Ken and I started a new “adventure” after Christmas. Maybe not as adventurous as moving to a new state or camping in the national parks, but an adventure nevertheless. We spent some Christmas money on a flour mill and bread machine and started milling wheatberries and baking our own bread. I say “we” even though Ken’s main contribution has been as cheerleader, critic, and taste-tester. But hey, that’s an important job, right? 😉
An Instagram friend from Kansas had some amazing health results after beginning to mill wheat and bake her own bread. Ken and I love bread of all kinds, but had been cutting way back, or worse, buying expensive, mediocre keto bread because we knew white flour wasn’t good for us.
Enter Unsifted.com and their wonderful wheatberries and other products. I was worried about how much of a commitment this was going to be (because it wasn’t a small investment to get started!) but it’s turned out to be surprisingly easy and amazingly delicious! It takes less than 5 minutes—with virtually no mess—to mill enough flour for a batch of bread. And it’s actually fun! The bread maker, set on the dough setting, eliminates mixing, kneading, and babysitting the dough. All I have to do is form the dough into whatever item we’re having, let it rise, and pop it in the oven.
So far, I’ve baked bread, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, and pretzel rolls (which make great sandwich buns). We’re excited to try pizza dough and dinner rolls.
My favorite bread I’ve made so far was a delicious loaf made with herb infused olive oil that I bought shopping at Fustini’s with dear Lynn Austin on our trip to Michigan in November. Oh, my! Not only was it mouthwatering, but it made the whole house smell amazing! (At this point, I feel the need to add that despite making and eating all those delicious breads in just one short week, neither of us has gained so much as a half a pound.)
We recently had some work done on our kitchen, including putting in a brick floor and painting the dark wood cabinets white. It brightened up the kitchen so much that it makes me want to spend lots of time here!
I used to bake bread all the time, but until recently, my homemade French bread is about the only recipe I made. This is still a family favorite, but I’m enjoying expanding my repertoire!
Have you ever milled your own flour? Are you a bread baker? What is your favorite bread item to eat?
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Deb
Grandma Betty’s recipe for fresh milled wheat bread is in our Ebenezer Cookbook. I use honey to make ‘Hawaiian” type bread (rolls) Made some for church dinner yesterday.
Wonderful! I’ll have to try that out, Evy! Now if I can remember where I put my Ebenezer Cookbook… (I may have given it to one of our daughters.)
Debbie
my Grandma Betty’s recipe for fresh milled wheat bread is published in our Ebenezer cookbook. I use honey
. Original recipe had 1 cup sugar. I use 1/2 cup honey (l0cal).
Love this post and will be there by lunch to check out your mill and to bake some bread! 🙂 All in that gorgeous kitchen! So happy for you guys—and I LOVE making bread and baking in general. Baking is a stress release for me. Biscuits, fried pies, sour dough bread, etc. I’ve often considered getting a mill but have never taken the plunge. Looking forward to learning more!
Uh-oh! I’d better get to baking. We have one little hunk of wheat bread and a couple of slices of banana bread left. I’ll have to get a sour dough starter from you next time we meet in Paris! 🙂
Well, who wouldn’t want to bake bread in such a cheery kitchen? I’ve been a bread baker, but have never been so adventurous as to mill my own flour. My hat’s off to you, girl! I can almost smell the delicious aroma from here in Florida. I’ve begun baking again (after a diet hiatus), because I bake goodies for the fellowship after our synagogue’s Shabbat service on Friday nights. Maybe I’ll try some delicious bread. Another lady bakes the traditional challah, but maybe I’ll try cinnamon rolls . . . though I’ll probably buy the flour. ;-).
It’s really simple to mill the flour. The more adventurous part is PAYING for the mill. 😉 But we’re hoping it lasts a lifetime and our kids fight over it after we’re gone.Haha!
I’ve never milled flour nor made my own bread, so I thoroughly enjoyed learning about it through this post, Deb. Your breads all look delicious!
Thanks, Becky. They have been amazingly good and all the better because they are so healthy. I’ve even heard accounts of people who couldn’t eat gluten but had no problem digesting bread made from whole grains.
Deb, what a great investment. I am not a baker but my brother makes wonderful breads and rolls in his breadmaker. Interesting that friends have noticed health benefits from milling their own grains rather than buying processed breads. All the best to you and Ken as you bake and he enjoys!
My favorites? Croissants, Zwiebach (a traditional double-bun Mennonite roll).
Oh, I know Zwiebach well! We lived in Hesston, KS, Mennonite through-ad-through for 22 years and have eaten many Zwiebach rolls. Yummy!
Hi Deb! Great post about your new adventures in bread baking. I am an avid fan of sourdough and have had wonderful success with it. But I’ve been toying with the idea of milling my own grains. What is your mill like? Did you research the one for a Kitchenaid Mixer? That’s what I’m considering. Also, did you purchase your grain from Unsifted? I’m looking into ancient grains, specifically Einkorn berries. What wheat berries did you use?
I did, but didn’t want to have to switch out the mill from my mixer every time since I use it often as a mixer. But it got good reviews. The wheat berries we got are from unsifted.com (link in the story) and we just got the basic blend. But I’d like to try the dessert blend too.
Deborah you make me want to go out and buy a bread machine! I could live off of bread if ‘kneaded’. Years ago I was into make yeast roll butter knots. My recipe made 6 dozen that you could pre-bake and freeze to cook later. It smelled so good but was time consuming. You may be spoiled when you have to eat restaurant bread.😊
You’re right, Daphne. We’ve eaten restaurant bread several times this week on a trip back to Kansas and I can’t wait to get home and bake some bread from fresh-milled whole grain! Your yeast roll butter knots sound delicious!