The Best Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe

The ultimate fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread recipe! An easy, no knead bread made with nutritious and delicious fresh milled flour!

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Why Fresh Milled Flour?

The health benefits of freshly milled flour are enormous! The eponymous Sue Becker introduced me to freshly milled flour recently and I am loving it, and so are my kids!! Freshly milled whole wheat flour maintains the entire nutritional profile of God’s gift of wheat to mankind.

Wheat has at least 45 essential nutrients for the human body, including magnesium, vitamin E, and iodine. When we buy conventional AP flour it is usually bleached with a chlorine derivative and is completely stripped of all these wonderful nutrients. Then the food companies put back in synthetic versions of just five of the nutrients lost, and call it “enriched.”

When we use whole wheat berries we preserve not only the vital nutrients for a thriving life we also maintain the fiber content of wheat. Are you dealing with constipation? Freshly milled whole wheat could fix that!

God is an amazing Creator who gave us every good thing. Why not just use the food God gave us as He intended it to be used? Freshly milled flour is the healthiest way to consume wheat.

Man can not live on bread alone but God loves bread!

Fresh Milled Flour FAQ

Is it hard to fresh mill your own flour?

No! As a mom of three kids three years old and under, I actually find it easier than conventional baking, especially when coupled with using sourdough as the rising agent. This is because I store my flour mill right out on my counter. Then, when I need flour for a recipe, I simply push the button and the flour is milled while I gather up my ingredients. What could be easier?

What grain mill do you recommend?

I recommend the Komo Mio grain mill. From my research the Mock mill seems to be top of the line, and therefore a pricey investment. While the Nutrimill has great reviews, it is not aesthetically pleasing. The Komo Mio blends the needs of function and aesthetics without completely breaking the bank. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a hefty lump sum to dish out, but the health benefits were worth it to my family and I to make the plunge into fresh milling.

Where do you get your wheat berries?

Currently I get my wheat berries from Ancient Grains and I would like to try out Azure Standard as well.

Is fresh milled flour healthier?

YES!! Freshly milled whole wheat flour is the healthiest way you can eat grains. Fresh milling completely preserves all of the 45+ vital, life-giving nutrients found in grain. All of these are stripped when using AP flour. Then, only five synthetic versions of vitamins are “replaced” in AP flour labeled as “enriched.”

How long does fresh milled flour last?

Freshly milled flour rapidly loses its nutritional value as it is exposed to the air and oxidizes. About 24 hours after fresh milling your flour, only 50% of the vitamins and minerals are left. So, you must use your flour as soon as you mill it. The wheat berries, however, last basically indefinitely if they are stored properly (sealed and kept from moisture). This is why Joseph stored grain in Egypt for the coming seven year famine.

What kind of wheat should I use?

An easy way to remember what kind of wheat to use when converting a recipe is hard wheats are for breads and soft wheats are for pastries. Breads include any kind of bread that needs a rise and any type of quick breads such as breads that rely on baking powder to rise like banana bread, muffins, and pancakes. Pastries include cookies, cakes, and puff pastries.

How do I convert a recipe from all purpose to freshly milled flour?

Generally, you can sub fresh milled flour for all purpose flour in a 1:1 ratio. This means that if a recipe calls for 1 cup of AP flour, you can sub 1 cup fresh milled flour. This only goes for hard wheat recipes, however. If you are making a bread that needs time to rise such as a sandwich loaf, artisan loaf, or if you’re converting a quick bread recipe such as a muffin, pancake, or banana bread, you will need to use a hard wheat variety such as hard white wheat or hard red wheat.

If you are converting a pastry or confectionary type of recipe, though, you will need to use a soft wheat variety. To convert an AP flour recipe to a soft wheat recipe, sub 1 1/4 cup freshly milled soft wheat for each cup of AP flour. For example, if you are making chocolate chip cookies and the recipe calls for 2 cups of AP flour, you will ned to sub 2 1/2 cups of freshly milled soft wheat.

Why Sourdough?

Sourdough is a fermentation technique used in order to get your bread to rise. Instead of relying on a yeast packet, sourdough using the natural bacteria on the wheat berries. By feeding the bacteria, they in turn release gasses that make the dough rise. Sourdough bread is easier to digest and has a lower gluten content than non-sourdough bread. Freshly milled flour coupled with sourdough is the healthiest way to eat bread!

Tips for Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe

No Knead!

This is a no knead recipe! This sourdough sandwich bread recipe with fresh milled flour only requires a very loose set of stretch and folds along with adequate time to proof.

After mixing the dough, perform three to four sets of short stretch and folds. Do one stretch and fold about every half hour. This is a VERY LOOSE recommendation though. As a busy mom, you may only be able to get two stretch and folds in about an hour apart. It will still work! Make this recipe work for you and around your busy schedule. Do not worry about it. Do not set timers for hard and fast stretch and folds. Just set it and ~for the most part~ forget it.

When you are finished stretch and folding, bulk ferment the dough for 10-14 hours. Then, do a final stretch and fold and shape the dough to the bread pan before allowing it to rest for a 2-4 hour final proof.

Flour to Water Ratio

You may need to adjust the flour to water ratio, especially if your starter is more hydrated than mine is, at 50%. The dough should be pretty wet on the first stretch and fold but totally pulled together by the third.

If you bake the bread and it is way too dense for your taste, experiment by adding another 1/4 cup of water. If, on the other hand, your sourdough starter is much more hydrated, use a little less flour to begin with.

Sample Schedule

Morning #1: Feed starter

Late Afternoon / Early Evening #1: Perform stretch and folds

Over night: Bulk ferment

Morning #2: Final stretch and fold, then shape and final proof 2-4 hours

Afternoon #2: Bake

Two Loaves

This sourdough sandwich bread recipe with fresh milled flour makes two loaves of bread. You can half the recipe to make one loaf but I find it easier to make two at once.

Ingredients for Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Wet

• 1 cup sourdough starter (active, 50% hydration)
• 3 cups spring water
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 stick grass fed butter (salted, melted)
• 2 large eggs

Dry

• 7 cups fresh milled hard wheat flour (hard white wheat, or a combination of hard wheats)

Instructions for Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Morning #1

First you need to feed your sourdough starter. The morning of the night you plan to make the sourdough sandwich bread dough, feed your starter so it’s nice and active when you need it.

Afternoon / Early Evening #1

When your sourdough starter hits its peak rise later that afternoon or early evening, you are ready to make the dough for your sourdough sandwich bread with fresh milled flour.

Get your flour milling while you gather your ingredients.

Next, melt the butter in a small cast iron skillet on the stove top while you mix the first few wet ingredients.

Keep an eye on the melting butter and be sure to turn off the burner as soon as it’s about to completely melt. You just want the butter melted. You don’t want the butter to cook your dough as you pour it in!

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter and spring water using a dough whisk.

Then, while whisking, pour in the honey.

And, again, while whisking, gently pour in the melted butter.

Crack the eggs in and whisk until all the wet ingredients are combined. Try not to over mix. The ingredients will not totally come together until you knead in the flour.

After the wet ingredients are mixed, pour in your fresh milled flour and use the dough whisk or your hands to combine.

Cover with a damp tea towel and leave out on the counter to begin the fermentation process.

Stretch and Fold

Next, perform your stretch and folds. This is as simple as pulling the edges of the dough out as far as it will go (not very far) and then folding it. You do not need to knead the dough! This is the best part of this recipe.

Perform three to four sets of stretch and folds over a couple hour period after mixing your sourdough sandwich bread dough. As a busy mom, you can get away with as little as two stretch and folds, an our or two apart. You do not need to set timers and get stressed about not doing everything at the exact right time. Just do stretch and fold generally every half hour, whenever you can, until bed.

Bulk Ferment

After finishing your stretch and folds, your dough should be pretty tight and ready to rest. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave it to bulk ferment over night on the counter top.

Morning #2

The next morning, perform a final stretch and fold and then shape your sourdough sandwich bread dough into two loaves. Then, rub two bread loaf pans with butter or coconut oil and place a loaf in each. Then, allow the dough to do a final proof, or final rise, for 2-4 hours.

Afternoon #2

When the dough has risen to your satisfaction, bake it in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Allow it to cool before cutting it with a bread knife.

Serve and enjoy!

Bread will keep for almost a week and can then be turned into bread crumbs and stored in the freezer (if it even lasts that long!).

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Let me know how you liked your homemade sourdough sandwich bread with fresh milled flour!