There’s something incredibly comforting about the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house, especially when it’s a loaf of my Super Soft Fresh Milled Sandwich Bread. This bread is not just your average sandwich bread; it’s a testament to the art of bread baking, made with love and wholesome ingredients.
One of the key ingredients that sets this bread apart is fresh milled flour. By milling our own flour, we ensure that the nutrients and flavors are preserved, resulting in a loaf that is not only soft but also incredibly flavorful. This freshness shines through in every slice, making it a standout choice for your everyday sandwiches.
What makes this bread truly special is its softness. Unlike store-bought bread, which can often be dry and bland, my Super Soft Fresh Milled Sandwich Bread is pillowy soft with a tender crumb that practically melts in your mouth. This softness makes it perfect for sandwiches, as it won’t overpower the fillings but rather enhance them with its mild, nutty flavor.
I love making these loaves in USA Pullman pans for a tall, beautiful loaf. The link for my pans is listed here.
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To make Super Soft Fresh Milled Sandwich Bread, you’ll need:
Fresh milled flour I typically use hard white wheat, hard red wheat or a mix of both. In addition to those, I enjoy adding 10% rye flour. Use the grain of your choice in place of the rye but stick with a hard wheat for the bulk of the flour.
Water Room temperature water works great for this recipe.
Oil Use the oil of your choice. I enjoy using a mild flavored olive oil.
Honey Any sweetener of your choice will work. If using a different sweetener, go by the gram measurements.
Vital wheat gluten aids in the rise and texture of your loaf. It gives the loaf a chewier texture that really resembles store bought bread. This is optional. Your loaf will still rise beautifully without vital wheat gluten.
Sunflower lecithin is a natural fat emulsifier that aids in producing a softer loaf that stays soft for longer. Alternatively, egg can be used in its place. See below for egg instructions.
Instant yeast This recipe is made to work with instant yeast. I would not recommend active dry yeast.
Salt Use a sea salt or Redmonds real salt
How to make super soft whole wheat bread
Start by milling your flour. If using a scale, you can measure your wheat berries by weight. If using measuring cups, you’ll need 4&2/3c of wheat berries to get 7c of freshly milled flour.
Starting with the water, put everything in the mixer bowl EXCEPT the salt and yeast. Knead on speed 2 (if using KitchenAid) until all ingredients are well incorporated and a ball of dough forms. Let rest for 15-20 min covered with a towel or plastic wrap. Add in the salt and yeast and continue to knead for about 8-10 minutes.
Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Cover. Let rise until doubled in size. About 45min-1.5 hours depending on the temperature in your home. If using warm water it may take less time.
Once dough has doubled, punch down and divide dough in half to make 2 loaves. I like to weigh mine but you can also eyeball it. Shape dough into a log, making sure to build tension in the dough to increase gluten strength and oven spring. Place dough in oiled bread pans.
Let the dough rise until it has not only doubled in size but also an inch over the rim of the pan. If you’ve built good tension in your dough, it shouldn’t spill over the pan.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until the breads internal temperature is 200-205F. Immediately remove the loaves from the pans and place on cooling rack. For best results, wait until bread is fully cooled to cut, about 2 hours. Enjoy!
Other recipes you will love:
Super Soft Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Fresh Milled Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread
Fresh Milled Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
Super Soft Fresh Milled Sandwich Bread
Equipment
- 1 Mixer
Ingredients
2 9inch Loaves
- 880 g Hard white or hard red wheat flour 7 cup
- 598 g Water (room temperature) 2&1/2 cup
- 62 g Oil (Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil etc) 4&1/2 Tablespoon
- 94 g Honey 4&1/2 Tablespoon
- 34 g Vital wheat gluten (optional) 4 Tablespoon
- 16 g Sunflower lecithin (can substitute for 2 eggs just remove 70g of the water) 2 Tablespoon
- 16 g Instant yeast 5 Teaspoon
- 19 g Salt 3&3/4 Teaspoon
1 13inch Loaf
- 650 g Hard white or hard red wheat flour 5&1/4 cup
- 442 g Water 1&3/4cup +2 Tablespoon
- 46 g Oil 3 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon
- 70 g Honey 3 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon
- 25 g Vital wheat gluten (optional) 2&1/2 Tablespoon
- 12 g Sunflower lecithin 1&1/2 Tablespoon
- 14 g Salt 2&3/4 Teaspoon
- 13 g Instant yeast 3&3/4 Teaspoon
2 9inch Loaves with Pullman Pan Lid on
- 656 g Fresh Milled Hard Wheat 5&1/4 cup
- 446 g Water 1&3/4 cup
- 14 g Salt 2&3/4 Teaspoon
- 13 g Instant Yeast 3&3/4 Teaspoon
- 47 g Oil 3 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon
- 70 g Honey 1/4 Cup
- 25 g Vital Wheat Gluten (Optional) 2&1/2 Tablespoon
- 12 g Sunflower Lecithin 1&1/2 Tablespoon
1 13inch Loaf with Pullman Pan Lid On
- 500 g Hard White Wheat Flour
- 340 g Water
- 10 g Instant yeast
- 10 g Salt
- 36 g Oil
- 40 g Honey
- 19 g Vital Wheat Gluten (optional)
- 9 g Sunflower Lecithin
1 8×4 Loaf
- 300 g Hard White Wheat Flour 2&1/2 Cup
- 204 g Water 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons
- 6 g Salt 1&3/4 Teaspoon
- 6 g Instant Yeast 1 & 1/2 Teaspoon
- 21 g Oil 2 Tablespoons
- 24 g Honey 1 Tablespoon
- 6 g Sunflower lecithin 1 Tablespoon
- 11 g Vital Wheat Gluten (Optional) 1 & 1/4 Tablespoon
Instructions
- Start by milling your flour. If using a scale, you can measure your wheat berries by weight. If using measuring cups, you’ll need 4&2/3c of wheat berries to get 7c of freshly milled flour.
- Starting with the water, put everything in the mixer bowl EXCEPT the salt and yeast. Knead on speed 2 (if using kitchenaid) until all ingredients are well incorporated and a ball of dough forms. Let rest for 15-20 min covered with a towel or plastic wrap. Add in the salt and yeast and continue to knead for about 8-10 minutes
- Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Cover. Let rise until doubled in size. About 45min-1.5 hours depending on the temperature in your home. If using warm water it may take less time.
- Once dough has doubled, punch down and divide dough in half to make 2 loaves. I like to weigh mine but you can also eyeball it. Shape dough into a log, making sure to build tension in the dough to increase gluten strength and oven spring. Place dough in oiled bread pans.
- Let the dough rise until it has not only doubled in size but also an inch over the rim of the pan. If you’ve built good tension in your dough, it shouldn’t spill over the pan.
- Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until the breads internal temperature is 200-205F. Immediately remove the loaves from the pans and place on cooling rack. PLEASE SEE NOTES FOR PULLMAN PAN WITH LID ON INSTRUCTIONS. For best results, wait until bread is fully cooled to cut, about 2 hours. Enjoy!
Hi! I have a question about the Sunflower lecethin. If I don’t have any, what can I replace it with or can I leave it out? I have tried other bread recipe and it hasn’t rise high once baked in the oven. So I really want to try your recipe!
Thank you!
Hi Bao! You can replace the sunflower lecithin with 1 egg. Enjoy!
Thank you! I’ll definitely try it out!
I have been so nervous to try making the fresh milled flour bread, even though that has been my goal with starting down this path. Your recipe was easy to follow and as of today successful twice in a row! I tried the first batch with 1 cup hard red wheat and the rest hard white wheat and it had a good whole wheat, bread from the store taste. I was concerned for my pickier eaters wouldn’t like the texture, but they loved it! This time I did 2 cups hard red flour and the rest hard white and it had a different taste. I had a harder time getting to window pane. I actually had to knead by hand a few times to get it to that point. Cooked fabulously, tastes great! Didn’t have such a strong whole wheat flavor. I am looking forward to see what the family says about these loaves of bread! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I can’t wait to try more if your recipes!
How can I rescale to make 2- 8X4 loaves?
1 8×4 Loaf:
300g hard wheat flour
204g water
6g salt
3g Instant yeast (1tsp)
21g oil
24g Honey
6g Sunflower lecithin
11g Vital wheat gluten
Is there a mistake in the amount of water for 13 inch ?
Also, if I use a Pullman does the temp or time change?
Yes! There was a mistake. I just fixed it. So sorry for that! I make these in pullman pans. I bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. When I use hard red wheat, I bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes because sometimes the sides sink in when the temperature is not high enough with hard red wheat in my experience.
Perfection. Literal perfection. Easy, yummy, tall, perfect sandwich bread! Mine took about 38-40 min to cook…but using a thermometer is the game changer. Don’t take it out until the temp is right, no matter how it looks! I also messed up and put less salt and yeast (I was making 2 loaves, but then added the amount for 1 loaf) but they still turned out perfect and delicious.
Wow, Im glad to hear that the loaf was very forgiving even with less salt and yeast. Thats amazing!
Bread was wonderful! Thank you for the easy to follow recipe, directions and video!
My pleasure!
Can I add seeds to the mix of Super Soft Fresh Milled Sandwich Bread?
Thanks in advance😊
Can you use active dry yeast, one to one to instant yeast? If so, would you recommend i activate it first? Assume still add it at the end like the instant yeast.
Hello, I’ve never tried this with active dry yeast unfortunately.
I use regular active dry yeast from Costco and it works great!
I’m curious – while you’re eating the first loaf, how do you store the second loaf?
I slice and then freeze my loaves. They thaw beautifully.
Hi! I have heard so many people commenting on your sandwich bread recipe, i’m anxious to try it, but I have a question please. To make 2 9” loaves, if I leave out the lecithin, would I need to substitute 2 eggs, and if so, should I add less water please? TIA
Hi Linda! You can use 2 eggs and remove 60g of water. Happy baking!
I love all your recipes. I just don’t understand how to complete it with the lid on the Pullman pan. Do I let it rise with the lid and bake with the lid? Thank you.
Hi Loretta,
I’ll update the notes in the recipe card to include those instructions now. Thank you!
I was wondering if a combo of hard red- hard white and kamut would work with the same amount of water ? And what amount would you suggest I use of each? I like less of the red hard wheat taste and more of the kamut. I love trying all your recipes. I’m very new to bread making and super new to milling my own wheat.
Hi Mandy,
You can do half kamut, 1/4th hard red, and 1/4th hard white or really any combination you’d like of these grains. Hard red and kamut do tend to be a bit thirstier so you may need to adjust the water but you’d have to go by feel on the water.
what would cause my dough to be rough looking on top?
Hi Sonya,
Without seeing your bread it is hard to say. It could be over proofed or it could be a shaping issue.
Hi! I’m loving your bread recipe! I’ve made it several times! But I have a large family! Have you ever doubled the recipe??
Hi Karen,
I have a large family of 10. I almost always make 4+ loaves. It works great.
Just made a loaf today and it was great. Soft as promised.
Do you have a recipe using fresh milled flour To make crusty baguettes? Thank you.
Best bread recipe!!! Thank you for sharing all your recipes. They are easy to follow and delicious 😋.
Good Morning, I’m so excited to find your beautiful page!!!
I’m ready to make my first loaf of bread!!! I only have access to Hard RED wheat… will this recipe be just as wonderful with Red instead of White?
Hi Stephanie,
Hard red works wonderfully for this recipe.
I am new to baking with FMF and this recipe came out great! I just recieved my Kamut from Azure Standard and was excited to bake with it. I use a Mockmill 100 and am so happy with the fine flour texture. Bread was so soft and rose very well! Kamut has such a delicious nutty flavor with a beautiful golden tone. Thank you for all the wonderful recipe contributions that you are making to the FMF community! God bless you!