100% Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

100% Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread 

I won't bore you with a story of an ancient relative of mine grinding wheat after harvesting. I'm here to give you the best recipe I've ever used for freshly milled whole wheat bread, so let's get to it. The best whole wheat bread recipe using freshly milled flour, this recipe uses Hard Red grain, this is a robust, flavorful grain with higher protein content.

Freshly Milled Whole Wheat Bread

Equipment Needed
- KitchenAid
-  Mill

Ingredients: 

• 5-6 cups of freshly milled whole wheat flour
• 1.5 tablespoons of instant yeast
• 2 3/4 cups warm water
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon salt
  
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (honey is fine also) 
  

Instructions: 

1. In the bowl of your KitchenAid put warm water and yeast, you want this yeast to bubble, depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the water, this can take up to 5-10 minutes. 
2. Once the yeast begins to bubble (this will look like explosions in the water) add gluten, lemon juice, oil, sweetener (maple syrup or honey), and salt. Mix on low speed.
3. As the mixer is on low speed, slowly add your flour, 1 cup at a time, be sure to not over flour, you want the sides of the bowl to begin to come clean. 
4. Knead / mix for 5-6 minutes, be sure to not overmix, this will result in a tough bread.
5. Transfer dough to a clean floured counter and begin to divide into loaves.
6. Shape and put in bread pans.
7. Set oven to 175° F. Turn off oven, and set your bread in the oven, middle rack for about 15 minutes, keep a close eye on your bread so it does not over rise! Alternatively, you can allow your bread to rise at room temperature for up to 1 hour. 
8. Set oven to 350° F bake bread for 25-30 minutes.
9. Once out of the oven, spray the tops of the bread with water or lather the tops with butter, you choose ;) 

Tips: 

• The best way to get a good temperature of water for your yeast is to use the hottest water your faucet allows, not boiling. By the time you get it in the bowl and add the yeast it should be at a temperature that is more warm than hot, this of course depends on your sink settings.
• Grandma has always said to measure and pour out your oil and then do your sweetener (honey or maple syrup) this will help the sticky sweetener to come out much easier. 
• In this recipe I typically used Hard Red berries, the flavor is robust and higher in protein, this bread is NOT dense! But feel free to experiment with other grains.