Sourdough Sandwich Bread With Fresh Milled Flour Made Easy

Sourdough sandwich bread made with fresh milled flour can be easy. We just have to not overthink it! This loaf is perfectly soft, slightly sweet, and tangy at the same time. It holds up nicely to slicing, and spreads to make the perfect sandwich bread, and it is made with 100% fresh milled flour, unsifted, and leavened with a pure sourdough starter, and no yeast.

Updated Post on 8/14/2024 to include larger pan sizes.

I actually really have been hesitant on putting this recipe out, along with other sourdough recipes, because sourdough made with fresh milled flour is very different than sourdough made with white flours. But, I decided I am here to help and share my knowledge of the things I have learned by my own experiments. So, here it is, one of the most requested recipes I am finally releasing!

So, there are some things I have learned along the way while experimenting and working with sourdough. Now, I am no professional sourdough baker, and there are many that are probably much better than I am. But, I get asked for sourdough recipes multiple times a day.

Why Does Sourdough Act So Differently With Fresh Milled Flour Than With White Flour?

The reason that sourdough is so different with fresh milled flour than it is with white flour is because freshly milled flour contains the WHOLE raw wheat berry with nothing added. If you do a side by side comparison as I have you will see that sourdough LOVES fresh milled flour so much that this is the very reason so many people are struggling with it when switching to fresh milled flour. The sourdough ferments much quicker! There are no additives, preservatives, or bleach there to slow or inhibit the good bacteria and yeast to be active. Also, Whole grain flours contain more natural yeast and bacteria compared to refined flours.

Why Are My Sourdough Rise Times So Different Than The Recipe?

There are so many variable to think about when we consider bread baking alone, but when you factor in sourdough starter in the mix, that is a whole new ballgame! Sourdough starter doesn’t always like to play by the rules, and sometimes has a mind of it’s own.

What Variables Affect My Sourdough Starter?

Some examples of variable that can affect sourdough starter:

• Water Temperature: The warmer the water, the quicker the sourdough will ferment & grow. BUT, if the water is too hot, it will kill your starter, and then there will be no growth!
• Temperature Of The Flour: When milling flour, it does get warm, so this plays a role in the fermentation of the sourdough. If you pre-milled the flour and it is kept in the freezer or fridge, then this will slightly slow down the growth time.
• Room Temperature: The temperature of your house will play a role in the time, and this can vary from day to day, and even from morning to night.
• Feeding Frequency: How often you refresh or feed the sourdough starter impacts its growth. Regular feedings help maintain its activity and strength. Also, the amount you feed will affect the strength of your starter.
• Starter Health: The balance of yeast and bacteria in the starter, influenced by regular feedings and maintaining a healthy environment, affects its growth rate.
• Air Quality and Environment: Factors like airborne microbes, humidity levels, and the cleanliness of the environment where the sourdough is kept can impact its growth.
• pH Levels: The acidity of the starter can influence the growth of specific microorganisms. A more acidic environment might favor certain bacteria and yeast strains over others.
• Starter Age: Young starters might need more time to develop strength and activity compared to well-established, mature starters.

Balancing these variables is part of the art of maintaining a healthy and active sourdough culture made with fresh milled flour. Small adjustments to any of these factors can impact the growth and performance of the starter.

You Can Do This!

I know this all sounds confusing, but once you start using it, you will start to learn how your starter behaves, and what is normal for it. These points are all just here to reference for troubleshooting and understand why your bake may have not turned out.

It is completely normal to have several failed bakes in the beginning, especially when using fresh milled flour. I came from baking beautiful almost perfect loaves of sourdough made with white flour too. I also thought it would be exactly the same, and I could just swap out my flour… right?

Wrong… I was soooo wrong! I had so many failed fresh milled four sourdough loaves that I actually gave up and threw my beloved sourdough started in the trash! (Please don’t hat me! I have learned from my mistakes!) I soon regretted this, because I missed it! So, I had to start a new one from scratch. And, this was not without difficulty. But, this is exactly how I learned the how’s, and the why’s about sourdough in relation to fresh milled flour. So, now I can share all this knowledge and my recipes with you, possibly saving you from years of anguish! LOL. But, please understand there will be fails, and there may be a lot! It’s ok, you can do this, just keep going!

I Am Here To Help!

So, let me share my recipe and techniques with you in my recipes, and videos. I have so many videos online that I share my tips and tricks. There you can see the texture, and consistency of my doughs, and it may help you visualize what I am saying.

I plan to release a video in the future if you want to create your own sourdough starter in the future from fresh milled flour, so make sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel HERE so you don’t miss when I release that video this year. (Jan 2024, if you are reading this later, the video may already be released!)

Ingredients To Make Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Sandwich Bread

• 4 & 1/2 cups Fresh Milled Flour 560g (My favorite is 450g hard white wheat & 110g Kamut)
• 1&1/2 cup room temperature water 360g
• 3 TBSP melted butter OR Olive Oil 42g
• 3 TBSP Sugar 36g OR Honey 60g
• 1&1/2 tsp salt 9g
• 1 egg room temperature
• 1/2 cup Sourdough Starter 115g
• *optional egg wash (1 egg+1 tsp water) for topping bread before baking

Instructions To Make Sourdough Sandwich Bread With Fresh Milled Flour

Preparing The Dough

1. Firstly, make sure that you feed your sourdough starter the night before you want to bake with it. (Even if you already fed it in the morning. You want it nice and strong the night before.)
2. Then, mill the flour. I like to use mostly hard white wheat with a little Kamut (Khorasan Wheat). Just make sure to use mostly hard wheat of some sort for this recipe. Otherwise, it will not develop the gluten enough to have a nicely risen loaf of bread.
3. In a stand mixer, add water, melted butter (or oil), sugar (or honey), salt, and egg. Mix all these ingredients to combine.
4. Then, add the freshly milled flour to the stand mixer, and start to mix slowly until all the dry flour is completely incorporated.
5. Add the sourdough starter into the dough, and mix until incorporated. (The dough will seem very wet at this stage.)
6. Cover, and let the dough sit at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes, or up to 1 hour. This resting time is important, It allows the fresh milled to start absorbing the liquid, and the bran to start softening. This is the Autolyse step.

Kneading

1. After the dough has had time to Autolyse, then start the kneading process. This kneading process could take anywhere between 7 to 30 minutes. This time varies greatly, so the best way to tell if the dough is done being kneaded is to check the dough itself. You want a nice stretchy dough that wants to stay together. This is a wet dough, so try to resist adding flour to it. See video for the desired texture of dough that you are looking for.
2. Once kneaded, cover the dough and let it rise until doubled. This can take anywhere from 2 to 8 hours depending on your sourdough starter, and how warm it is in your kitchen. (Other variables I mentioned above in my blog post can affect this rise time as well.) Mine generally takes about 3- 4 hours for example.

Shaping The Dough

1. Prepare bread loaf pans with parchment paper.
2. After the dough has doubled in size, then on a lightly oiled surface, cut the dough in half. This will make 2 small 1 pound loafs. See notes for other size bread pans. I use small 4×8 bread pans.
3. Press each piece flat, then roll to shape, I show one shaping technique option in my video. But, make sure there is some surface tension, and no air pockets while rolling. it will be sticky so I recommend oiling your hands as well as the work surface.
4. Place each loaf in the lined bread tin, and cover. Let rise this second time for 2-3 hours, or until it has risen and looks puffy. (Times may vary greatly, so make sure to check your dough occasionally during this second rise time.)
5. During the end of this second rise preheat oven to 375*F.
6. Once the loafs have risen and look puffy, you can brush with an egg wash to make the loaf shiny and more browned. This step is optional.

Baking The Loaves

1. Bake loaves for 35-40 minutes until the internal temperature of the center of the loaves are 205-210*F. If they are below this temp, the loaves may be gummy.
2. Take bread out of the oven when the bread reaches that temp range. Then, remove them from the baking pans to a wire rack to cool. (The parchment papers can be used as handles so you don’t burn yourself.)
3. Let the loaves cool completely before cutting into them! If you cut into them before they cool completely, they may be gummy on the inside.
4. Once cooled completely, then slice to desired thickness, and enjoy!

Bread Pan Size

*Bread Pan Size Tips: My recipes call for the smaller 4×8 bread loaf pans, because I have a tiny oven! lol. Even the 4.5×8.5 pans are a bit larger, crazy how just that half inch each way can make such a difference! So, if you only have the larger pans, I recommend to x1.5 my recipes (except the sourdough starter, leave that the same) if you are looking for a large high rise loaf of bread. The large pans will definitely still work with this recipe as written, the loafs will just be a bit smaller. See Below for those measurements.

Larger Bread Pan Sizes

This recipe is for 2 small 4×8 loaves. However, I realize there are different pan sizes, so I wanted to give you the amounts for the two other most common bread pan sizes.

For Medium Bread Pan Size 4.5 x 8.5

• 7 cups Fresh Milled Flour 840g (I like to mill 700g hard white, and 140g Kamut)
• 2&1/4 cup Room temperature water 54og
• 4.5 TBSP Melted butter OR Olive Oil 63g
• 4.5 TBSP Sugar 60g OR Honey 90g
• 2&1/4 tsp Salt 13g
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup Sourdough Starter 174g
• *optional egg wash 1 egg+1 tsp water for topping bread before baking

For Large Bread Pan Size 5 x 9

• 9 cups Fresh Milled Flour 1,120g (My favorite is 900g hard white wheat & 220g Kamut
• 3 cups Room temperature water 720g
• 6 TBSP Melted butter OR Olive Oil 84g
• 6 TBSP Sugar 72g OR Honey 120g
• 3 tsp Salt 18g
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup Sourdough Starter 230g
• *optional egg wash 1 egg+1 tsp water for topping bread before baking

How To Store Sourdough Sandwich Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour

To store this fresh milled flour sourdough sandwich bread, keep in an airtight container, or bag. You can keep these on the counter for 2-3 days. For longer storage, place in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 4 months. (Make sure the loaf has cooled completely before freezing, best results to freeze the same day as it is baked.) To thaw, sit on the counter, and let come to room temperature.

Make Your Own Sourdough Starter From Scratch With Fresh Milled Flour

If you don’t already have a sourdough starter, but are wanting to make one with 100% fresh milled flour from scratch, I am here for you! I have a video resource that goes over how you can make your very own sourdough starter using only freshly milled flour. I also go over troubleshooting issues to help make this process a little easier for you, and I make a brand new sourdough starter right along side you! You can watch that video HERE.

I also have a written blog post that covers this information, if you would like to print it out and have it handy for when you are just getting started. You can do this, it is not as difficult as some on the internet have made it seem! You can checkout my blog post about it HERE.

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Sourdough Sandwich Bread Made With Fresh Milled Flour

Grains In Small Places

This Sourdough Sandwich Bread loaf is perfectly soft, slightly sweet, and tangy at the same time. It holds up nicely to slicing, and spreads to make the perfect sandwich bread, and it is made with 100% fresh milled flour, unsifted, and leavened with a pure sourdough starter, and no yeast.

4.92 from 36 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Rise Times & Cooling times (May VARY greatly!) 8 hours hrs

Total Time 9 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, bread

Cuisine American

Servings 2 small 4×8 loaves

Equipment

• 2 4×8 bread pans *See Notes for Larger Bread Pan Ingredient List
• 1 digital thermometer to check to see when the loaves are done

Ingredients

  

• 4&1/2 cups Fresh Milled Flour 560g My favorite is 450g hard white wheat & 110g Kamut
• 1&1/2 cup Room temperature water 360g
• 3 TBSP Melted butter OR Olive Oil 42g
• 3 TBSP Sugar 36g OR Honey 60g
• 1&1/2 tsp Salt 9g
• 1 Egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup Sourdough Starter 115g
• *optional egg wash 1 egg+1 tsp water for topping bread before baking

Instructions

 

• Firstly, make sure that you feed your sourdough starter the night before you want to bake with it. (Even if you already fed it in the morning. You want it nice and strong the night before.)
  
• Then, mill the flour. I like to use mostly hard white wheat with a little Kamut (Khorasan Wheat). Just make sure to use mostly hard wheat of some sort for this recipe. Otherwise, it will not develop the gluten enough to have a nicely risen loaf of bread.
• In a stand mixer, add water, melted butter (or oil), sugar (or honey), salt, and egg. Mix all these ingredients to combine.
• Then, add the freshly milled flour to the stand mixer, and start to mix slowly until all the dry flour is completely incorporated.
• Add the sourdough starter into the dough, and mix until incorporated. (The dough will seem very wet at this stage.)
  
• Cover, and let the dough sit at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes, or up to 1 hour. This resting time is important, It allows the fresh milled to start absorbing the liquid, and the bran to start softening. This is the Autolyse step.
• After the dough has had time to Autolyse, then start the kneading process. This kneading process could take anywhere between 7 to 30 minutes. This time varies greatly, so the best way to tell if the dough is done being kneaded is to check the dough itself. You want a nice stretchy dough that wants to stay together. This is a wet dough, so try to resist adding flour to it. See video for the desired texture of dough that you are looking for.
  
• Once kneaded, cover the dough and let it rise until doubled. This can take anywhere from 2 to 8 hours depending on your sourdough starter, and how warm it is in your kitchen. (Other variables I mentioned above in my blog post can affect this rise time as well.) Mine generally takes about 3- 4 hours for example.
• Prepare bread loaf pans with parchment paper.
• After the dough has doubled in size, then on a lightly oiled surface, cut the dough in half. This will make 2 small 1 pound loafs. See notes for other size bread pans. I use small 4×8 bread pans.
• Press each piece flat, then roll to shape, I show one shaping technique option in my video. But, make sure there is some surface tension, and no air pockets while rolling. it will be sticky so I recommend oiling your hands as well as the work surface.
  
• Place each loaf in the lined bread tin, and cover. Let rise this second time for 2-3 hours, or until it has risen and looks puffy. (Times may vary greatly, so make sure to check your dough occasionally during this second rise time.)
• During the end of this second rise preheat oven to 375*F.
• Once the loafs have risen and look puffy, you can brush with an egg wash to make the loaf shiny and more browned. This step is optional.
  
• Bake loaves for 35-40 minutes until the internal temperature of the center of the loaves are 205-210*F. If they are below this temp, the loaves may be gummy.
• Take bread out of the oven when the bread reaches that temp range. Then, remove them from the baking pans to a wire rack to cool. (The parchment papers can be used as handles so you don’t burn yourself.)
• Let the loaves cool completely before cutting into them! If you cut into them before they cool completely, they may be gummy on the inside.
• Once cooled completely, then slice to desired thickness, and enjoy!
  

Video

Notes

*Bread Pan Size Tips: My recipes call for the smaller 4×8 bread loaf pans, because I have a tiny oven! lol. Even the 4.5×8.5 pans are a bit larger, crazy how just that half inch each way can make such a difference! So, if you only have the larger pans, I recommend to x1.5 my recipes (except the sourdough starter, leave that the same) if you are looking for a large high rise loaf of bread. The large pans will definitely still work with this recipe as written, the loafs will just be a bit smaller.

*Larger Bread Pan Ingredient Amounts:

For Medium Bread Pan Size 4.5 x 8.5

• • 7 cups Fresh Milled Flour 840g (I like to mill 700g hard white, and 140g Kamut)

• • 2&1/4 cup Room temperature water 540g

• • 4.5 TBSP Melted butter OR Olive Oil 63g

• • 4.5 TBSP Sugar 60g OR Honey 90g

• • 2&1/4 tsp Salt 13g

• • 2 Eggs, room temperature

• • 3/4 cup Sourdough Starter 174g

• • *optional egg wash 1 egg+1 tsp water for topping bread before baking

For Large Bread Pan Size 5 x 9

• • 9 cups Fresh Milled Flour 1,120g (My favorite is 900g hard white wheat & 220g Kamut)

• • 3 cups Room temperature water 720g

• • 6 TBSP Melted butter OR Olive Oil 84g

• • 6 TBSP Sugar 72g OR Honey 120g

• • 3 tsp Salt 18g

• • 2 Eggs, room temperature

• • 1 cup Sourdough Starter 230g

• • *optional egg wash 1 egg+1 tsp water for topping bread before baking

*How To Store: To store this fresh milled flour sourdough sandwich bread, keep in an airtight container, or bag. You can keep these on the counter for 2-3 days. For longer storage, place in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 4 months. (Make sure the loaf has cooled completely before freezing, best results to freeze the same day as it is baked.) To thaw, sit on the counter, and let come to room temperature.

 

Keyword fresh milled flour, fresh milled flour sourdough, freshly milled flour, home ground flour, soft sourdough bread, sourdough, sourdough bread, sourdough sandwich bread, whole grain, whole wheat

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