Easy 4 Ingredient Bread Made with Fresh Milled Flour
My family absolutely loves this easy 4 ingredient bread made with fresh milled flour. I make this bread quite often as both baguettes or in a loaf pan. It works great in either form. This bread tastes like an Italian bread loaf, especially when formed into a baguette. I have a special place in my heart for this recipe, because this is the recipe that allowed me to grow my skills and knowledge exponentially! I came up with with recipe myself towards the middle of the first year of my journey of learning all about fresh milled flour. Because this is a basic recipe, with so few ingredients, it can be used as a base for so many different breads. When I learned this information, everything just exploded up from there!
It tastes like a beautiful fresh Italian Bread!
Italian Bread Loaf Variation with Fresh Milled Kamut & Hard White Wheat
I love to alter this recipe just a bit to make this taste more like an Italian Bread loaf. So, to get the Italian Bread Version – I will use this exact recipe, but I will use 3/4 cups of Kamut berries(180g) and 1&2/3 cup of hard white wheat berries (280g), instead of ALL Hard White Wheat. And, I will shape them into long baguette loaves. Lastly, I make sure I spray the loaves with water, and spray some water in the oven as I am putting the bread in.
This shows my two fresh milled bread loafs shaped into baguettes. I scored them 2 different ways. They are just about ready to bake! Go checkout my video if you want to see me make these.
Why This Recipe Should Be In Your Recipe Arsenal:
- Easy to Remember! This recipe is the first bread recipe that I was able to easily remember. And I know it by heart!
- This recipe can be easily adapted or altered to many different breads
- Such a great recipe to start out with, because it is so basic, there is less to go wrong
- It is so simple, it just lets your ingredients shine, nothing overpowering. There is something so delightful about just a simple bread!
- This bread is fantastic even with just butter or a simple flavored dipping oil
- It uses only 4 ingredients, so it is les expensive to make, and no specialty ingredients are needed!
- Stays fresh mush longer than enriched bread (milk &/or eggs added)
- This by default is also a Vegan Friendly Recipe
- Also, no dairy or eggs means this bread is more allergy friendly
- It just plain old tastes delicious!
Ingredients Needed For This Easy 4 Ingredient Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour Recipe:
To make this easy 4 ingredient bread, I don’t count water as an ingredient, as most have access to water. This will give you 2 loafs that can be shaped or baked in a bread tin.
- 1&1/2 cup of warm water
- 1&1/2 tsp salt
- 3 TBSP Olive Oil
- 3&1/2-4 cups of freshly milled flour. 460g (I grind 2&1/3 cup of hard white wheat)
- 2&1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 packet) instant yeast
You can use other grains to make your flour, I have experimented with many combos, I will elaborate on further down below.
Instructions For Making The 4 Ingredient Bread
- Mill the flour
- Warm your water, and pour it in your mixer
- Add the salt and olive oil, mix
- Next, add your flour. Mix to incorporate, then I like to let it sit for about 10 minutes. This allows the fresh milled flour to absorb the water.
- After the 10 minutes, add yeast, then start kneading on level 2.
- Knead for about 10 minutes, and do the window pane test. (See below about the window pane test)
- If the window pane test fails, (it breaks easily) Keep kneading until it passes the test. I have had it take up to 25 minutes, so don’t be discouraged, and don’t try to rush this process!
- After the dough passes the test, cover and let it sit room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours.
- Next, take the dough out of the bowl, and onto a work surface or table.
- I like to lightly oil my table instead of using extra flour.
- Push the air out of the dough and flatten it.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions, then shape your dough as you prefer. See my video for shaping
- Cover and let rise for about 40 minutes, or until it passes the “Poke” test (See below for poke test)
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
- Spray your loaf and oven with water, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until your dough reaches at least 190 degrees F.
- Remove from pan right away (be careful not to burn yourself) and let cool. Enjoy!
Nothing smells better than fresh baked bread!
This recipe also works wonderful in loaf pans, just as equally as it does as a free form loaf! And with so few ingredients necessary, this is such and amazing recipe to have on hand!
Can You Mix Two Flours Together?
Yes! You can mix two flours together, In fact, I recommend experiment with it! I almost always use at least two different kinds of whole grain flours when I am baking something. Some great combos to try are 65% Hard White Wheat Flour and 35% Kamut Flour. This is the combo I prefer most for this Easy 4 Ingredient Bread Recipe. With something like muffins, I really like to use 50% Soft White Wheat & 50% Spelt. You can check out my muffin recipes here. Of course there are endless combinations out there, so feel free to experiment on your own!
that way I can save one, and cut into one.
Does Oil Or Butter make for Softer Bread?
Oil makes for a softer bread, because oil stays liquid at room temperature, unlike butter. Therefore, the bread stays softer. My oil of preference in bread is olive oil.
How Do You Improve The Quality Of Freshly Milled Wheat Flour?
Improving the quality of fresh milled wheat for flour, actually has more to do with the technique and method, rather than the wheat flour itself. I most cases, freshly milled wheat flour requires a longer kneading time than regular commercial flours. These commercial flours have the bran and germ removed. (These are the healthy parts of the wheat berry/kernel – I have explained that more here.)
Often times, while working with fresh milled flour, your bread could turn out dense of heavy. I am here to tell you fresh milled bread does not need to be dense of heavy!
Why Is My Homemade Bread So Heavy?
When making fresh milled homemade bread, make sure you knead it until it reaches the window pane test and passes. Kneading times vary anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes, so this windowpane test is the only true way to know that your bread has been kneaded for the appropriate amount of time.
Under kneaded bread is the #1 reason for dense or heavy homemade bread with fresh milled wheat. The second reason is normally cause by under proofed bread dough. Typical bread dough need a first rise for about 1-2 hours, and an additional second rise after shaping. The second rise is usually about 40 mins – 1 hour. You should preform the “Poke” test to ensure the loaf is ready to bake.
In this picture, I am showing you the window pane test. If you stretch it like this, and it breaks, it still needs to knead longer. You should be able to see light through the thinnest part. This step is important for light and fluffy bread, more like the “store bought” kind.
What Is The “Poke” Test?
The poke test is the easiest and best way to know if your bread loaf is ready to bake. To preform this test, lightly wet, flour, or oil your index finger. Then, gently poke your bread dough about 1/2 inch. If the indent stays, then your bread is ready to be put in the hot oven. If it springs back out quickly, it need to rise a little longer.
Here I am preforming the poke test to make sure my loaf is ready to bake. The indent stayed, so I knew it was ready to go!
My Sandwich Bread Is A Little Different Than My Easy 4 Ingredient Bread, Both Made With Fresh Milled Flour!
Also, If You Want To Learn More About Milling Your Own Flour, I have a Fresh Milled Flour 101 post. So, I Recommend Starting There! I also have a Fresh Milled Flour 101 Video HERE
Level Up Your Bread Game!
Level up your bread game with this delicious Dipping Oil Recipe! I love to make this with dried herbs and seasonings to use up things I already have on hand. But, if I have access to fresh herbs, I will use those. HERE is that recipe!
Easy 4 Ingredient Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour
This easy 4 ingredient bread made with fresh milled flour video was actually one of my first videos, so hopefully you can see some improvement from me now.
Here Are Some Of My Fresh Milled Flour Recipes
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Easy 4 Ingredient Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour Printable Recipe
Easy 4 Ingredient Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour
Ingredients
- 1& 1/2 cup warm water (350g)
- 1&1/2 tsp salt
- 3 TBSP Olive Oil
- 3&1/2-4 cups freshly milled flour (460g) I grind 2&1/3 cup of hard white wheat
- 2& 1/4 tsp instant yeast (1 packet instant yeast)
Instructions
- Mill the flour
- Warm your water, and pour it in your mixer
- Add the salt and olive oil, mix
- Next, add your flour. Mix to incorporate, then I like to let it sit for about 10 minutes. This allows the fresh milled flour to absorb the water.
- After the 10 minutes, add yeast, then start kneading on level 2.
- Knead for about 10 minutes, and do the window pane test. (See below about the window pane test)
- If the window pane test fails, (it breaks easily) Keep kneading until it passes the test. I have had it take up to 25 minutes, so don’t be discouraged, and don’t try to rush this process!
- After the dough passes the test, cover and let it sit room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours.
- Next, take the dough out of the bowl, and onto a work surface or table.
- I like to lightly oil my table instead of using extra flour.
- Push the air out of the dough and flatten it.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions, then shape your dough as you prefer. See my video for shaping
- Cover and let rise for about 40 minutes, or until it passes the “Poke” test (See below for poke test)
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
- Spray your loaf and oven with water, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until your dough reaches at least 190 degrees F.
- Remove from pan right away (be careful not to burn yourself) and let cool. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*This post may contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
What is your bread kneader brand? I can’t find in your site. It was lightweight and narrow. Thank you!
It is a Bosch Compact, they have since discontinued making it, but there are some still left on Amazon, I will leave that link. They may still have them on Pleasant Hill or Ebay also. Maybe
Here is a quick link to my mixer, and I LOVE it! I also did a whole review on it. https://amzn.to/3n5Bn5S
Here is a link to the review video if you are interested. https://youtu.be/jac7Gy0Q45E
Did a test run on this recipe so scaled it down to half and darn, I should have made the full recipe because it came out so delicious! My mother-in-law ate half the loaf herself! I only have a KitchenAid so it took me an hour to reach the window pane test, but definitely worth the longsuffering. Will be making this again soon! Thank you Kara!
Awwww, thanks! So, To help out with the kneading time, you can let it sit for longer before you add the yeast. (So, add the water, flour, slat, and oil- let it sit for at least 15 minutes, but you can let it sit up to 2 hours even, covered room temp. Then, add the yeast and start kneading.) This should help cut down on the kneading time, and help out your kitchen aid motor a bit! Happy Baking!
Oh okay! Thanks for the tip! Will definitely try that out next and keep you posted.
Would this work with all soft white wheat? It’s the only type of wheat berry I have.
Unfortunately soft white wheat doesn’t form gluten like the hard wheat varieties do, so it wouldn’t be the right texture. Soft white wheat is great for quick breads like my blueberry bread, and cookies, muffins, cakes, biscuits, etc. Just not yeast bread recipes. Hope that helps. Here is a link to my blueberry bread you can make with all soft white wheat. https://grainsinsmallplaces.net/fresh-milled-flour-blueberry-bread/
Hi! I have made lots of loaves of bread, but this is my first with my own fresh milled flour. What a leaning curve! I have a quick question: no matter how much I just needed this bread, my dough was granular which is not a texture I am familiar with. What could be the reason for this? I am using the KitchenAid attachment to mill my flour and am wondering if even on the finest setting it’s too course. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you 🙂
Hi! If there was a granular texture, that probably means that is was not milled fine enough. You may need to run it through the kitchen aid mill more than once. It may be helpful to let the flour sit with the water for a couple hours to soften the grains if it is more on the course side. Hopefully that helps!
Thank you so much!
Welcome, my pleasure!
Hi Alycia,
I’ve recently just begun this journey into milling our own flour and had the same problem. We have the Kitchen Aid attachment as well and it just wasn’t getting the wheat berries fine enough. It was also hard on my Kitchen Aid motor too. We bought a new mill this Christmas and it works amazingly well. I’d recommend investing in a better mill, they’re pricey, but worth it if you’re going to do this for the long haul. This is the one we bought (link below) and I really enjoy using it. Have fun in the journey, it truly is lots of learning, asking questions, trial and error, and patience. 😊
– Joy
I only have active dry yeast. Can you please tell me how the recipe can be adjusted for this since it originally calls for instant yeast?
Sure! To use active dry yeast, take about 1/4 cup of the water out of the recipe, and during the first 15 minute rest period put the yeast and small amount of warm (but not hot) water in a small bowl to bloom the yeast. Then wait that 15 minutes. Once that time is over the yeast should be foamy and bloomed, put it in with the rest of the ingredients, and start the kneading process. I hope that makes sense! Happy Baking!
What size pan do you use for the Easy 4 ingredient bread?
Thank you in advance.
I make these freeform on a lined baking sheet
Here is a link to my video that shows me shaping and baking them. I hope that helps! https://youtu.be/1zdg4vLSQhU
Hi there
Can I double this recipe?
Yes! you can double it! Let me know how it turns out! Happy Baking!
First ever attempt at making bread from fresh milled flour and I failed. I think I used the original active yeast instead of rapid so it didn’t rise and the loaf is small. I did cut the recipe in half just in case I goofed and I did. How can I proof the yeast prior to adding it ? I’ve done it with store bought flour but I know this is a a little.different. The bread is still good and not dense so I just have done the window Payne test right. On the bright side I’m making some homemade chicken salad today with some leftover chicken so open face sammies it is ☺when you get lemons you make lemonade
Yes! I love that attitude! We have all made flops for sure! I still don’t always have great results at times. To use the active dry yeast, take about 1/4 cup of the water from the recipe, and add a pinch of sugar put that in a small bowl and add the active dry yeast. Wait about 10-15 minutes before using. The yeast should be foamy, if it isn’t foamy, then the yeast is no good. That is a great test to know if your yeast is good or not also. Hope that helps! Keep trying you will get it!
I have been making the 4 ingredient bread using all hard white wheat berries. I would like to try the hard white/Kamut berry combination. In your recipe, you said to use 240g of hard white and 180 g of Kamut; however, this doesn’t add up to the 460 g of flour used in the recipe. In another part of your post, you said to use 65% hard white and 35% Kamut. At 460 g flour, that calculates to 299 g hard white and 161 g Kamut. I assume I should use the 65/35 formula for this recipe?
Oh thank you so much for pointing that out to me, I had a typo. I actually meant 280g hard white, and 180g of kamut. Thank you so much for bringing that discrepancy to my attention. I have corrected it for the future. Thanks again!
Can this be made into rolls? Thank you. Do you have a whole wheat sourdough ciabatta recipe? Can’t wait to try your recipes.
Yes! you could turn this recipe into rolls! I don’t have a ciabatta recipe, but I do have a couple of dinner roll recipes if you are interested. Here is the dinner roll recipe https://grainsinsmallplaces.net/sweet-yeast-dinner-rolls/
I also have a Hawaiian roll recipe if interested https://grainsinsmallplaces.net/whole-wheat-hawaiian-rolls/
I noticed there’s no form sugar. I thought yeast needed sugar?
The yeast will break down the starches in the fresh milled flour and feed off that, no need for a sugar! Let me know if you give it a try! Happy Baking!
Do you have nutrition values for this bread – by loaf, slice or weight? I am especially interested to know the fiber content. Thanks!
I you are using hard white wheat, there should be about 56g of fiber in the complete recipe. (Which yields 2 loafs) So, approx. 28grams of fiber in one loaf. I hope that helps!
That helps, thanks!
Welcome!
Hey, love the recipe! Would like to make in loaf but unsure how to adapt for 9×5 pan.
I would either use this whole recipe in one 5×9 bread pan, or double the recipe to make 2 5×9 loaves. Let me know what you think! Happy Baking!
I love the simplicity of this recipe. I kneaded it for almost 20 minutes and it passed the window pane test, later it passed the poke test but my loaves came out flat. They still taste amazing and my husband likes them but they definitely do not look like a sandwich bread.
I used about 25% or less hard white wheat as that was all I had left so it was mostly spelt. Will the type of FMF I use impact the rise? I was so disappointed that they were flat but then I realized I used mostly spelt which doesn’t have as much gluten and thought that might be why. Any ideas?
Yes, this was most likely due to the spelt, and low amount of hard wheat. Hard wheat develops a strong gluten that can hold the bread up, whereas spelt can develop gluten, but it is a very lax gluten that doesn’t hold it’s shape very well. You can use spelt, but it will be more dense. Try using at least 80% hard wheat and 20% spelt, or all hard wheat when you get more. I hope that helps!
Love this recipe. Can it be made in a bread machine?
Awesome! I am so happy to hear that! Yes, you can make this in a bread maker, you may need to run a second kneading cycle, just watch the dough for it to be nice and stretchy. 😊
To make it in a bread maker, are there modifications to be made? Would it need to be halved?
Hi! Many have reported success with this recipe in a bread maker (I don’t have a bread maker to try for myself.) The small size will do a 2 pound bread machine loaf. I recommend checking the dough after the kneading cycle. Sometimes it needs 2 kneading cycles. Just check for nice stretchy dough. Let me know how it goes! 🙂