Fresh Milled Flour Bread Machine Recipe

This fresh milled flour bread machine recipe is perfect for anyone who wants the health benefits of fresh milled flour without the time commitment or stress of traditional bread baking.

Using a Zojirushi Breadmaker, you can make soft, fluffy sandwich bread from 100% fresh milled flour with minimal effort. You can simply add the ingredients, select the whole wheat cycle, and still achieve a good loaf. However, for a truly superior loaf—with better flavor, texture, and structure—I recommend following the method outlined below. This approach gives the wheat bran and germ extra time to absorb the liquid and soften, resulting in a stronger gluten structure and bread that holds together beautifully. The result is wholesome, delicious, and nutrient-rich homemade bread—made easy.

Please note:  

This recipe has been tested specifically with the Zojirushi Virtuoso Breadmaker.  The Zojirushi has the appropriate power and custom settings to effectively handle freshly milled flour.  While you can certainly try this recipe on other bread machines, the results may differ based on the capabilities and settings of the machine used. If you don’t have a suitable bread machine please see my Soft Sandwich Bread recipe for a traditional approach to making delicious homemade bread with freshly milled flour.

Manual Bread Maker Whole Wheat Cycle Settings:

For those of you who are able to manually set cycle setting but don’t have a preset whole wheat cycle, here are the setting times in order:

Rest: 31-41 minutes

Knead: 22 minutes

Rise 1: 27-37 minutes

Rise 2: 20 minutes

Rise 3: 30 minutes

Bake: 60-70 minutes

Ingredients:

284 grams of hard white or hard red wheat berries

112 grams Khorasan (may substitute hard wheat berries or einkorn)

16 grams milk powder (*see note for substitution)

1 teaspoon salt

250 grams water (room temperature)

51 grams honey

24 grams olive oil

30 grams of whisked egg (room temperature)

1 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast

Note: * If you do not wish to use milk powder you may substitute the combination of milk powder and water for regular milk.  In this instance you will not use water but instead use 250 grams of milk.

How to Make Soft Sandwich Bread in Zojirushi Bread Machine:

Step 1: 

Measure 284 grams hard white or hard red wheat berries and 112 grams Khorasan berries. If you don’t have Khorasan, you may use all hard red or all hard white.  You may also substitute Khorasan with einkorn or spelt. Next, run wheat berries through your grain mill on a fine setting. I use a NutriMill Harvest grain mill and have no issues getting all the flour to move through my grain mill.  However, If your grain mill has trouble moving all the flour through the mill you may need to measure 1 or 2 grams extra of wheat berries to make up for any loss.

After milling is complete, add 16 grams of milk powder and 1 teaspoon of salt to the freshly milled flour. Mix gently with a spoon and set aside.

Step 2: 

Remove the baking pan from the Zojirushi bread machine.  Place kneading blades in the pan per machine instructions. 

Next, place the pan on a scale.  Tare the weight.  Then, measure 250 grams of room temperature water directly into the bread machine baking pan.  Tare weight.  Add 51 grams of honey.  Tare weight.  Add 24 grams of olive oil.  Tare weight. Next, crack a room temperature egg into a separate small bowl.  Whisk together with a small whisk or fork until it becomes liquid.  Then, pour 30 grams of egg into the bread machine baking pan.  Tare weight. 

The remainder of the egg will not be used in this recipe.  I like to make scrambled eggs or use for some other purpose.

Why a room temperature egg?  

Room temperature eggs will emulsify (mix) better resulting in a fluffy loaf of bread that holds together well. This advice is not only based on decades of personal experience but actual science.  Yes, a cold egg will suffice in a pinch but for the best quality loaf of bread it is well worth bringing the egg to room temperature prior to use.

Step 3: 

Once the liquid ingredients are in the bread pan, pour flour mixture on top. 

Step 4: 

Place the baking pan into the Zojirushi bread machine.  Follow the Zojirushi Breadmaker instructions to set a custom cycle on the machine to knead for 5 minutes.  I do this by turning off all cycles except the kneading cycle.  

Step 5: 

Once the dough has kneaded for 5 minutes the cycle will be complete. Set a timer to allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes. 

Step 6: 

After 30 minutes sprinkle 1 ¼ teaspoon of yeast on top of the dough. 

Step 7: 

Turn the machine on the whole wheat cycle and let the bread machine do the rest of the work.   Remove bread from the baking pan as soon as the baking cycle is complete.  I do not recommend using the “keep warm” cycle as this will cause the bread to become soggy.

Step 8: 

Allow the bread to cool completely 1-2 hours before slicing into the bread.  For best results, use an electric knife to slice bread. 

Making bread with fresh milled flour doesn’t have to be complicated or time‑consuming. With the help of a reliable bread machine, you can enjoy all the nutritional benefits of whole grains while still fitting homemade bread into your everyday routine. This fresh milled flour bread machine recipe proves that soft, fluffy, nourishing sandwich bread is absolutely achievable—even on busy days. Once you try it, you will never go back to store‑bought bread again.