Sourdough Sandwich Bread with Freshly Milled Wheat Flour

Our delicious, gut-friendly sourdough sandwich bread meets nutrient-dense freshly milled wheat flour!

After I got my Bosch Universal Mixer in 2022, I learned that NutriMill was actually the new home of the Bosch! NutriMill is famous for their grain mills, and piqued my curiosity as I continued on my sourdough journey. When their beautiful Harvest Grain Mill went on sale, I got one and couldn't wait to get started! I had no idea at the time where to get wheat berries that were good quality and affordable, so I did my own research on which berries were the best for the types of bread I would be making. Azure Standard was where I landed, selling a whopping 25 pound bag of hard red wheat berries. I have since also added in their 9-grain wheat mixture into 20% of total milled flour, which includes hard red wheat, oats, barley, triticale, rye, soft white wheat, spelt, hard white wheat, and brown flax.

With all those organic grains, it’s no surprise that this mix is full of nutrients, including protein, fiber, B vitamins, and minerals like calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. - Azure Standard

At first, switching over to freshly milled wheat it was a flop. Sort of. The bread didn't rise hardly at all, and it was SO dense. I chalked it up to "that's just how wheat bread is" and tried again, and again, and again. It still tasted wonderful, and my kids even asked for it for dessert! (Seriously!) Finally, after much trial and error with rise times and ratios, I landed on what is now my updated trusty recipe to use week after week. It rises beautifully, has the softest texture, and tastes amazing. The key change from the original sourdough sandwich bread recipe is less flour, more water.

I begin my timeline by feeding my sourdough starter in the morning so it's ready to be used around 1pm.

Sample Timeline for Sourdough Sandwich Bread with Freshly Milled Flour:

8:30 am - feed sourdough starter to activate

1:00 pm - make dough, followed by bulk rise

9:00 pm - divide into loaves and let rise overnight

7:00 am - bake loaves

Sourdough Sandwich Bread with Freshly Milled Flour

Ingredients:

• 3 cups warm water

• 2 cups active sourdough starter

• 1 large egg

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

• 1/2 cup honey (3/4 cup if you want less sourdough tang)

• 1 Tablespoon salt

• 8-9 cups freshly milled hard red and hard white wheat flour, or favorite blend of wheat berries (I also use a 9-grain wheat mixture)

Directions:

1. Make sure you have at least 2 cups of active sourdough starter. If not, feed starter and let it activate, enough to have 2 cups total. (about 4-6 hours)

2. Melt butter and let cool slightly. Add ingredients to mixer and mix until combined.

3. Begin milling your wheat berries, about 8-9 cups.

4. Add flour 1 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. Knead on a medium speed for 5-10 minutes, until your dough passes the windowpane test. (Dough becomes stretchy and translucent without breaking.)

5. Cover dough and bulk rise in a warm spot until doubled, approximately 7-8 hours.

6. Once the dough has doubled, divide the dough into 3 equal loaves and add them to greased bread pans.

7. Cover loaves and let them rise until doubled, no more than 12 hours. They can over proof, and that's not what you want!

8. Preheat your oven to 375°. Once preheated, bake for 34-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let loaves cool completely on a cooling rack. Store in bread bags.

This recipe makes 3 loaves at a time, and there are approximately 16 slices per loaf. I recommend waiting until the next day for easiest slicing, or at least waiting until completely cooled. Since sourdough is fermented, it will last for quite a while, at least a week. Loaves do freeze well.