Many people think that sourdough bread is the epitome of healthy bread. I’m sorry to say that this thought process is not a good one.
The thinking is that sourdough fermentation makes the substance in the flour more digestible for your body. The nutrients within should be more available for your body to use up. This matters very little if the flour you start with is devoid of nutrients.

Whole grains or freshly milled flour contains up to 40 of the 44 essential nutrients you need to live. Sifting flour and and “enriching” it is a very sad substitute for nourishing whole grains.

To enrich flour, 3 B vitamins, iron, niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin have been added. This may sound good at first, but consider that the process of sifting the whole grain flour leads to somewhere between 25-30 nutrients readily available in the whole grain being lost or reduced drastically.

For my family, the fluffy white bread is not worth it. Not only are whole grains incredibly nutritious, they’re also delicious. A depth of flavor comes from the complete grain that cannot be found in sifted flour.

Now, I do believe that sifted white flour has its place (a delightfully buttery croissant anyone?)… but I firmly believe that whole grains needs to make their way back into homes nourishing families. This may not look like wheat for your family- for the gluten intolerant, there are other options & I’m sure you know them!

I encourage you to research when sifted flour started being sold regularly, when people stopped milling their own grain or taking it to the town’s mill. Now compare that with the onset of chronic disease, supermarkets, and commercially processed foods.

The recipe below is baked in my 13 inch Pullman bread loaf pan. Find it here. To mill my flour I use a Harvest NutriMill. You can find that here.

These are affiliate links.

Bread Using Freshly Milled Flour

This bread recipe uses flour milled at home to get a delicious, whole grain product your family will love!

Ingredients

6 cups of hard white or hard red wheat flour (4 cups of wheat berries)
1/2 cup of sweetener of choice
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of oil of choice (I use avocado, melted butter, or melted coconut
1 TBSP of yeast
1 3/4–2 cups of water
1 egg
2 TBSP vital wheat gluten (optional)

Instructions

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit while you mix the remaining ingredients.
Add 3/4 of your freshly milled flour (and vital wheat gluten if using it) to your mixer. Add in water & yeast once the yeast is frothy. Let sit covered 20-30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine oil, sweetener, and egg.
When the time is up, add in remaining flour as well as your oil mixture.
Mix to combine, then let your mixer knead 6-10 minutes. If working by hand, knead 15 minutes. It is difficult to overwork whole grains. You want to develop the gluten well.
Let rise in bowl, covered, until puffy (1 hour or so). Shape into a loaf and divide into two equal parts. Grease two 9x5 inch bread pans well. Put your dough in and let rise into puffy, but not spilling over. This will depend on the temperature in your home. Between 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 350° 24-27 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Let cool before slicing with a bread knife or electric knife.