When I first started milling my own flour and making my own bread (all in the same day), I had no idea where to even begin to find a good recipe, especially using fresh milled flour. Well after making all of the bread we eat for over a year, I have tried MANY recipes out there! I've learned a lot along the way, and I finally have a recipe of my own that my family loves, and I hope you will too!
A few things I love about this recipe is I can be done from start to finish in 1.5-2 hours, with only about 20 minutes of hands-on time! I also love the texture and crumb to this recipe. You will get a bread that comes out with a similar texture to sandwich bread you're used to buying in the store, yet you will have a MUCH healthier option!
This recipe yields 2- 2 lb loaves of bread.
Ingredients
Step 1:
4 cups White or Wheat Bread Flour (or fresh milled hard white/red wheat)
1-2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional)
2 Tbsp sunflower lecithin
2 Tbsp instant dry yeast "quick rise" or "rapid rise"
1/3 cup honey
2 2/3 cups very warm water 120°F to 125°F
Step 2
1 Tbsp salt
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled (or avocado/olive oil)
4 tsp lemon juice
2½- 3½ cups White or Wheat Bread Flour (or fresh milled hard white/red wheat)
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together 4 cups fresh milled flour, vital wheat gluten, sunflower lecithin, honey, and quick-rise yeast until well combined.
2. Add the water and mix with a Danish dough whisk or 1 minute in the mixer until well combined. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10-20 minutes in a warm space.
3. Uncover the bowl and add the salt, butter, lemon juice and the remaining fresh milled flour, one cup at a time, mixing well between each cup. Knead the dough in the mixer (using the dough hook) until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl for 5-15 minutes, until windowpane is achieved with your dough. *Kneading is the key to getting a soft, fluffy bread, but you don’t want to overknead!
4. Grease two nonstick bread pans (9"x5") and line them with parchment paper to make it easier to remove after baking. Preheat the oven to lukewarm by setting it to 350°F and then turning it back off after exactly 2 minutes of warming up. The oven should NOT reach 350°F. You are simply creating a bread proof environment in your oven for your loaves to rise.
5. Turn the dough onto a greased surface. Evenly divide it into two loaves (about 2 lbs each). Form and place the dough into the prepared bread pans.
6. Place the pans in the warm oven and allow them to rise and double for 20 to 40 minutes, until the dough is nicely domed above the tops of the pans. Without removing the pans from the oven, turn on the oven to 350°F and set the timer for 25 minutes. The bread is done when the tops are golden brown. Once the loaves are baked, immediately remove the hot bread from the pans to cool on a rack. Feel free to brush the tops of the hot loaves with melted butter! Let cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.
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Comments
If it is winter should we let the oven heat more for the bread proofing step? I don’t feel like it rose as well this time. This is my favorite fresh milled recipe for sandwich bread.
AMAZING!!!!!