Simple & Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread
If you’re looking for a Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread that is so easy to make, requires minimal ingredients, and fits into your daily schedule – this fresh milled bread recipe is it! This bread also requires simple ingredients; no lecithin, no milk, and no eggs required for this fresh milled loaf to still be perfectly soft! We love that this bread fits into our day too. We can make the dough in the morning and have it baking by supper time.
Simple & Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread
A soft sourdough sandwich loaf made with fresh milled flour. This bread is perfect for for sandwiches, toast, or French Toast!
Ingredients
- 820 Grams Hard Wheat, we like the combination of 1/2 Yecora Rojo & 1/2 Khorasan*
- 420 Grams Warm Water
- 200 Grams Sourdough Starter, active and bubbly
- 2 Tablespoons Butter, softened
- 80 Grams Honey
- 20 Grams Real Salt
Instructions
- We prefer making this recipe 7-8 hours before we plan on baking this bread. We do not suggest an overnight bulk rise when making this recipe. This sourdough bread ferments very quickly and we have found them to be over fermented when bulk rising overnight. Our house is around 70 degrees consistently, so plan your recipe according to your home environment. We make this recipe in the morning and it's the perfect amount of time to bake around suppertime.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, weigh out 420 grams of warm water, 200 grams of sourdough starter, 80 grams of honey, and 2 Tablespoons of softened butter. Mix together and set this mixture aside.
- In another bowl, weigh out 820 Grams of your preferred Hard Wheat Berries. I like to weigh my berries before I mill them. This is a simple hack that allows you to mill the perfect amount of grains. I use this hack with all of my fresh milled baking recipes.
- Add the fresh milled flour to the wet ingredients and mix together using the beater attachment on your mixer until all the ingredients are combined. Dough will be shaggy. Cover mixing bowl and allow dough to rest 20 minutes.
- While dough is resting, weigh out 20 grams of salt. We will add this before we knead the dough. Allowing the flour, water, and starter to rest before adding salt is a process called Fermentolysing. This helps our fresh milled flour to hydrate before kneading and yields and fluffier and softer loaf.
- After the dough has rested, add 20 grams of salt to the dough and knead in the mixer using the dough hook until dough is soft and passes the windowpane test. This is when you can pull the dough up and it does not tear, it simply thins, allowing you to see through it like a dough stained glass window.
- After the dough is kneaded, cover dough and allow it to bulk rise for 6 hours. Dough will have doubled in size. Divide dough into two loaves, shape into loaves, and place in a parchment paper lined loaf pan. Cover loaves and allow them to rise again for 2 hours.
- After two hours, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread for 40 minutes. Top will be lightly golden.
- I have found that leaving the bread in the parchment paper lined loaf pan to cool gives this bread an even softer crust. The steam created while cooling moistens the crust as it cools. I allow it to cool in the lined loaf pan for about 30 minutes before removing the loaves to a wire rack and covering them with a towel to cool completely.
- Allow Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread to cool completely before slicing. Bread is best served fresh. YUM!
- This bread also works well for bulk baking days. After bread has cooled, we love to slice the bread then place in gallon freezer bags. Place in the freezer then defrost for future use.
Notes
*Why do you measure your wheat in grams? While this may seem inconvenient, we've actually found this to be a great hack when baking with fresh milled flour. Instead of guessing how much grain will yield so much flour (or using conversion charts), simply weigh out the wheat berries before milling them. It's the easiest way to measure fresh milled flour! It's also a great way to achieve consistent baked goods every time.
*What is the best wheat to use in fresh milled bread? The short answer is any hard wheat you prefer. Take time to try out a few different varieties and experience their unique flavors and textures. We love heirloom grains and have enjoyed the warm honey tones and nutrients that Yecora Rojo and Khorasan offer.
The Softest Fresh Milled Sourdough Bread Loaf that’s simple enough to fit into your everyday life!
I don’t know about you, but we don’t have all the time in the world to make bread. While we love the nutrition of fresh milled sourdough as well as the flavor, it can seem daunting to fit one more task (and a time consuming one at that!) into your daily routine.
We needed a recipe that didn’t require a lot of skill, techniques, or ingredients. It needed to be a recipe that could be mixed together and forgotten about until it needed baked. And most importantly, it needed to be a fresh milled sourdough loaf that was always soft.
And that’s why we created this recipe! It’s a fresh milled sourdough bread recipe that works so well in between all the hustle and bustle in our from scratch kitchen and we hope it fits perfectly into your needs as well.
Why we love this Simple & Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread:
- A 100% Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread- We love everything about fresh milled flour! Not only does it offer exceptional flavor, but also so many nutritional benefits. You CAN achieve a soft sourdough fresh milled bread without the use of all-purpose flour, so there is no need to add it to this recipe.
- No lecithin, no milk, and no eggs! Our goal was to keep this fresh milled sandwich bread simple! You don’t need a lot of extra ingredients to whip up this bread. We utilize a technique called fermentolysing to keep this bread soft without a lot of extra ingredients.
- A favorite bread for sandwiches, toast, or even french toast! This bread is perfect for slicing and using for sandwiches, breakfast toast, or slicing a little thicker for some homemade french toast!
- Freezer friendly!! If you love bulk baking days like we do, simply slice the bread then place in a freezer safe container. Place in the freezer so that it stays fresh and remove pieces as need. This bread freezes well and separates easy straight out of the freezer.
One dough – 3 Fresh Milled Sourdough Recipes!
It is our goal to provide you with simple, wholesome, and delicious recipes for the from scratch kitchen. From our experience, these recipes need to fit seamlessly into your day. That’s why we created 1 recipe that does it all! It’s a fresh milled sourdough recipe that can also be used to make:
- Fresh Milled Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- Fresh Milled Sourdough Tortillas
- And this recipe right here- Simple & Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread!
We love making a dough and then deciding later how we will use it. That’s why it’s great to have this versatile fresh milled sourdough recipe. One day it may turn into rolls, the next day it may turn into tortillas. Some days, half will be made into rolls and the other half into a sandwich loaf. We love the freedom and versatility this dough recipe offers.
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Don’t forget the WHY behind fresh milled baking!
We always think it’s important to remind our readers to get back to the why of fresh milled flour recipes.
Maybe your why is because you desire to make wholesome, from scratch food for you family in your own kitchen. Or after being gluten free for years you realized you could enjoy grains in their whole form. Maybe you learned of the amazing health benefits of fresh milled grains. Or maybe it’s all of the above!
It’s easy to get lost in the noise of the internet. But as women, wives, and mothers let’s get back to kitchens and homes that provide not just wholesome food for our families, but also delicious food that satisfies our deepest needs for nourishment. Our kitchens can be reminders of our deeper spiritual needs- Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
Ingredients in Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread:
- 820 Grams Hard Wheat- Any Hard Wheat works well for this recipe. We have found we enjoy the warm honey flavors and nutritional value of combining Yecora Rojo & Khorasan in this recipe.
- 200 Grams Active & Bubbly Sourdough Starter- Make sure your starter has been recently fed and is nice and bubbly.
- 420 Grams Warm Water- Make sure your water is filtered and warm.
- 80 Grams Honey- Adds a subtle sweetness to this whole wheat sourdough bread.
- 56 Grams (2 Tablespoons) Softened Butter- We like to keep the ingredients in this recipe simple, adding 2 tablespoons of butter enriches the dough and adds flavor.
- 20 Grams Real Salt- Adds so much flavor to this sourdough bread as well as aids in the ferment process.
Step-by-Step Instructions For How To Make Simple Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread-
In the bowl of a stand mixer, weigh out 420 grams of warm water, 200 grams of sourdough starter, 80 grams of honey, and 2 Tablespoons of softened butter. Mix together and set this mixture aside.
Then, in another bowl, weigh out 820 Grams of your preferred Hard Wheat Berries. I like to weigh my berries before I mill them. This is a simple hack that allows you to mill the perfect amount of grains. I use this hack with all of my fresh milled baking recipes.
Next add the fresh milled flour to the wet ingredients and mix them together using the beater attachment on your mixer until all the ingredients are combined. Dough will be shaggy. Cover the mixing bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
While the dough is resting, weigh out 20 grams of salt. We will add this before we knead the dough.
After the dough has rested, add 20 grams of salt to the dough and knead in the mixer using the dough hook until dough is soft and passes the windowpane test. This is when you can pull the dough up and it does not tear, it simply thins, allowing you to see through it like a dough stained glass window.
After dough is kneaded, cover the dough and allow it to bulk rise for 6 hours. The dough will have doubled in size. Divide the dough into two loaves, shape into loaves, and place in a parchment paper lined loaf pan. This makes for super easy cleanup! Cover the loaves and allow them to rise again for 2 hours.
After two hours, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake this Simple & Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread for 40 minutes. The top will be lightly golden. Allow bread to cool before slicing.
