried cranberries and pecans, either.

This easy homemade pizza dough for thin-crust pizza, made with 50 percent whole-grain flour, provides 4 grams of fiber per serving without tasting too wheaty. If you have a food processor or stand-mixer with a dough hook, let your machine do the kneading for you. The pizza dough freezes beautifully, so make a few batches at a time and keep your freezer stocked.

This bread loaf is full of robust wheat flavor with a touch of honey for sweetness and plenty of good-for-you grains.

This banana quick bread is full of chocolate chips and toasted heart-healthy walnuts so you get a taste of nuts and chocolate in each bite. This version reduces the fat substantially and uses nonfat buttermilk to make the results extremely moist and tender.

This scrumptious coffee cake recipe has a crumbly pecan topping and is speckled with blueberries or raspberries. You'll never guess there's apple in the berry coffee cake: it replaces some of the butter found in most coffee cakes and adds a decidedly sweet taste and moist crumb. This is a great recipe to serve at brunch and can be made the day before.

The bakers at King Arthur Flour came up with this super-high-fiber bread. Its nutty whole-grain taste and texture make particularly great sandwiches and toast.

Made with whole-grain cornmeal and white whole-wheat flour, this healthy cornbread recipe is quick enough for a weeknight and perfect to serve with chili or instead of dinner rolls. We like to make a few extra batches of the dry mix and store it in the freezer. To make a batch of cornbread, just measure out 2 cups of dry mix and combine with the liquid ingredients. If you don't want to pull out your food processor, you can skip pureeing the corn in Step 2 and instead whisk an 8-ounce can of creamed corn with the egg, milk, oil and sugar before combining with the dry ingredients.

This wholesome quick-bread recipe is just what you need; whatever berries you have on hand go into a versatile, whole-grain buttermilk batter that can be baked into muffins, loaves or even doughnutlike mini Bundts.

Not only is this seeded loaf high in fiber, but the blend of seeds and grains lends it a wonderfully nutty flavor, aroma and texture. A heavy container with a tight-fitting lid works best, as the steam trapped inside the pot helps crisp the crust of the boule. Keep in mind that in a very wide-bottomed pot the loaf will spread out and be fairly flat; in a taller, narrower one it will be thicker and have more height (but may take slightly longer to bake).

In this moist and delicious healthy pound cake recipe, we use coconut oil in place of butter because an enzyme in fresh pineapple can react with dairy when heated, resulting in an off flavor. Alternatively, you can use melted butter and canned pineapple. To make a large cake, bake in a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan for 35 to 40 minutes.

No bakery degree required for this recipe: these healthy chocolate-and-cherry scones are as easy to make as a batch of muffins. White whole-wheat flour adds a boost of fiber, and just enough butter gives them great flavor and texture without going overboard on calories. For a sweeter scone, drizzle with the optional scone glaze.

Angel biscuits are lighter than traditional buttermilk ones because they contain yeast as well as the usual baking powder and/or baking soda. Making the dough in advance is not only convenient, but also gives the yeasty flavor time to develop and shine.

These dinner rolls are baked in the slow cooker, then browned under the broiler for a couple minutes for a crisp crust. The results? Billowy, crusty, decadent rolls to serve with any meal.

This easy scone recipe calls for nectarines, but try swapping in different stone fruits, such as peaches and plums, as they ripen throughout the season. Serve for brunch or afternoon tea.

This whole-wheat loaf is excellent for sandwiches, toast or eating plain. It has a light, springy texture and a mellow, slightly sweet grain taste from cracked wheat. The crust is crisp when the bread is first baked, but gradually softens as it stands. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

Puffy, chewy-crisp and fragrant with fresh herbs, this Parmesan focaccia goes well with soups, stews and, of course, Italian-style fare. Be sure to use only fresh herbs and avoid the temptation to stir them into the dough (sprinkle them over it); many herbs, including the ones called for here, inhibit yeast growth when they're combined in the dough. The dough bakes on the lowest rack in a very hot oven to simulate the hearth baking that is traditional for focaccia. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

No store-bought bun can compare with rustic, wheaty, homemade burger buns like these.

This coffee cake calls for a tart apple, such as a Granny Smith or a Pippin, combined with cranberries and spices to make a beautiful topping for a delicious treat festive enough for any brunch. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

Whether you use it for sandwiches, breakfast toast, or as a serve-along for soups, this whole-wheat version of challah is delightful.