Whole Wheat Bread With Freshly Milled Flour
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Have you wanted to bake bread with flour you milled yourself? But you don’t know where to start? This step by step guide will soon have you baking 100% whole wheat bread with freshly milled flour. Once you get started with fresh milled wheat flour, you’ll never use store bought flour again.
This wheat bread recipe makes the best sandwich bread. It’s amazing how much better a sandwich is when paired with homemade, fresh milled, whole wheat bread.
Knowing that you are providing the most nutritious bread possible is the most satisfying part of this process.
Baking bread with fresh milled flour is a new journey for me. Videos on Youtube convinced me how much healthier and tastier fresh milled flour is.
When I told my family about my desire to start milling fresh flour, they were a bit skeptical. This was something they had never heard of. Milling your own flour? But after tasting this bread, they agree on how much better tasting it is. We all love this bread!
I have been making this sandwich bread recipe once a week for the last couple of months. Every time, my husband says it’s the best loaf yet. Baking bread does take practice. Soon it’ll become second nature to you. You’ll instinctively know how the bread dough should look and feel. You’re going to love it!
I haven’t tried to make more than one bread loaf at a time with fresh flour. Like this bread recipe for the Bosch mixer for six loaves if you want to make a lot of bread. That recipe uses store bought flour not freshly milled wheat flour.
Why You’ll Love This Wheat Bread Recipe
- Flavor – Freshly milled flour using hard red wheat has an amazing nutty flavor.
- Variety – Choose what type of wheat you like. Whether you like hard red wheat or hard white wheat. Or mill a mixture of the two.
- Fresher – With milling the flour yourself, you know your bread is as fresh as possible.
- Better for you – Healthier to the point that the whole wheat berry is being used. Nothing is discarded. It’s nutrient rich. We’re not milling flour based on being shelf stable. Commercial flours are stripped of the bran that can cause the flour to turn rancid. This reduces the natural nutrients in the flour.
Tips For Using Freshly Milled Flour
Using fresh milled flour is certainly different than commercially milled flour. It behaves differently. There is a slight learning curve to using it. Don’t think you are doing anything wrong when you need to add more flour to your recipe than you normally would.
The biggest surprise for me was how much water this flour absorbed. You will use more fresh milled flour for bread dough than you do with store bought flour.
For bread, only use hard wheat berries. That could be hard red wheat or hard white wheat. These will produce the necessary gluten for bread to rise properly. This type of wheat has high protein which produces a strong flour that is necessary for a good bread loaf.
Save the soft white wheat for cookies, cakes and biscuits.
If you have leftover flour, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.
Choosing A Grain Mill
When choosing a grain mill, there are basically two types. One uses stones to grind the grains and the other uses stainless steel milling heads.
I chose the NutriMill Classic grain mill. This mill uses stainless steel milling heads. It is the least expensive making it a good choice for a beginner.
It’s easy to use. You simply pour the wheat berries into the hopper in the top of the machine. Place on the lid. Set your motor for the speed you want. (I always use the fastest.) Set the feed rate. For bread is at the 12:00 position. This is the knob that also turns on and off the machine.
Within minutes you have flour which has collected in the bottom bowl of the grain mill.
Where To Buy Wheat Berries
Finding a local source for wheat berries can be hard. It really depends on where you live. I can’t find any place locally that sells wheat berries. That means I can only have them delivered which can be quite expensive.
I bought a five pound bag of Palouse hard red winter wheat berries from Amazon. I really liked the quality of the wheat berries and they came in the cutest burlap bag. This is a good way to try out the different types of wheat berries without committing to a large quantity.
I discovered Azure Standard which delivers to my area once a month. The price per pound of wheat berries is inexpensive. Since I joined a local “drop” the shipping is minimal. The most important aspect is that the quality has been top notch. The wheat berries are clean. This is my go to source for a variety of wheat berries and assorted grains for milling flour.
Ingredients Needed For This Recipe
How To Make Whole Wheat Bread With Fresh Milled Flour
For the complete ingredient list and instructions, scroll to the recipe card below.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the ingredients in order as they are listed. It’s easier to mix with the liquid ingredients at the bottom then add the dry on top.
- Mix till the ingredients are combined. The dough will be wet.
- Add additional flour, ¼ cup at a time until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough for about 6 minutes.
- Do a window pane test to determine if the dough has been kneaded enough. When stretched, you should see a transparent window in the dough. This means kneading is complete.
- Place the dough ball into a greased bowl. Cover with a towel and allow to rise. Use a finger to indent the dough. If the indention remains, the dough has risen completely.
- After gently deflating, turn the dough onto a cutting board. Flatten into a rectangle. Flip the dough over so the smooth side is down. Roll up starting at one long side. Push in the ends and pinch the seam closed.
- Put into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, seam side down and cover with a towel. Dough is ready when it has risen about an inch above the rim of the loaf pan.
- Place into the preheated 350℉ oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Bread should be at 190℉ when done.
Whole Wheat Bread From Freshly Milled Flour
Equipment
- Nutrimill Classic Electric Grain Mill
- 9 x 5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup water (very warm)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 3¾ cups freshly milled whole hard wheat flour (see notes below)
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the water, olive oil, honey, egg, salt, 3 cups whole wheat flour and instant yeast. Mix until combined.1 cup water, ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ cup honey, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 to 3¾ cups freshly milled whole hard wheat flour, 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- Continue adding in the flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl. You may not need all the flour. The dough needs time to absorb the flour. Do not be tempted to add all the flour at once. That could make the dough too dry. The dough should be tacky but not wet sticky.
- Knead the dough in the stand mixer for about 6 minutes. At this point, you should be able to do a window pane test. Take a small amount of dough, and slowly stretch it until there is a transparent patch. This means the gluten has formed enough to begin rising. If the dough tears, knead it about two more minutes and test again.
- Oil a large bowl. Remove the dough from the stand mixer and form into a ball. Place the dough ball into the oiled bowl. Roll the dough ball in the bowl until coated with the oil. Place a tea towel on top of the bowl. Allow to rise until almost doubled in size. This takes approximately 35 – 45 minutes.
- To determine if the dough has risen enough, gently press your finger into it. The indention should remain. If it pops back out quickly, the dough needs to rise a bit longer.
- Once it has risen, gently deflate the dough and place onto a cutting board. Using your hands, flatten the dough into a rectangle. Flip the dough over so the smooth side is down. Beginning at one long side, roll the dough up and push in the sides so it fits into the loaf pan. Pinch together the seam to close. Place into the greased loaf pan, seam side down.
- Cover the loaf pan with a tea towel and let rise for about 35 – 45 minutes. When ready, the bread dough will have risen about one inch above the middle of the loaf pan.Start to preheat the oven to 350℉ about 5 – 10 minutes before the dough has finished rising. This will depend on how long it takes for your oven to preheat.
- Place the loaf pan into the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes. The bread is done when the internal temperature has reached 190℉. Using a digital thermometer inserted into the middle of the loaf will give you the most accurate reading.
- When done, remove from the oven. Allow the bread to sit in the pan for a few minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack.
- For the best results, let the bread cool completely before slicing.
Looking for a recipe with weights rather than volumes as weight is more reliable. Do you have this?
Hi Lisa,
No, I don’t have weight measurements at this time. This is something I would like to implement in future recipes. Thank you for visiting!
I really enjoyed how precise your directions are. I only have active yeast how would I incorporate that into your recipe. I’m just starting out using fresh milled flour.
Hi Phyllis,
I have only used instant yeast with this recipe. Thank you for visiting!
Thank you for this! It was my first time baking a loaf with freshly milled flour. This recipe was delicious! I will definitely be making again. (I did substitute the instant yeast with 2 3/4 tsp of active yeast and let it bloom in the warm water first before preceding with mixing the other ingredients, since I saw someone ask.)
Thank you, Brittany! I’m so glad you liked it. That’s good to know about how to substitute the instant yeast.