UPDATED VIDEO AS OF JANUARY 6, 2023:
ORIGINAL VIDEO:
When I first started milling my wheat about 9 years ago, I completely BOMBED full bread loaves. I got so tired of always failing, I just made my bread into hamburger or hoagie style buns from freshly milled wheat.
I did this for about 4-5 YEARS before I attempted another loaf. It wasn’t until a few years ago that my husband then told me he was tired of only having hamburger or hoagie style buns and that I needed to attempt a loaf again.
So…I got over my fear and started experimenting. It took me a lot tries, a lot of YouTube videos, a lot of different recipes, a lot of loaves being thrown to my chickens, and then BAM! I figured out the best recipe AND technique.
Trust me – you need both a good recipe AND a good technique to make beautiful large loaves.
Good news, this recipe is simple and it doesn’t take you all day either. I was shocked to find that I could get a loaf from freshly milled wheat to baked in about 1 1/2 hours.
This recipe includes only ONE rise. You just knead it, shape it, rise it for about 15-20 minutes and then bake. Simple. Easy. Delicious.
This is my go-to loaf of bread using 100% freshly milled wheat. I make this almost every day for my family.
Please note that these are LARGE loaves. Make sure your bread pans can hold 2 pounds of bread dough.
To make smaller loaves, see what I do in the “updated” video above!
These are the perfect bread loaves for sandwiches, toast, whatever your bread needs are.
If you have tried this recipe please comment below and let me know how it turns out!
Better yet, tag me on Instagram @grainsandgrit with your post!
Enjoy!
Be sure to watch the video for the full explanation and technique!
Simple Yeast Bread with Freshly Milled Grains
Equipment
- Grain Mill
Ingredients
- 9 - 9 1/2 cups freshly milled wheat hard red wheat, hard white wheat, or a combination. Mill about 6 cups of wheat berries.
- 3 3/4 cups water
- 2 1/4 TB yeast
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup oil I prefer to use olive oil
- 3 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- To proof the yeast: Combine the warm water, yeast, and 3 cups of flour. Mix together and let it sit, covered, for about 15-20 minutes until nice and bubbly.
- After proofing, add the honey, oil, salt, and remaining 6 cups of flour (to be safe, add 5 more and go from there). Mix by hand or a mixer (if using a mixer, make sure you have the dough hook attachment) until the dough is pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If more flour is needed, only add a little at a time!
- Once dough is pulling away from sides of bowl, it's time to knead. If you're mixing with a mixer, set the timer for 9-10 minutes to knead. If kneading by hand, knead for about 15-20 minutes until dough is soft and stretchy.
- Once dough is kneaded - it should be soft, stretchy, and SLIGHTLY sticky - fold into three loaves and put in greased 9x5 bread pans. If needed, lightly dust your hands and the counter with flour to make the dough easy to work with. Do NOT add too much flour otherwise your bread will be too dense. Rise until bread dough is about 1 inch above the pan.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes until loaves are a rich medium brown.
- Rest the bread in pans for about 10 minutes then remove onto cooling rack
- Rest the bread until cool before slicing.
Notes
Ingredients:
4 1/2 - 4 3/4 cups freshly milled flour (mill about 3 cups of wheat berries)
2 cups warm water
1 1/8 TB instant yeast (1 TB is fine)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp salt For autolyze, mix the water, yeast, and 1 cup of flour. See video for full instructions! *************** This recipe can easily be halved, doubled, or tripled! Want a cheat sheet to know how much to use for smaller or bigger batches? Check out my FREE Ingredients Cheat Sheet! If you want smaller loaves, just divide the dough to the size you want. For a more precise loaf, weigh the dough to make 1lb loaves or whatever size you want. This recipe works GREAT in the Pullman pan. Just weigh the dough to match your pan. For example, if you have the 1lb Pullman pan you need to weigh 1lb of dough. For the 2lb Pullman pan, weigh 2lbs of dough.
Thank you for this helpful recipe. I am trying to use 100% whole wheat flours which my mother said was not possible. She was a great bread maker but only used 1/2 whole wheat or maybe less. I’m excited.
Many people say that, but we are proving it CAN be done!
It was a success the first time I made it! Rare for me, lol. Thank you so much for such a simple, delicious recipe! And for sharing your knowledge of home milled grains. It has been so helpful to my family and our health and eating journey!
I’m so thrilled to hear that! Thank you for your comment.
I know this is your simple recipe. I’m curious if you use another sandwich bread recipe with dough enhancers? I find when I add gluten, potato flakes, lemon juice, 1 egg and dry milk; my sandwich bread comes out soft, with smooth tiny bubbles, and perfect texture for sandwiches. I’m new to baking with fresh milled wheat. I’m totally loving your videos. Thank you.
Hi Dee! I usually do not add dough enhancers because I don’t need them with this recipe and technique. Do know, I have found that the honey does make it softer than making it without honey. I’ve actually been experimenting recently adding powdered vitamin C to the recipe. I read that it can make the bread softer and help it rise. Plus, wheat is just slightly deficient in vitamin c (unless you sprout it). So this is added in beneficial nutrient and it has been working great! But it’s not “needed.”
Is the 9 cups of wheat after it’s been milled? Do you know how many cups of wheat berries it is?
Yes, it is 9 cups of flour which is about 6 cups of grain that you mill. For every 1 cup of grain, it mills into about 1 1/2 cups of flour.
Do you find the bread stores better in the fridge or on the counter in a bag? In a bread box? If you use a bread box do you wrap it also?
I store my bread in bread bags in my pantry. You don’t want to store them uncovered on the counter because it will dry the loaves out faster. However, if you have made some sort of artisan bread that has that crunchy crusty crust, you do want to store out uncovered. You just put the cut side down on a plate or something like that to keep the inside from drying out.
Also, what’s your favorite combo? All red? All white? An equal mix of both? Do you find that the blend effects the texture or just the taste?
I love a mixture of 50% hard red and 50% hard white. Changing up wheats can affect both taste and texture. For example, all hard white will give you a milder flavor and is a bit softer. Hard red tastes a bit nuttier and will give a slightly firmer loaf (so great for sandwiches because it holds up well while still staying soft). My husband says he cannot tell the difference in flavor, but I can a bit.
My bread seems so “sticky”. I have a KitchenAid mixer and I kneaded it for almost 20 min. It was still too sticky to mess with (i added over 6 c flour). I just plopped it into my bread pans
Any suggestions?
It still rose and tastes good.
I do like it slightly sticky. Just dust your hands with flour, shape, then rise and bake! If everything rose fine and tasted good, then you’re good!
That should say over 9 cups of l
Flour
BEST RECIPE IVE FOUND FOR MY WHEAT BERRIES! THANK YOU made your cinnamon rolls. BOMB!
I also cheated and used this recipe in my bread machine and it was PERFECT! Wooohooo happy mama and happy bellies!
Just made this today. I’ve had the mill for a whopping week and a half, and this is the first time something turned out well. THANK YOU!!
Yay!!! So glad it turned out well!
I was wondering if adding less honey would be ok.
Yes, you can certainly do that. I have eliminated honey all together before and it still turns out great. Just not quite as soft as with the honey.
My family and I love this recipe. I feel like I use more around 10-10.5 cups of flour and it’s still so sticky. Like it sticks to my counter and hands and everything is just an ever-loving mess. I’ve been using 100% hard white wheat berries. This is my third time making it, so I’m not giving up and it still tends to turn out. But I’m just curious if that is normal?
It all depends on the day, the weather, where you live, etc. Bread baking isn’t exact for everyone everywhere! I do find when I use hard white flour it takes a bit more than hard red. So long as you’re cranking out great loaves, then you’re doing something right 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have been experimenting with making whole wheat bread for sometime without much success until I stumbled on your recipe. Few trials and I am making almost perfect loaves each time. I find that the more precise I am with the measurements, the better my loaves.
Woo hoo! So glad it’s working out great for you!
I’m still confused about the yeast amounts. The recipe says 3 1/4 TABLESPOONS but I’m wondering if that’s supposed to be TEASPOONS. And if it’s 3/4 TBS, does that mean you’d add 3 TBS plus 3 tsp to get the total amount? I’ve made this loaf twice now and both times, the yeast mixture never bubbled but the mixture doubled in size while I waited for it to bubble. And the dough is SUPER sticky, but the bread itself is DELICIOUS!
It’s 2 tablespoons of yeast plus 1/4 tablespoon of yeast.
more confused than ever…how can 3 1/4 tbs be the same as 2 tbs plus 1/4 tbs help me understand what you’ll are saying
I think you are getting the amounts for yeast and salt mixed up.
3 1/4 tsp of salt
2 1/4 Tbs of yeast
Hi Felicia,
I really enjoy your channel, recipes and passion. I hope you will consider changing your recipes amounts to grams. It would make for much easier conversions.
Best regards and thank you!
What speed is your mixer on for kneading? I have an Ankarsrum.
I just have it on 1
I love this recipe and I have made it twice now. Both times the dough has risen quickly out and over flows. Today I tried to put the extra in another loaf pan. I follow the recipe exactly. My whole family still loves the bread. I just don’t know what is happening lol. Thank you for this lovely recipe.
lol your bread pans may not be big enough. I now split this into 3 loaves! Comes out to about 1.5lb loaves that fit in your typical bread pan size. Don’t let it rise so much it spills over the pans!
I think I just found my answer, but your updated video says 3 loaves, and the printable recipe says 2 loaves. My pans are 9 1/2 x 5 pans and I just divided the dough in half, which means it is a 2.5lb loaf. I’m thinking I may have some bread taller than it is wide….LOL! We’ll see what happens! 🙂 P.S. I’ve been milling my own wheat and making bread and everything else for over 10 years now as well, but have enjoyed your videos and recipes, which is why I was willing to try something over my standby, because what fun is it if you never try something new!!!
What brand olive oil do you use?
Whatever brand I am using at the time lol Not very brand loyal. I do need to find a good one though.
I am a beginner baker and honestly my confidence is not the high haha. I followed the recipe and the loaves (I used Pullman pans) only rose about half way up the pan… What did I do wrong?
The loaves may have been too small OR you just need to let it rise longer.
I live at pretty high altitude, almost 7,000 ft. Are there any adjustments I should make to the recipe?
Here’s an article I found about adjusting recipes for high altitude. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/baking-guide/high-altitude-baking-tips
If you split it into 3 loaves, do you adjust the time? By how much?
Not really. I kinda use my judgement. If you think it needs to be adjusted, I wouldn’t go less than 30 minutes.
The recipe says 3 loafs buy also 2. Can it be split into 3 loaves in 8×4 pans?
Yes, I updated my video recipe to make it smaller.
Worked great after many other recipes failing. Does it work well to freeze this bread? Thank you!
Would there be a way to soak this with an acid medium first?
Perfection the first time I milled grains and baked this recipe! I’m really excited! I used 1 cup soft white, 2 cups hard white, and 3 cups hard red. AMAZING!!
Thank you for putting in the hard work and sharing. I’m 62 and haven’t baked bread over a few times in my life. I’m on a good path to better health.
Need a recipe that makes only one loaf. Do you have one?
If I use a bread machine can I add all ingredients at the same time? Just starting my new journey with milling!
I love this recipe but made it this time with 1/3 Kamut and it is super sticky and very jiggly and seems to full of air after rising in pans. I am baking it anyway but what adjustments do you have to make for kamut? Also how much vit. C powder do you add to your recipe?
I have only ever added 1tsp max of vitamin C if I add it at all. As far as kamut, that is the nature of the grain. It’s a stickier, softer dough. I would make sure you pair it with a hard red to help stabilize it. Or maybe what you did turned out well?
I’m new to using a mill. How do I know how fine the flour should be? Is finer better for fluffy bread?
Don’t overthink it. Just fine flour. It’s not pastry fine, just milled fine where there are no gritty pieces.
This is by far the BEST recipe I have made in the past two years of milling flour. My loaves always end up dense. I chalked it up to being freshly milled but this sandwich loaf! An absolute game changer, thank you.
Woo hoo!!
There is an error in this recipe that snagged me. The servings section of the recipe card says the recipe makes 3 1.5 loaves. I take that as three loaves. But in the directions it says to split the dough into two pans. I wasn’t sure which one was right and which was wrong so I 1/3 the recipe based on the recipe card, but it looks like the directions are correct and this recipe is actually for two loaves and not three. Smells good though and I’m sure it won’t be too off. Looking forward to trying the correct recipe next time.
Ah, I will update this in the recipe! I originally used this to make 2 large loaves. But then I started dividing it into 3 slightly smaller loaves and that size works better for my family. You can do either one! Find what size you like best 🙂
This was the first time I had ever baked a bread loaf. I had new hard wheat berries from a Texas Mill and excited to try it. I am grateful for your encouraging words and “easy” process for a newbie. That said I was frustrated (and fearful) that my measurements were still not exact (using your one loaf recipe in a commercial mixer). When I put the dough on the counter to roll, it looked nothing as nice as yours. My husband continued to assist me knowing I was near tears at probably wasting this nice flour. I mixed it probably twice longer than you trying to get the dough from sides of bowl. I rolled this big ball of dough, put it in the loaf pan and held my breathe. When it rose in 30 min., it looked like yours. Still did not trust all my inaccuracies. Popped in oven another 30 minutes and you are not going to believe it! It came out perfect!!!! We two have almost finished an entire loaf from last night! Just writing to thank you for this recipe and continued encouragement. I now have the courage and knowledge to try other grains and carry on!!!
wonderful! I know it can be scary at first, but your instincts will get stronger the more you do it!
I’m somewhat new to bread making and have had nothing but disasters with freshly milled wheat – these loaves turned out beautiful. Only thing… I let them cool completely, sliced, and then re-heated a little bit in the microwave to warm the bread for dinner and the slices just crumbled when picked up; absolutely refused to stay together. Any ideas what went wrong?
You may have dried it out when warming it up. I don’t have a microwave, so I never use it. I would recommend covering bread in tin foil and placing in oven or toaster oven to warm up, not the microwave.
A friend told me to add sunflower lecithin powder. Just wanted to know your opinion on that. I have 3 loaves rising, right now…we’ll see what happens. Just was wondering what you thought about that. If it’s necessary or not, also, she said to add an egg but I didn’t do that this time. Thank you
I find it’s not necessary for my recipe. But feel free to try it out and see if you like it better 🙂
What would happen if you scored the top? Would that impact the rise?
You don’t score bread until after it has risen and you’re about to place it in the oven. And yes, scoring will affect how the bread looks. Try it and see what happens! It won’t the bread, taste wise. It just may be weird looking if not done right lol
Delicious recipe! I made 2 loaves and 12 rolls with this recipe! I did add some lecithin and vitamin C powder. They were so fluffy and delicious. Thank you for putting in all the effort to make these recipes available! You’re awesome!
I am new to my mockmill. When I grind the hard white berries on the finest setting, it still seems so grainy, not powdery or fine at all, in my opinion. Is that normal? Should I kill it a second time? Thank you!
I had an excellent , memorized go to recipe for the last 2 years with pre groud Azure flours. Since switching to only fresh milled Azure wheat berries 2 months ago, my kids want to know what happened and why have I suddenly messed up the bread? My recipe was NOT cutting it with fresh milled and this was THE answer I needed. They are all enjoying some right now! I guess I will have to memorize this one! Thank you!
I love this recipe! I was wondering, since I have a little extra Einkorn milled and am prepared to make this recipe, can I add the Einkorn flour to this without messing it up? I would like to use up the spare and not discard it. It’s only about a cup.
After 4 horrible failures with different recipes…. Perfect the first time!!
Do you have a recipe for an artisan loaf or can we use the same recipe and just bake it differently?
Just baked this recipe for the first time. I’m new to freshly milled wheat / whole wheat berry in general. This worked so much better than any bleached flour recipes I’ve tried in the past!
I have made this recipe several times with my kitchen aid mixer. I make a half recipe since my mixer can’t handle that much heavy grain at a time. I use hard white wheat from Azure. Can you help me understand why my loaf is so soft it falls apart when sliced? Is it because the Kitchen Aid mixer can’t develop the gluten like a better mixer? Use different grain? I have been thinking about getting a Bosch if my mixer is the problem.
In the KA you may just need to knead it longer to help develop the gluten more. The KA does not do well for freshly milled dough as the Bosch, Artiste, or Ankarskrum do.
I love this recipe, and I’m brand new to grinding my flour! Has anyone successfully used this as a roll recipe? Any baking temp or time adjustments I should make? ❤️
I have a video where I show you how to make rolls with it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T19znP00538
Can I make dinner rolls with this recipe? If not do you have a dinner roll recipe? Thank you
I did a video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T19znP00538
What kind of yeast did you use? I have instant yeast and active dry yeast, I know you don’t have to proof the instant but what about the active dry yeast? Thank you
I use instant yeast. I still proof it. Active yeast will work but you definitely don’t want to skip proofing it.
Making this bread today and it is a
HUGE sticky blob. Followed the recipe exact but there is no way to knead it. So far I have added at least 1-1 1/2 cups more of flour. Sure hope this turns out.
We mill our own berries for bread
lol You want it tacky but not super sticky. The amount of flour can vary! Make sure you knead it in as best you can before adding in more flour. You can do this!
This recipe is 110% when you use a tangzhong. Without it it tends to crumble and fall apart especially at the shoulders. Not sure why it always did that to me.
Take 1/2 c flour and 1c of the water and cook until it gels. Add and continue recipe as normal.
YESSSS! I used freshly milled flour. About 50% einkorn, 25% spelt, and 25% kamut. It rose so well it was spilling over and I made another loaf so out of one batch I got 4 regular size loaves. I’m very pleased. Thank you for a great recipe.
I’m so confused! This recipe says 3 loaves, on your quick sheet say ingredients are 2 loaves.
Ah, so sorry. I really need to update the quick sheet. When I first did this recipe it was 2 large loaves. I have since preferred making 3 loaves with this. So when the quick sheet says 2 loaves, it’s 2 large ones OR three slightly smaller loaves.
New to fresh mill and wondering if sprouted grains would change the ingredient portions? (sprouting berries, dehydrating then milling). I dont want to waste anymore flour if you’ve had experience/knowledge to share about this beforehand lol. Also, I like to ground pumpkin/flax/sunflower seeds into my dough. How would I adjust ingredients to accommodate this or is adding up to a certain amount okay? Thank you!
Sprouted grains are entirely different ballgame. The recipe most likely would not work with sprouted grains. As far as adding seeds and grains, I recommend trying out my multigrain bread recipe! https://grainsandgrit.com/multigrainbread/
This is the single best bread loaf recipe ever!! After many failures, your recipe was a breath of fresh air. This is my second time using it. Long story short I began the process but ran out of time right at the beginning of rising. Surgery appointment, had to leave the house at a specific time. I covered my pans and placed them in the fridge. My plan is to take them out when I get home and allow them to come to room temp and hopefully rose at that point then bake them. Tell me, did I totally just waste 3 loaves of bread?
So glad the recipe is working for you! And I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. Placing the loaves in the fridge just slows down the rising time. You should be good!
I can’t thank you enough for this recipe and video!!! I live in Wyoming and I was thinking my failures were due to altitude. I was getting very frustrated with my attempts. The birds are enjoying my mess ups though! With your recipe my loaves turned out perfect the first try!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I am a little new to baking with fresh milled flour so this may be a beginner question. When I mill the flour do I need to separate the bran?
Nope!
I have just entered the world of home milling. I have been watching tons of YouTube videos talking about how nutritious home milling is etc., but then when I go to look at the actual recipes they are adding things like gluten, lecithin, vitamin c powder, etc. That is too fancy for me. I just want to make a simple, healthy, nutritious, somewhat delicious bread that my family can enjoy.
What a joy when I found this recipe. My literal first ever freshly milled flour bread recipe. I ended up using around 1/2 extra flour during the kneading because it was just sooo sticky. But all turned out well, and not too dense. A total hit! Bookmarked, printed, and pinned already. Will definitely be making again.
I’m very new to milling my own wheat and it has been a learning curve. My big question is can I substitute butter for olive oil in these recipes? If yes, what would you recommend for how much to use in your Simple Yeast Bread recipe?
I LOVE your videos and find them tremendously helpful and fun to watch.
Thank you so much for all your help!
Carol
I am not sure lol I’ve never tried it. If you do, melt it first and use the same equivalent as the oil. I have use lard before when I ran out of oil and that worked fine. I also think the butter may give it a buttery flavor too. Let me know how it turns out!
ohh I’m so disappointed! My loaves looked SO beautiful, but when I put them in the oven they sank. What could have gone wrong?
If loaves sink in the oven, they just rose too much before baking. Back off on the rising time a bit 🙂
So I made this recipe yesterday, two loaves. I milled 2 cups spelt and 4 cups hard red wheat. I was short the full amount so I added I cup bread flour ( I know, I cheated!) ended up using all the flour and mixed and kneaded in the Nutrimill Artiste. It never got “soft” like a dough you can knead by hand so I poured it into the pans and let them rise a couple hours. Then I realized I read the recipe wrong and only put in 2 and 1/4 teaspoons of yeast instead of tablespoons! The horror! I put them in the oven when they were about an inch below the top of the pans and they turned out BEAUTIFUL! I did have to add an extra 10 minutes to the bake time because they were so wet but I was amazed how well they turned out! Just perfect!
Hi there, want to try out this recipe, but can only do 2 loaves, because of the size of the oven. Do you think it would work if I just divided everything in half?
Oh, I see in the notes it can be halved. Should have read that.
Thank you for a simple recipe, excited to try it out!
How does this recipe freeze, or do you have hints on scaling it down even more? It’s just my husband and I. We barely get through a whole loaf in a week. I usually end up making croutons with the remainder of our weekly loaf, so it doesn’t go to waste. We eat a lot of salads and soups, so croutons are a good use for the 1/2 loaf or so of the older bread.
Once the bread is COMPLETELY cooled you have a few options:
1) Slice the bread, store it in ziploc bags, freeze. When you want toast just pull out a slice and toast!
2) Wrap entire bread loaf in plastic wrap, freeze. Pull out night before and place on counter to thaw out to enjoy the bread the next day. You can do this with half a loaf as well.
Just made my first batch EVER of bread from fresh milled wheat. I should have measured the flour after I milled 6 cups of berries because I ended up having to supplement with bread flour to make my last loaf. Oh, I should mention, I don’t have a stand mixer big enough to hold all that dough so I divided the recipe into 3 and made them individually. Bread came out SO GOOD! I’ve done so much reading on freshly milled wheat and how to make bread it was overwhelming. I was nervous about the rise and the density but it all worked out well. This was easy to follow and I love the simplicity of the recipe. I worked out the math using the ingredients I had and the cost came out to $2.83 per loaf. Not bad considering I am in control of what goes in it. Whole family loved it. This is a total win. Should I keep experimenting with other recipes after this win? I don’t know. Should I invest in a bigger, better mixer so I can make all the bread? Absolutely . Thank you for this recipe! Thank you for making it easy on this bread making newb
So thrilled it has turned out well for you!! And absolutely get a better mixer lol I am totally enabling you!
Turned out beautiful but sort of flavorless. I think a little more salt maybe. Not sure.
You can easily increase the salt to taste!
You make it look so easy. I’m brand new to bread making. I’m a visual learner so this video really helps. Teaching an old pup new tricks. I’m 66! Will be attempting this recipe on MLK day with my friend who owns a Wonder Mill.
Can I use sourdough starter in place of yeast?
You probably could but the technique would be way different.
It came out beautiful! I have struggled with freshly ground flour until this recipe. I did substitute 1 C sourdough for 1/2 c flour and H2O just because I had it ready. Thank you
I finally found a favorite bread recipe.
So delicious and soft!!
Can you add a homemade tangzhong ( roux) to this bread recipe to soften it up?
I find my bread is super soft and I have no need to make it softer. Soooo I dunno. But try it and see! 🙂
tastes great but can’t get it to rise so that it has that lovely crown like in your video. I used melted coconut oil for the oil and even put in gluten in the flour. It was bubbly when I put the yeast, flour and water in, letting it sit for 15″. Added flour in my Kitchen Aid and ran it with dough hook for 9-10 minutes. Took forever to rise and never got to 1″ above pan. What am I doing wrong? Hate to spend $400 for a Bosch. Would half recipe work in bread machine?
Omit the gluten next time. Also in the KA you may need to knead it a bit more.
Love this recipe. Do you ever let it rise twice for more flavor?
No, I find it doesn’t rise as well the second time.
Hi Felicia and blessings! I’ve been making these loaves after watching your first video…and I’m pretty sure that was two loaves? Now I read in the printed directions three?
Just want to confirm that (My pans are 9″). And also, using 4c HW and 2c HR, the flavor and texture is fantastic, but I sometimes find the interior of the loaf is a bit more moist than expected…not really underdone, but moist. Or, I end up with a section through the middle that separates a little.
All in all, my 85yo mother lives with me and makes a sandwich for lunch every day. I switched her to this bread over a year ago and she loves it. She has heart/diabetic/weight issues, so I love that I control the ingredients, plus she’s lost weight! Thanks for all you do!
In the updated video, I now do three loaves from this recipe. And check the internal temp of your dough! It need to be 190 degrees F and it’s possibly it may just not be quite there. Also, make sure you’re not slicing it open until 100% cooled. As far as a separation in the middle of the loaf this is usually due to shaping and folding. Practice this and it should improve!
I want to try this recipe, but I only have instant yeast…can I use that? And if so, I could skip the proofing?
I use instant yeast all the time. I still proof it because it helps my bread be softer.
Hi, I want to add powder vitamin c, for this recipe how much would you recommend incorporating?
I would only add 1 teaspoon. Two teaspoons max.
Did you change the loaf qty? It used to be per loaf, now it’s per recipe?
For this recipe, it makes three 1.5 – 2lb loaves. I do have it where you can double or triple the recipe and that would then make it either 6 or 9 loaves.
Best recipe I’ve ever tried, thank you!!
Does simple yeast bread take 4.5 Tablespoon of yeast or should That be teaspoons
Recipe states 2 1/4 tablespoons in the regular size recipe.
Hi! I am new to fmf and bread making altogether. I was wondering if I could substitute the honey for sugar, and if so, how much sugar? I’d love to use honey, but my baby is under one, and I want her to be able to eat the bread also, so I want to avoid honey until she is older.
Personally…as a mother, this is usually my baby’s first foods. With honey. Never had a problem. But if you want to substitute sugar that is totally fine, just a 1:1 ratio.
Thank you for persisting until you created a recipe that is so successfully delicious. I love the simplistic practicality of this recipe. I have been using half of hard red wheat and a cup each of spelt, kamut, and einkorn. Baking this bread makes my house smell amazing. For people commenting on stickiness. I put olive oil my hands and counter instead of flour. To clean up I have a spray bottle of vinegar and wipe with paper towel.
Can I make this with just Khorasan (Kamut) wheat berries or maybe a combination? I am wanting to bake as much as possible with Ancient or Heirloom grains. I only have a little hard red or spelt on hand. The other berries I have besides Khorasan are Einkorn and Soft White Wheat Berries.
Yes and no. Kamut is great, I love it. But it is different and not a grain I would recommend for beginners. I would mix it first with hard red!
When reducing servings (number of loaves) number of cups of grain to mill does not reduce.
I received my Wondermill Jr. on Monday, played with the mill and fingured out the grind settings with some old rice, got my wheat berries on Wednesday, ground some berries into flour and made this recipe on Thursday.
Spot on fantastic!
Moist, nutty and fluffy.
100% whole wheat !
Thank you !
Planning on trying this tomorrow, but really do not like working with a stickier dough as I have had issues baking my past fml loaves due to not being able to shape it right because of the stickiness. Is there anyway I can try to adjust that? Add more flour or slightly less water? Could the ratio of hard red or hard white have any impact was planning on during 50/50
Yes just add more flour. A little at a time. You want your dough to be slightly tacky not a sticky mess.
This was my first time make & it was delicious! Do you know if it would work with sourdough starter & him much to use if so?
Sourdough is a whole different ball game!
What does it mean when the loaves rise beautifully in the oven but sink when taken out? I used your recipe for one single loaf and am baking for 35 minutes. Any tips?
A couple of reasons: 1) Your bread may not have been cooked all the way. Check for internal temp of 190 degrees F. 2) Leave in pan for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan. Most likely I think the reason is #1 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It turned out perfect. My family loves it and it was so easy to make. There will be no shortage of bread loaves in our future. (I should have listened to the 3 loaf pans instead of 2, they’re quite large) God Bless you and yours
This is a great recipe and I want to make hamburger buns .. any recommendations ? Approximately how many buns from one recipe?
Thank you!
You can make A LOT of buns. Usually it’s about 8-12 buns per “loaf”. Just roll them out very flat. About 1/4” thick because they rise so well. But play around with it to see how you like! All you do is roll the buns out, let it rise, then bake for about 25 minutes.
I am soooooooo excited! I finally made this successfully! I’d tried multiple times. Finally, I picked up Sue Beckers book and I figured out what was wrong. I was trying to use 100% Kamut wheat. I had read it was hard wheat so I thought it was fine!
It would make an unbelievable sticky mess in my mixer when kneading causing me to add too much flour and resulting in a dry crumbly mess as a finished loaf.
I did it today with all hard white and it was almost perfect! it was so soft…. actually maybe slightly too soft because my one and only problem with it was that it did fall apart a bit when trying to slice thinly. it was just slightly too fragile for sandwiches. It was 191 degrees when I took it out so I know it was fully cooked.
I may have needed a tiny bit more flour? it may have been a slight bit stickier when done kneading than it should have been.
But it was so soft and so yummy. I am shocked that 100% whole wheat bread can have such a mild taste. My kids loved it and said they want it to be their only bread!
I just need to figure out how to make it a tad stronger to stand up to slicing and making sandwiches! Hopefully without sacrificing the soft texture too much.
thank you so much for what you do and helping us to make ourselves and our families healthier.
So glad this turned out well! And yes, using 100% kamut was definitely your problem lol To make it stronger, you may need to add more flour and/or knead just a bit longer. When knowing how much flour to add, at the end you want your dough to be tacky. Not sticky…tacky. So long as it’s a bit tacky you’re good!
I made this for the first time today. My husband asked that I make some mini loaves for him to take to coworkers. I did some math and decided if I make the recipe as it is I could do 6 mini loaves and 1 regular loaf in my 1 lb loaf pan. Seemed to work out well, thank you for the recipe!
This recipe is so good! It’s the first bread recipe that I’ve made that has turned out so well I keep coming back.
I use a glass pan just coated in a fat at the same cooking temp just for a while longer. Turns out so well! I can finally stop buying the 9$ Loaf at the bread store
Woo hoo! So glad this is working out for you AND saving you money!
Hi! First time testing out this bread recipe. I decided to do half of the recipe and followed the instructions exactly how it’s written. It went really well until I started to bake it. The bread proof and it had a round too, but when I started to bake the bread, it deflated. Could it be the temperature of the oven? Or the way I’m folding the bread?
You just probably proofed it too much before baking. If it rises too much before baking, it will fall in the oven!
Love this recipe! More importantly, my hubs and young sons love it, too. It’s quick and foolproof. I use a little more hard white than hard red. Also use dry active yeast with no issues or changes. Thank you for sharing!!
This recipe is my favorite! I’ve tried several bread recipes and they all seemed to be very dense. This one is just like store bought breads texture. I sprayed my counter and hands with oil while I shaped it.
I just made my first loaf with my hand milled hard red winter wheat. I followed you recipe after cutting it in half. The proof didn’t actively bubble but seemed airy when I stirred it. After kneading and putting in the pan it didn’t rise as much as I would have liked. It was still below the lip of the pan. I baked it and it’s low and dense but incredibly delicious. almost like cake!! My flour isn’t real fine. Kinda gritty. It slices beautifully. I am thrilled and look forward to many experimentations!!!! Thank you for doing the footwork for me!!!
Hi Felicia! I love this recipe and have made about 20 loaves so far this way. Recently, I came across soaked recipes and was wondering if you can convert this into a 12-24 hour fermented ? Please let me know!
No, I wouldn’t convert this recipe to a soaked grain recipe. When you soak grains, it’s a whole different ball game!
How long do the loaves last if put in a 2gal ziplock?? Can they be frozen too? Or will it affect the freshness and flavor?
Yes I have so many people freeze their loaves! I think they’re good anywhere from 4-6 months but I would have to check. People do say that it doesn’t affect the flavor or texture. As far as just putting them in a ziploc bag, loaves will last about 3-4 days.
I love this recipe! It has become my ‘usual’. I recently came across a different recipe that allows you to leave your dough in the fridge and just pull off what you need when you’re ready to bake. Would that be possible with this recipe? It would be so handy to just have the dough in the fridge and be able to pull off a third of the dough to bake whenever I need it instead of baking up three loaves at a time. I usually end up wasting about half of the third loaf because it just gets too old. (Well, I give it to the chicks so it’s not really ’wasted’)
I would experiment with this. You can certainly put the bread dough into the fridge because it will greatly slow down the rising. However, I do not know how it will do longer than overnight. Let me know if you figure it out!
This bread turned out fantastic! I milled my own flour for the first time. My wife loved the bread as well. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Love your bread recipe. Can you help me, I’m looking for a real simple bread recipe for just bread. Just the hard red wheat flour, yeast, water. Simple to put in to a servial bag. Any ideas?
Thanks, Brendan
Ah I should work on a basic artisan-type bread with these ingredients. Haven’t done it yet though so thanks for the idea!
Great recipe! Finally watched the video and found out why my bread wasn’t rising well. I have made atleast 20 loaves prior, but now I know how to make them beautiful. There are discrepancies in the printed recipe, and conflicting information between the two— I wish I had watched the video before today. Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely incredible! Everyone in my family absolutely loves it. I’m a newbie when it comes to baking with freshly milled flour, but it still turns perfect every time! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’ve been making bread for years and finally bought a grinder and berries. So far nothing has worked for me unless I do 50/50 with purchased flour. Trying again with your recipe. Looks good so far. My question is what type of yeast? Instant or Traditional? And if I decided to make my own bakers yeast would you have any idea how much to use?
BTW you are an angel, thank you.
I typically use instant yeast. If you’re talking about a sourdough starter, the measurements will be different and I think the recipe would be different entirely.
This is a great recipe! I use FM kamut and it has been very good. I prob add a little more flour than is called for, but that’s ok. These loaves rise so much for me I need to use 3 good size loaf pans, unless I’m using half for the cinnamon roll recipe (which is amazing!). I’ve also put this recipe into cute mini loaf pans successfully and baked for 20 min. I really enjoy your content thank you for sharing your recipes and methods with us!
The flavor is SO good but the texture is just not right and I am not sure what I’m doing wrong. This attempt it did rise (unlike last attempt) but got just to the top of the pan, not 1″ above. I let it rise for about 90 minutes. I was afraid leaving it out too much beyond that would be bad. It also is very dense. I have not gone above the amount of flour listed in the recipe. I did 1/3of the recipe this time because I just wanted 1 loaf but I made sure all the measurements were correct. Any suggestions?
You have to adjust the flour as you go. With it being too dense you may have just added too much flour. Don’t go by the exact amount in the recipe. It can vary each time you bake bread based on weather, type of wheat, etc. Add enough flour until it just starts pulling away from the bowl if you have a mixer. Or add just enough flour until you can start actually kneading it by hand. Then knead, shape, let rise, etc.
I love, love this bread. I make it for my bible study ladies and many of them want me to sell them some loaves. I have no idea how much to ask for a loaf.
How about you? What would you sell a loaf for?
Laurie Zieger
I sell $10-$12/loaf.
I absolutely love this recipe!
I’m in the market for more loaf pans and was wondering if this recipe would bake okay in glass loaf pans?
Yes it would probably be just fine in a glass loaf pan, just make sure you grease it down so it doesn’t stick.
I’m excited to try this! Do you know if you can use other types of pans like a cake pan or a 9×13 glass pan to bake the bread in?
You could, but you would probably need to shape the dough into more a boule (round) freestanding shape. The shaping I’m doing in this recipe is for a loaf pan, not for a free-standing loaf.
Possible to get the recipe with weights (ie, grams versus cups) to get more precise?
Thanks!
You should be able to switch it to the metric system on the printable recipe. I don’t weigh my ingredients for a reason. I did a video about that here: https://youtu.be/F57OMGIjD9o?si=jrQVOHf4EOeoKs3K
Initially, I only went by the printed recipe. I have made about 20 loaves up to this point. Some have been ok, others/many deflated, none have been what I would call beautiful. It has been very frustrating. Today, after looking at your video for the 3rd time, I have decided to knead longer (doing everything by hand) and roll the dough out as you do in the video. I use all the flour plus a bit more so as to keep it non-sticky. My loaves were not rising above the pan and didn’t seem to rise much in the oven. It has been hit-or-miss. I am happy to say that the loaves baked today (3) came out Beautiful! I too, had questions about the number of loaves, 2 or 3?? I’m sticking with three as this seems to work best for me. I will keep at it!
I originally did 2 larger loaves, but I prefer 3 loaves.
Giving it a five because it looks amazing when you made it! Clearly I can’t follow instructions :’( I’ve tried this twice and both time something came out wrong. Almost embarrassed to post this since I see so many got it down. I’m determined though. I will keep trying!
Keep at it! You can do it!
I am looking for a recipe that would make 2 of the large pullman pans. Would this one work?
Yes this recipe makes about 6lbs of dough.
Felicia,
Twenty five years ago, I tried to make the Bread Beckers bread recipe using fresh ground whole wheat. It was a disaster for me.
Ten years later, I studied through YouTube videos about making homemade bread. I accomplished baking white bread with store bought white flour, and thankfully i learned much about the process. I was getting bored with the same taste of store bought white (aka wheat) flour homemade breads.
This weekend, my husband encouraged me to try to make the fresh ground grain flour because he knew I had been watching and studying your YouTube channel.
Thank you so much for bringing what was a complicated process for me, into laymen terms!!! For the first time in twenty five years I have made freshly ground wheat bread.
Thank you for helping me to realize this process is not as difficult as I made myself to believe.
So glad this has been so helpful!!! ENJOY!!! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! I think it’s so cool that you’re still getting feedback on it after so long. That says a lot!
Thank you!
I’m still confused on the recipe. I feel like you meant teaspoons and not tablespoons. If it is tablespoons do you just guess what a 1/4 tablespoon would be?
I have made this recipe many times and have never messed it up but each time I make it, I use a different amount of yeast and I get stressed! Haha
Thank you!
lol it’s tablespoons. You can always back off on the yeast, it just takes a bit longer to rise. And yes, I usually eyeball it!
I tried this bread several times & it was terribly dense, but I kept trying. One day I realized I should check my yeast… Now I have Beautiful, Tasty Loaves!! Thank you so much for the Great recipes
I love this recipe. But can I suggest converting it to grams it would be so much easier to convert. I make a 1.5 lb laof and two one pound loaves I think I forget. I used just hard red wheat berries. Different from sourdough so that was interesting.
You should be able to convert the printable recipe to grams. There should be a little button to switch it over.
I have tried this recipe and it’s OK 1 have a question is there a reason why you don’t give it a first rise and the a second rise in the bread pan before baking, just curious, Thanks
Because I don’t need it lol I can produce great bread that is soft and fluffy in just one rise, which is a win for me!
I tried to sign up for your grain calculator from your other webinar, but it wouldn’t take my email address. Please ad me to your newsletter.
If it’s blocking you from being added, it’s possible you have requested to never be added to an email list from Aweber. Send me an email at [email protected] and I can send it to you!
Hello, any idea why I’d need twice the amount of flour than the recipe calls for? I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I’ve been making sourdough and just now trying dry yeast and it’s not going well! The only thing is I was just under a tablespoon for the yeast for the single loaf, but that wouldn’t affect it coming into a dough ball would it? I’m using 100% hard white.
You shouldn’t need double the amount, but it’s possible for you to need more flour than I. All depends on the weather, where you live, etc. Add flour until it starts to pull off the sides of the bowl and start your kneading.
I was losing my mind in the same way, trying to actually get a loaf to rise! I think this works!!!
Just curious, have you ever tried making this recipe into bagels? Wanted to try a recipe for bagels with home ground flour but couldn’t find one.
If I want to make 2 loaves would I use 9×5 or 10×5 pans? How long should I bake?
Hmmm for two large loaves the 10×5 may be better, but it’ll work in 9×5 too. And same bake time. 35 minutes.
Perfection. I used mini 7X3 pans and baked to 193 degrees internal
Temp. It took about 25 minutes.
I had to add another cup of flour on this rainy day and knead it for close to 30 minutes.
You mention loving Redmond brand salt and but which one do you use for your bread recipes? I went to their website after watching your video and they offer “fine, coarse or powder” for sale so I’m not sure which one to buy.
I have been making bread for about 10 years with varied results and I can’t wait to try this recipe once I buy whatever type of salt from Redmond that you recommend! Thanks for all you do!
Fine salt!
I have made this numerous times and it always turns out wonderful, Thank you for sharing.
Is it possible to eliminate or substitute the oil. I have to be low fat now.
I’ve never eliminated the oil all together, however, you can choose whatever oil you want.
The weather seems to have a lot to do with how much flour is used. I love this recipe and I use it almost every week. I will substitute oils with what I have on hand. Lard works great as well.
What a fabulous recipe! Thank you so very much. I’ve been baking bread for lots of years, but just started using freshly milled flour in the last 3 years. I scaled down the recipe (according to your directions given, thank you!) and only made one 9 x 5 loaf. It was a joy to knead, shape & bake. The rise was wonderful, the color is lovely, the texture is perfect. The only thing I changed was that I baked it at 375. It turned out just perfect. What a game-changer to have a 100% freshly milled flour recipe for bread that tastes so good. Thanks again!! (FYI, I used the Glenn Hard Red Spring wheat berries from Janies Mill)
Hi Felicia, I love this recipe but am struggling with how sticky my dough is. I just got an ankarsrum mixer and haven’t perfected this recipe in the mixer due to this issue. I’ve added too much flour and burned the tops of my loaves so I’m always reluctant to add too much. I’ll add until it pulls away then knead. When I try to pull it out of the bowl it’s a sticky mess. Any thoughts? Is it an adding flour issue or a kneading issue? Thank you so much for your great recipes!
It’s possibly you’re just not adding enough flour. When it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl wait about 10-15 seconds to see if it still continues to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it does, start your kneading time. If not, add a little bit more flour.
Can I make this using only Einkorn flour
Einkorn is a different ballgame. You can certainly try it, but einkorn is much stickier and you may need more or less flour. All depends!
Oh goodness thank you for mentioning pleasant Hill. They are just over an hr away and I didn’t even know they existed!!
Hi, thank you for your recipe and video. I am new to milling and baking – the flavour was great, rise was good. I sliced into the loaf before it was 100% cooled because we were too excited, and the bottom portion was gooey/moist/dense/underbaked. Is that likely just because I didn’t wait long enough? And/or do I need to bake it longer? Is there a temperature I should check for?
You can check for the internal temp to be 190 degrees…but it’s also just possible it’s because the bread wasn’t 100% cooled off before slicing it. I know…it’s hard lol
My bread keeps breaking. I have made it 3 times, and reduced the flour but each time the slices of bread break. Any suggestions?
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I truly appreciate it. Do you somehow have the recipe for Zojirushi bread machine with the settings for it?
Thank you and God bless you!
A little frust. I have glass pans and I oil them really well but the beautiful bread sticks in the pan and ruins the bread. Would you suggest something else to use. I haven’t tried shortening yet. Would that be better
Maybe especially since it won’t slide down the pan. Butter will also work.
From watching your video, I thought this recipe made two bread loaves, not three. I guess two large loaves or three smaller loaves?
Yep 🙂
I’ve made good bread and I’ve made bad bread. I’ve made fluffy bread and I’ve made sad bread. BUT THIS is the closest I’ve come to getting it RIGHT! I’ve tried that autolyze stuff with no success. Just had to keep adding flour ’til the dough was so heavy it started to strain my brand new Artiste mixer! NO MORE!
This method really works well. My recipe required 5.5 cups of flour which makes 2 nice sized loaves. I milled 6 Cups of flour ( 4 Generations hard red and hard white) so I could restrict myself from adding more flour! I also used half buttermilk and half water for my liquid. After the initial soaking with the yeast ( Red Star Platinum Yeast), I added the other ingredients and watched that dough like a hawk!
It looked like it was not going to come together after kneading for 8 minutes. I added a couple tablespoons more flour for a total of 6 Cups and kept kneading a bit longer (granted, I didn’t have anymore flour and refused to mill more). It finally came together and formed a beautiful slightly sticky dough…something that I had NEVER experienced on this 6 year journey of freshly milled flour!
I put a little olive oil on my hands in order to get it out of the pan. I never felt anything soooooo lovely as this dough! Success at last! I divided it into 2 loaves, placed it in the pans and did one rise! Yes! One rise! IT produced 2 spongy, light and oh so yummy loaves! This 4 Generations is some GOOD wheat! Thank you from the bottom of my ♥ heart Felicia! I am on the road to success and I think I can get an even loftier bread with a second rise! This is GREAT bread!
Tried going through the comments. Making this recipe & using a USA Pullman loaf (large), which should fit perfectly BUT I was wondering if I need to split into half in order to use the lid? First time using this loaf pan so not sure how to know when I can use the lid….
I used active dry yeast instead of instant yeast and followed directions to a T. My bread ended up deflating in the oven. Do you think I need to bloom the active dry yeast separately in a small amount of water and honey and let the flour sit for 15 min in water by itself and then incorporate the 2? I feel like my yeast just ran out of energy. It tastes amazing and I really want to master this loaf!
If it deflates in the oven, it’s probably because it rose too much before baking. Just back off on the rising time and see if that helps!
I am about to try this recipe and wondering if you can add raisins and cinnamon to one of the loaves before rolling it up and shaping?
Yep!
Could I make this recipe in a bread machine? I receive a WonderMill and a bread machine for Christmas and I’m terrified! Will this only work in the oven? Any tips for making it in a bread machine if it’s ok to use?
I have a modified recipe for the Zojirushi bread machine. You can check that out here: https://grainsandgrit.com/zojirushi-bread-recipe/
I have made this and other recipes many times and my bread always seems dense and not soft! My daughter has a bread machine and her bread comes out so soft. What am I doing wrong!
the bread turns out very good. I made this recipe about 6 times. I find I always to need to use 1 or two and a half cups more of flour. if I use only 9 cups still come out sticky.