Sourdough French Bread made with Fresh Milled Flour
One of my passions is baking sourdough bread with fresh milled flour and converting my favorite recipes. This sourdough french bread made with fresh milled flour is among one of my most loved recipes!
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This sourdough french bread has a depth of flavor that you can only achieve when using fresh milled flour. It’s earthy, hearty, and has that signature tang of the sourdough starter.
Why you will love this recipe
- Crispy, golden crust – Since this is an artisanal style sourdough bread, the crust is deeply golden brown, crunchy, and buttery!
- Whole Grains – Made with fresh milled flour, this loaf has a deep, nutty flavor and substantially more nutrition than loaves made with all purpose flour. Store-bought flour has been sifted of all of the nutritional benefits of the flour.
- No commercial yeast required! – Long fermented with active sourdough starter, this loaf is naturally leavened!
- Versatile bread – French bread is perfect for not only sandwiches, but as a side bread topped with your favorite spread, or as a vessel for making pizza or garlic bread. It has a chewy interior that holds up so well to any toppings.
Try my SOURDOUGH BAGUETTE RECIPE! These sourdough baguettes are very similar to french bread, but smaller and perfect for a side bread to any meal.
Ingredients needed to make Sourdough French Bread made with Fresh Milled Flour
Fresh Milled Flour – For this recipe, I used fresh milled HARD WHITE WHEAT. You can make this with hard red wheat, Spelt, Khorasan, or a combination of all of the above. To mill my wheat berries, I use the NUTRIMILL GRAIN MILL. Of course, you could use whole wheat flour from the grocery store.
Sourdough Starter – Use active sourdough starter for best results.
Water – Use filtered water free from Chlorine.
Olive Oil – A small amount of olive oil is used for a softer crumb. You can substitute with avocado oil, melted coconut oil, or melted butter.
Salt – I prefer to use fine ground sea salt.
Full ingredient amounts can be found in the recipe card below in both grams and cup measurements
Looking for another delicious fresh milled sourdough bread recipe? TRY MY LEMON ROSEMARY LOAF!
Step by step instructions for making this recipe
Mill the wheat berries
If you don’t mill your own flour, read THIS POST to get started!
Weigh and mill your wheat berries on a fine setting of your grain mill.
Mix the dough and Autolyse
In a large bowl add the water, sourdough starter, and oil. Mix well until the liquid is cloudy.
Add the flour and salt. Mix until just combined to a shaggy dough with no dry bits of flour remaining.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel/kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Stretch and Folds
After the dough as rested for 30 minutes, it is time to begin a series of stretch and folds.
To do this, lift up on one corner of the dough and fold it back into the center of the dough ball.
Continue this all the way around the mixing bowl, turning the bowl a quarter turn every time.
TIP: Place a small bowl of water to the side and use wet hands to work with the dough. This will keep it from sticking to your hands.
For a sourdough recipe using fresh milled flour, it requires more sets of these stretch and folds to build gluten and structure.
Aim to do 5-6 sets of stretch and folds 15-30 minutes apart.
After the last set, cover the bowl to let the dough rise.
If you prefer, you can knead this in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. It’s my personal preference to do the stretch and fold method for this loaf because it makes for a more open and airy crumb.
Bulk Fermentation
Let the dough rise in the covered bowl at room temperature for 3-5 hours depending on how warm or cool your kitchen is.
Once the dough is puffy and airy to the touch and has spread out in the bowl with a domed appearance, it is ready to shape.
Shape the loaf
Gently turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll the dough into a log shape similar to a baguette or hot dog bun shape.
This log should be roughly 11×3 inches.
Second Rise/Final Proof
Place the log on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap to rise for an additional 1-2 hours.
Alternatively, you can placed the shaped loaf in the fridge and bake it the next morning.
Bake the loaf
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Using a sharp knife or razor blade, make 3-4 diagonal slashes across the top of the loaf.
Brush the top with an egg wash for a deeply golden brown crust.
Once the oven is preheated, add the baking sheet with the loaf.
Also add an oven safe pot or pan to the bottom rack and place a few ice cubes in it.
Quickly close the oven door and bake the loaf for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow the loaf to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Storage
Store the cooled loaf in a bread bag or airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days.
Freeze the loaf in a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months.
FAQ’s
If you find the dough is too sticky to work with, try wetting your hands to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. As the dough builds structure it will get less sticky.
If you want to use Einkorn flour, I would recommend a recipe that is just for that flour as Einkorn is much different to work with than modern wheat. You can use THIS RECIPE as a base to make an Einkorn version.
Sourdough French Bread made with Fresh Milled Flour
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Water (167 grams)
- 1/2 cup Sourdough Starter (140 grams)
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil (8 grams)
- 2 cups Fresh Milled Flour (276 grams)
- 1 tsp Salt (4 grams)
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the water, starter, and oil. Mix well until the liquid is cloudy.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until combined into a shaggy dough and no dry flour bits are remaining.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, perform 5-6 sets of stretch and folds.
- To perform a set of stretch and folds, lift up on one corner of the dough and fold it over onto the center of the dough.
- Turn the bowl a quarter turn each time and continue all the way around the bowl. Cover the bowl in between every stretch and fold.
- Perform these sets every 15-30 minutes.
- After the last set of stretch and folds, cover and let the dough rise for 3-5 hours.
- You will know the dough has properly risen when it is noticeably airy and puffy with a domed appearance.
- Carefully turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out into a log shape that is roughly 11×3 inches.
- Place the log on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise for an additional 1-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the loaf on the baking sheet in the preheated oven and place an oven safe pot or pan on the bottom rack and put several ice cubes in it.
- Quickly close the oven door and bake the loaf for 25-28 minutes until deeply golden brown.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
