Fresh-Milled Multigrain Bread

About this recipe

Baking with freshly milled hard white wheat, spelt, and rye flour transforms an everyday recipe into something extraordinary. Within minutes of milling, whole-grain flour is bursting with natural oils, sweet wheaty aroma, and the full nutritional profile of the bran, germ, and endosperm. Commercial flour is stripped and stabilized for months of shelf life — fresh milling skips all of that, giving you flavor and nutrition the moment you bake. True multigrain bread is more than just a sprinkle of seeds on top — this loaf blends three different freshly milled grains for layered flavor and texture. Hard white wheat provides the strong gluten backbone, spelt adds a buttery sweetness, and rye contributes a deep, earthy aroma. The combination creates a hearty sandwich loaf with the kind of complex flavor you simply cannot buy from a grocery shelf. If you have a home mill, this is the recipe that justifies it. Milling small batches of each grain preserves the volatile oils that give multigrain bread its signature aroma. The dough is slightly more challenging than a single-grain loaf because rye lowers gluten strength, but a long autolyse and a gentle hand during shaping keeps the structure intact.

Ingredients

• Fresh-milled hard white wheat flour350 g
• Fresh-milled spelt flour100 g
• Fresh-milled rye flour50 g
• Mixed seeds (sunflower, flax, sesame)80 g
• Warm water375 g
• Honey40 g
• Instant yeast7 g
• Fine sea salt11 g
• Olive oil20 g

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the seeds in a dry skillet for 3–4 minutes until fragrant; cool completely.

2. 2

   Mill each grain separately on a fine setting, then whisk together with the cooled seeds.

3. 3

   Combine flour mixture and water in a bowl, mix until shaggy, and autolyse for 60 minutes.

4. 4

   Add honey, yeast, salt, and olive oil. Knead on medium for 8 minutes until cohesive.

5. 5

   Bulk ferment 90 minutes with one set of stretch-and-folds at the 30-minute mark.

6. 6

   Shape into a tight oval and place seam-side down in a parchment-lined Dutch oven or loaf pan.

7. 7

   Sprinkle the top with additional seeds and cover with plastic wrap.

8. 8

   Proof 60–75 minutes until almost doubled and the surface springs back slowly when poked.

9. 9

   Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with the lid on the Dutch oven, or just preheat for a loaf pan.

10. 10

    Score the top with a sharp blade, cover, and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 12–15 minutes more.

11. 11

    Cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours — rye-blend breads need extra time to set.