Some days call for pumpkin chai concentrate.

You know, those fall days that you want to savor but, let’s face it, you’re busy.

Skip the junky ingredients and make this easy from scratch recipe now so you have it tomorrow when you need it. 

Zero weird ingredients. Zero refined sugar. Zero fake flavorings.

Just real chai, real pumpkin, and real delicious chai latte. On hand. At all times.

I love having a quart or half gallon of this on hand for whenever the pumpkin chai latte craving hits.

It also makes it super easy to treat a friend to a delicious homemade pumpkin chai latte if they stop over unannounced (the best kind of friend, btw… you know who you are ). Just mix concentrate + milk, and boom, you have a chai latte in your hand.

What you’ll love about this from scratch pumpkin chai concentrate:

1. It’s completely from scratch. Real pumpkin, real spices, real chai.
2. It’s so quick and easy to make. Plus, once you have this concentrate in your fridge, it takes 20 seconds flat (okay, well, I haven’t actually timed it…) to have a from-scratch pumpkin chai latte. No thanks, Starbucks, I’ll keep my $7, thank you!
3. It tastes like REAL pumpkin because it’s made with real pumpkin. No weird aftertastes, chemical flavors, or fake stuff.
4. You can control the ingredients. Like a spicier chai? Cool, add more black pepper. Like it sweeter? Cool, add more sweetener.

Is pumpkin chai made with real pumpkin?

Sadly, most chai lattes available at cafes or coffee shops aren’t even made with real chai, let alone real pumpkin. Many coffee shops rely on chai concentrates made from “natural flavors” rather than real spices, and fake pumpkin syrups for their pumpkin flavor. If you want to know more about why “natural flavors” aren’t as good as they sound, you’ll love listening to episode 131 of the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast. Or watch episode 234 here or below:

Also… did you know an average coffee shop pumpkin chai latte has around 30-40 grams of added sugar ? (50 grams is the maximum daily amount most of us should have.)

Not around here.

This pumpkin chai is made with real pumpkin puree, real tea and spices, and real pumpkin pie spice for that extra level of pumpkin flavor. And we’re using real, unrefined sweeteners instead of 40 grams of high fructose corn syrup.

How to add pumpkin to a chai latte

If you like having chai concentrate on hand for making quick and easy chai lattes whenever the mood strikes, the easiest way to add pumpkin to your chai latte is to add pumpkin to your homemade chai concentrate. I like to simply add pumpkin pure (and extra pumpkin pie spice on top of the chai spices!) to my concentrate as it boils to really pull out the pumpkin flavor.

You could also make a pumpkin syrup to add to your normal chai latte.

Can you use canned pumpkin to make pumpkin chai concentrate?

Canned pumpkin is a great option for making pumpkin chai concentrate. You can have cans on hand for whenever the mood strikes. (If it isn’t pumpkin chai, it’s pumpkin muffins or pumpkin pancakes.) I have a dozen or so quart jars of freeze dried pumpkin powder that I reach for to make this recipe. Ever since I took the plunge and invested in a freeze dryer I’ve never regretted it, especially when I’m making this concentrate.

Just make sure you grab pumpkin pure, not pumpkin pie filling.

What you need to make pumpkin chai concentrate from scratch

The first ingredient in pumpkin chai concentrate is chai tea. If you’re making your loose leaf chai tea from scratch, find my homemade masala chai tea blend here. If you prefer to purchase a pre-made chai tea blend, this one is my favorite, or this one (code “soulyrested” saves on both).

Loose leaf masala chai tea (I like to make my own blend)

Pumpkin puree

Pumpkin pie spice

Sweetener, if desired (I love using maple syrup or coconut sugar)

Vanilla bean paste (optional)

How should I sweeten pumpkin chai concentrate?

My preference is to leave my chai concentrate unsweetened, then add maple syrup or coconut sugar when I make my latte. This allows me to customize each latte, and it also helps the concentrate stay fresher for longer in the fridge.

If you prefer to have your concentrate already sweetened and ready to go, that’s an option. To sweeten an entire batch of chai concentrate, I add 1/2 cup maple syrup for a quart’s worth of concentrate. 

Add the sweetener after you strain the tea and pumpkin out.

Some great options for sweetening your pumpkin chai concentrate are:

• Maple syrup (adds even more fall flavor)
• Coconut sugar (gives a slightly caramel-y flavor)
• Brown sugar (pairs so well with chai spices)
• Cane sugar (simple and gets the job done)
• Honey (makes it even sweeter)
• Date syrup (lends a caramel note)

How to make a chai latte with pumpkin chai concentrate

Once your concentrate is made, your chai latte is almost ready to enjoy.

Keep in mind, I store my concentrate unsweetened–see recipe notes.

1. Make your pumpkin chai latte by combining a 50/50 ratio of pumpkin chai concentrate to milk. Feel free to use any milk you like such as almond milk or oat milk. I prefer whole milk for the creamiest pumpkin chai.
2. Add ice for an iced chai latte, or add the milk + concentrate to a sauce pan and heat for a hot chai latte.
3. Add sweetener of choice. I personally choose to add a generous splash of maple syrup.
4. Enjoy your homemade pumpkin chai latte made with REAL pumpkin, REAL tea, and REAL spices.

How to make pumpkin chai concentrate at home

If you love a cozy pumpkin chai latte, you need this concentrate on hand all fall.

Whenever you’re craving a latte, you’ll have one in-hand in 30 seconds flat. It’s awesome.

Making pumpkin chai concentrate at home is simple.

-> Add all ingredients to a saucepan. 

-> Simmer everything together.

-> Strain all the chunks out (tea and pumpkin)

-> Store for later or make a latte.

That’s it!!

Modifications/substitutions for pumpkin chai concentrate

Obviously my favorite way to make pumpkin chai is as-written. But here are a few ways you can easily modify this recipe to suit your needs.

Dairy-free pumpkin chai latte

Simply swap the whole milk for your favorite non-dairy milk. Oat milk is probably the best option for a deliciously creamy chai, but almond milk would have a similar result.

Sugar free pumpkin chai latte

If you’re avoiding sugar, feel free to leave it out all together. Other options are using stevia to sweeten, allulose, or any sugar-free sweetener.

Using bagged chai tea

If you really don’t want to use loose leaf tea (I highly recommend loose leaf for better flavor!), substitute 10-12 tea bags for the loose leaf tea called for in the recipe.

How to make a dirty pumpkin chai latte

What’s better than pumpkin + chai + coffee? I’ll wait…

Since a dirty chai is simply a chai latte with espresso added, it’s easy to make.

Simply make the concentrate as listed, and make your chai latte as usual. Then brew 1-2 shot of espresso (your preference) and add to your chai latte.

Boom. A homemade from scratch dirty pumpkin chai latte.

Making your pumpkin chai latte taste more like Starbucks

If you love Starbuck’s pumpkin chai latte in the fall, I don’t blame you. It’s pretty freakin delicious.

But it also comes with a whopping 55-60 grams of sugar.

Not to mention it’s not made with real pumpkin.

If you want your pumpkin chai latte to taste more like Starbucks, add more sugar. If we’re going to compete with a 60 grams of sugar, we’re going to need to a lot of sweetener. Obviously homemade is still much more affordable and much better for you, even if you do add the extra dose of sugar for a Starbucks-like vibe.

Also, to mimic a Starbucks Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai latte, add homemade pumpkin cold foam. (Read on, my friend.)

Pumpkin Cold Foam recipe (for iced pumpkin cream chai latte)

• 3 tbs heavy cream
• splash maple syrup
• sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice
• heaping teaspoon pumpkin puree

Froth those things together until thickened, but still pourable. Enjoy over an iced pumpkin chai latte. (Or any drink–it’s crazy good on an iced latte too!)

Print

Pumpkin chai concentrate

Sweet, spicy, and flavorful, this fall-inspired chai concentrate makes the best pumpkin chai lattes, ever.

Servings 4 chai lattes

Ingredients

• 1 quart water
• 4 heaping tablespoons loose leaf chai tea*
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients together in a saucepan. Stir to combine.
• Cover, and allow everything to simmer together for about 20 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and allow to sit for an hour or so. Then remove the lid and allow to cool.
• Strain into a jar. Seal tightly & store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

To make an iced pumpkin chai latte with your concentrate:

• Combine concentrate and milk of choice 50/50. Add sweetener, if desired. I like a generous serving of maple syrup.
• Add ice and enjoy.

To make a hot pumpkin chai latte with your concentrate:

• Combine concentrate and milk of choice at a 50/50 ratio. Add sweetener, if desired. Add the concentrate and milk mixture into a saucepan and heat through.
• Pour into your favorite mug and enjoy!

Notes

To sweeten a whole batch at once, add 1/2 cup maple syrup to the concentrate after straining. (See above for alternate sweetener options.)

*I prefer to make my own loose leaf masala chai tea blend, but purchasing loose leaf tea works fine.

More like pumpkin chai concentrate from scratch:

• Masala chai tea blend recipe
• DIY coke: yes you can make delicious homemade soda
• Whole wheat pumpkin muffins
• Shop all my favorite loose leaf teas 

The post Pumpkin Chai Concentrate from scratch first appeared on Souly Rested.

Breakfast has always been tough for me. And once I learned how processed commercial flour is, I thought pancakes for a quick, easy breakfast were out. But no.

Enter:

Fresh milled pancakes made with buckwheat and einkorn.

In other words, the holy grail of breakfasts.

They’re quick and easy to make.

They’re flavorful and fluffy.

Perfectly sweet without being overly sweet.

And they’re nutritious from the fresh milled ancient grain (einkorn) and ancient protein-packed seed (buckwheat).

Why use buckwheat in pancakes?

Buckwheat has been a classic in whole wheat pancakes for ages. It has a rich, nutty, hearty flavor that not only fills you up (thanks to the high-protein nature of buckwheat) but also tastes great.

If you want to keep these pancakes gluten-free, you can use all buckwheat flour and leave out the einkorn. However, I find that buckwheat flour tastes best when mixed 50/50 with another grain. Buckwheat on its own can have a strong flavor, whereas when it’s mixed it has a nice, rich, hearty flavor.

Buckwheat is a super nutritious way to start your day. It’s packed with:

• protein
• fiber
• minerals like magnesium, manganese, copper and phosphorus
• polyphenols (good for hearth healthy & blood pressure control)

Why use einkorn in pancakes?

An ancient grain, einkorn is not only full of buttery, right, sweet flavor. It’s also packed full of protein, essential macronutrients, and antioxidants.

Compared to “modern” grains, einkorn is often considered easier for our bodies to digest, thanks to its simpler genetic makeup. Some folks who are gluten-intolerant can even enjoy ancient grain einkorn. Which makes these pancakes an especially great combination given that buckwheat is completely gluten-free, and einkorn is easier for gluten-intolerante folks to digest.

Buckwheat on its own can be a little gritty and strong tasting, so the sweet, buttery flavor of einkorn is a great choice to balance these pancakes out. They have that classic, hearty whole wheat flavor without being too heavy or bitter.

Einkorn + buckwheat = the perfect pancake combination.

Why use fresh milled flour?

Historically, flour was a locally-produced ingredient. The reason for that is because real flour is perishable. 

But modern milling companies found a way around flour’s naturally perishable nature: sifting. Sifting flour removes 2/3 of the original wheat, leaving behind just the starchy parts and removing the nutritious parts.

This makes flour shelf-stable, but it also leaves flour lacking.

If you want to enjoy the nutrition naturally found in wheat, you need to mill your own flour.

Whereas flour you can purchase at the store = sifted, heated, bleached (non-organic) wheat + synthetic vitamins + maturing agents + dough enhancers + enzymes

… fresh milled flour = freshly milled, organic wheat berries. That’s it.

Where can I purchase buckwheat and einkorn to make pancakes?

It can be hard to find good sources for whole grains. Buckwheat groats need to be hulled (unhulled buckwheat may damage your mill and won’t taste good), and that can be hard to come by.

I like to purchase my einkorn berries in bulk. Make sure they’re organic and glyphosate-free for the best taste and nutrition. These guys are doing everything right–growing organic, truly ancient einkorn regeneratively and organically–they even opt for using cover crops to feed the soil instead of using chemical fertilizers.

Buckwheat is a little harder to find. The only source I’ve personally had good luck with is Azure Standard. They’re a food drop-based food co-op. Find if you have an azure drop near you here, and use code “soulyrested” to save $ on your first Azure order.

If these sources don’t work for you, you can always check local food co-ops or natural grocery stores. Bulk bins especially are great and tend to be affordable prices, too. You can always check Amazon, as well.

Tips for fluffy pancakes with fresh flour

If you’re struggling to make soft, fluffy pancakes with fresh milled flour, these tips might help.

• If you don’t have buttermilk, don’t leave it out. The acid in the buttermilk helps soften the grains and makes fluffier pancakes. You can sub milk + a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. Let that sit for a few minutes before adding to the batter.
• Make sure your griddle is hot. If you scoop pancake batter onto a skillet that isn’t well preheated, your pancakes will spread instead of cook + fluff up.
• Mill your flour as finely as possible. Gritty, course flour will result in gritty pancakes. The finer the flour, the fluffier the pancakes. If your mill won’t make superfine flour, try double milling the flour, or consider sifting out the largest parts.
• Don’t flip the pancakes until they’re ready. You’ll see large bubbles in the batter and the edges starting to cook. Flipping the pancakes too early will deflate them.
• Use enough fat. If your pancakes are sticking to the pan, try adding some butter or lard before ladling the batter onto it. If you have to scrap your pancakes off the pan to flip them, they’re not going to be as fluffy.

Upgrade your fresh milled pancakes (add-ins & flavors)

My family loves to mix things up by adding mix-ins, or simply by changing the flavor. These are some of our favorite flavors:

1. Blueberry pancakes. Simply add fresh or frozen blueberries to the pancakes after you’ve ladled them onto the griddle.
2. Chocolate chip pancakes. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the pancakes after you ladle them onto the griddle.
3. Double chocolate pancakes. Just add 2 TBS cacao powder + a handful of chocolate chips to the batter.
4. Pumpkin pancakes. Lower the buttermilk to 1/2 cup, and add 1/4 cup pumpkin puree along with a generous sprinkle of pumpkin pie spices.
5. Cinnamon sugar pancakes. Sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of the uncooked pancake side while they’re on the griddle. This creates an addicting, crunchy layer of caramelized cinnamon/sugar as the other side cooks. Be prepared to clean a sticky griddle after, though!
6. Oatmeal pancakes. Reduce either the einkorn or buckwheat flour by 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup rolled oats. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.

Print

fresh milled pancakes | buckwheat & einkorn

Fluffy fresh milled pancakes using buckwheat and einkorn flour. Perfect for weekends or slow weekdays.

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 8 large pancakes

Equipment

• grain mill

Ingredients

• ½ cup buckwheat flour
• ½ cup einkorn flour
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Generous pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or lard
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

• Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until no lumps are left.
• Let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes. It should form some bubbles on the top of the batter when it’s ready to cook. Cook on a hot skillet, flipping when bubbles form. Serve with plenty of real maple syrup.

Notes

This batter can be mixed and stored in the fridge for several days if need be. Just allow the batter to come to room temperature before cooking.

What you need to make fresh milled pancakes with einkorn and buckwheat:

Read more about my thoughts on ALL the Mockmill grain mill options here. 

And find every grain mill that I recommend here.

More like fresh milled pancake recipe:

• Protein french toast recipe
• Fresh milled blueberry muffins
• Fresh milled honey oat sandwich bread (soft & fluffy)
• The ultimate guide to choosing a grain mill (& 6 questions to ask)

The post Fresh milled pancakes – buckwheat & einkorn first appeared on Souly Rested.

When I started using fresh milled flour over a decade ago, I made loaf after loaf of door stopper-style bread.

This fresh milled honey oat sandwich bread was my first break through. Hallelujah–after so many failures, finally, I made a loaf my family would eat. And it was so soft and fluffy.

I truly think the secret is the pre-soaked oats… they make the bread so soft, fluffy and add such a great texture.

That, plus the sweetness of the honey? Get outta here. It’s insane.

I pretty much guarantee this honey oat sandwich bread will become your family’s new favorite.

Why you’ll love this fresh milled honey oat sandwich bread

1. It’s soft and fluffy. Perfect for enjoying with butter, toasting, or using for sandwiches.
2. It makes amazing French toast.
3. It’s easy to make–truly one of the easiest fresh milled bread recipes I make.
4. It stays soft for days and days. Thanks to the soaked oats and extra sweetness from the honey, this bread is still as soft and fluffy on day 3 as it is on day 1!
5. It’s nutritious. Thanks to the wholegrain oats, fresh milled flour and unrefined sweetener (honey), this bread is a powerhouse of nutrients.

Why use fresh milled flour?

Milling your own fresh flour allows you to enjoy all of the nutrients found in whole grain wheat. Fresh milled flour goes straight from whole grain wheat berries -> fresh milled flour -> nutritious bread.

As opposed to store bought flour, which is sifted to remove nutrients, bleached for whiter color and heated to remove any remaining nutrients. Then they add “vitamins” back in as well as dough conditioners, enzymes and/or maturing agents.

Yuck.

I much prefer using my trusty grain mill to mill organic wheat berries into nutritious fresh milled flour.

What is the best fresh milled flour to use for sandwich bread?

If you’re milling your own flour, you’re going to need wheat berries.

All flour starts out as whole grain wheat kernels, called wheat berries. If you’re making bread with that flour, your flour needs to be able to form gluten.

Soft wheats don’t allow for strong gluten formation, so avoid using soft wheat flour for bread.

On the other hand, hard wheats (like hard white wheat, hard red wheat, and heritage wheat varieties) are great for making bread.

These days, I stick with heritage versions of hard red wheat for bread making.

Which wheat berries should I use to make honey oat bread?

There are lots of wheat berries you can choose from when you’re making bread.

The easiest choice is simple hard red wheat berries or hard white wheat berries.

However, heritage versions of those same grains are more nutritious and less modified by hybridization. The grains you can use to make bread are listed blow, in order of my personal preference.

Heritage hard wheat varieties

My personal top choices are:

Rouge De Bordeaux,

Turkey red,

or Dakota Snow

Use “soulyrested” to save on heritage grains.

Ancient grains

Ancient grains are great for making bread, but you’ll most likely want to add some Vital Wheat Gluten (I use around 1 Tablespoon per cup of flour). This is because ancient grains have lower or weaker gluten potential, making them a little harder to use for bread. Some of my favorites are:

Einkorn

Khorasan

Spelt

Emmer/Farro

Modern grains

Modern grains are specifically bred to grow quickly, contain lots of gluten, and make good bread. This makes them a natural choice for bread making, especially for first time millers. They’re at the end of my list of choices simply because they’re generally less nutritious than heritage and ancient grains.

Hard red wheat

Hard white wheat

Can you make fluffy sandwich bread with freshly milled flour?

Soft and fluffy sandwich bread with fresh milled flour is absolutely possible. In fact, you’re in the right place.

This recipe is one of my go-tos for a classic, soft, slightly textured sandwich bread. As a side note, this same dough also makes amazing dinner rolls, if that’s your thing. Soft honey oat dinner rolls are always a hit when we have company over, especially if I have time to make homemade cinnamon butter to pair them with–heaven.

If you want to make sure you get a high-rising, soft, fluffy loaf of fresh milled bread, consider adding vital wheat gluten (see more in recipe). This just helps the dough develop strong gluten, which makes your bread rise higher.

Totally optional to add it, but it does help. I often add it when we’re having company over, and leave it out if I’m making loaves for just my family.

Fresh milled honey oat sandwich bread ingredients

The ingredients you need to make this delicious fresh milled honey oat sandwich bread are probably already in your pantry! You’ll need:

• boiling water
• rolled oats (learn how to flake your own oats!)
• honey
• butter 
• salt
• cinnamon
• yeast
• fresh milled flour 
• vital wheat gluten (optional)

Do you soak oats before adding them to bread dough?

Soaking oats before adding them to bread dough is a great way to add moisture to your dough. This leads to a softer and fluffier loaf without and added effort.

Soaking the oats also creates a softer crumb in your loaf, because the hydrated oats soften before baking. This helps make sure there’s no hard, chewy, or dry bits of oats in the finished bread.

In this recipe, we’ll soak the oats in boiling water, along with the butter (to melt it), cinnamon, honey, and salt.

By the time we add the rest of the ingredients to the softened oats, the water will be the perfect temperature to help the yeast proof.

Notes/adjustments for honey oat bread

• If you prefer dinner rolls, just shape the dough into 12-24 rolls in step 4 instead of shaping into a loaf. Lower cook time.
• Prefer maple syrup? The honey can be substituted for any liquid sweetener like maple syrup, date syrup or molasses.
• If you’re feeling fancy, brush the top of your loaf with egg wash (1 whole egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water) and sprinkle with oats before baking.
• To keep the top of your loaf soft, try brushing it with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven (while it’s still hot).
• For the best crumb, try to wait until the bread is fully cooled before slicing (I often break this rule, though!).

Print

Fresh milled honey oat sandwich loaf

Soft, fluffy, and perfect for French toast--this fresh milled bread will become a new family favorite!

Servings 2 loaves

Equipment

• grain mill

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 5-6 cups fresh milled hard wheat flour see notes
• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten optional

Instructions

• Combine the water, oats, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside to let that cool for about 15 minutes, or until it’s still warm, but cool enough to touch without burning yourself. Next, add the yeast, most of the flour, and vital wheat gluten.
• Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until the dough feels soft and stretchy. Add more flour if needed to create a soft, but workable dough. You can use a mixer for this, but this recipe is one that I love to knead by hand. It’s such a lovely dough to work with, it’s almost a shame to let the mixer do it! Form your dough into a ball, grease a large bowl, and grease your dough. Cover and let rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
• Divide and shape the dough into two loaves. Do this by gently pressing each loaf out into a ½-1 inch thick rectangle, one side being the same size as the length of your bread pan. Fold the top portion of your dough into a triangle shape. Using that triangle as your start, roll the dough up into a log, tucking in and ends that are longer than the log as you go. Don’t be afraid to stretch the dough out as you roll, making sure there are no gaps or air bubbles that will cause a miss-shapen loaf. Place each loaf in a greased loaf pan, cover, and let rise again until almost doubled.
• Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Notes

*I like to use heritage grains instead of modern ones. They're more nutritious and taste better. Feel free to use modern hard white wheat or hard red wheat if that's what you have.

Heritage wheat berries to use in honey oat bread

All of these are heritage grains, and all amazing to use in bread recipes.

More like fresh milled honey oat sandwich loaf:

• Fresh milled sourdough sandwich loaf (soft & sturdy!)
• Fresh milled Einkorn chocolate chip cookies
• Blueberry muffins with fresh milled flour
• full archive of fresh milled recipes

The post Fresh milled honey oat sandwich bread (soft & fluffy!) first appeared on Souly Rested.

What is fresh milled flour?

Fresh milled flour is simply real flour. Using a home grain mill, wheat berries (the whole grain wheat kernel, essentially unmilled flour) are ground into flour and used as soon as possible. The reason using fresh milled flour quickly is important is because flour is actually a perishable food.

Just like tomatoes, eggs, or milk, flour is actually best and most nutritious the sooner you eat it (after milling). 

You see, whole grain wheat berries contain oils, that are kept safely inside the outer casing of the wheat. When kept as whole wheat berries, they last pretty much forever without spoiling. But as soon as those oils inside the wheat are exposed to air (when they’re milled into flour), they start going bad.

The sooner you can use flour after it’s milled, the more nutrients remain.

How do I start milling flour at home?

In order to start milling flour at home, you need two things: a grain mill and wheat berries.

Now, there’s some recommendations for using other household appliances, like a coffee grinder, blender, or food processer to grind wheat berries into flour, but I don’t personally recommend that. I’ve heard and see too many horror stories where folks destroy an expensive machine trying to make it grind super-hard wheat berries into flour.

You’re much better off investing in a great grain mill. Otherwise, you risk wasting money needing to re-purchase expensive appliances if they burn out.

When you’re new to milling flour, figuring out which wheat berries to use can be suer confusing. See my Ultimate Guide to Wheat Berries here, or my simple grain chart here.

Which wheat berries to make flour with

Here’s a very simple breakdown of which wheat berries to use when milling flour at home:

-> ancient grains

I use ancient grains as my all-purpose flour. They’re great in baked goods, pastries, bread (I usually add vital wheat gluten if I’m using ancient grains for bread, though, because they’re lower in gluten). Some of my favorite ancient grains are einkorn, spelt, khorasan, emmer (farro), and barley.

-> heritage grains

Heritage grains are the older (not hybridized) versions of hard red and hard white wheat. I use heritage grains for all my bread making. My current favorites are rouge de beaux, turkey red, and dakota snow.

(Use code “soulyrested” to save on all heritage grains!)

-> hard red/hard white (modern grains)

These are your “classic” bread flour grains. These are bred specifically to be high gluten and make tall, fluffy bread. Shop organic, regenerative hard white wheat berries.

-> soft white (modern)

Soft white wheat is used for all kinds of baking and pastry making.

-> alternative grains (gluten-free)

If you’re looking to avoid gluten, alternative grains are a great option for you. Some of the grains in this category would be buckwheat, millet, sorghum, chickpeas, oat groats, and so on. Learn all about alternative grains here.

Why is fresh flour better than store bought flour?

In short, store bought flour is the processed, refined version of what real flour should be.

Milling your own flour allows you to enjoy nutritious, real, whole grain flour, straight from your mill. No middle man, no processing, no added ingredients.

Just you, your grain mill, and wheat berries.

Fresh milled flour = 1 ingredient (whole grain wheat berries, ground into flour).

Store bought flour = only the starchy part of wheat + synthetic vitamins + bleaching agents + dough enhancers, maturing agents, and added enzymes.

Fresh milled flour terms:

If you spend any length of time on a trendy Instagram page where the protagonist owns a grain mill, you’ll come across some fresh flour terms that I figured we should talk about.

what is a grain mill

Back in the day, milling flour used to involve huge milling stones that could only be turned by livestock like oxen. These days, we’re able to harness that same power, but with a tabletop, electric home grain mill.

Grain mills come in two different forms: stone mills and impact mills. Stone mills use two rotating stones, just like the heavy ones from the olden days, to grind wheat berries into flour. Impact mills, on the other hand, use metal teeth to “shatter” wheat berries into flour. Although lots of folks prefer stone mills, there’s not truly a difference in the flour from a stone mill or an impact mill, at least in my experience. They’re both great kinds of grain mills.

If you want a full rundown on stone mills versus impact mills, read about that here.

what are wheat berries

Wheat berries are the whole kernel form of wheat. If you were to walk into a wheat field and grab a handful of wheat stalks, shake them really hard, and remove the hulls, you’d be left with wheat berries.

Wheat berries are made up of three parts: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm.

The bran is the outer casing of the wheat berry that keeps the oils and nutrients inside the berry fresh indefinitely.

The germ is the part of the wheat berry that would sprout if you planted the wheat. It’s essentially the embryo of wheat. It also contains nutrients to keep the plant alive long enough to continue growing before it’s mature enough to make it’s own food. 

The endosperm is the starchy, carbohydrate part of the wheat berry. Again, if you were to plant the wheat, it’s the part that would sustain growth after the nutrients in the germ were used up.

what is fresh flour

Fresh flour is simply flour that’s been milled from wheat berries and used fresh. Ideally, true fresh milled flour shouldn’t sit too long before it’s used. The natural, healthy oils in the flour will start to go rancid and loose nutrients.

Does fresh milled flour bake differently?

Technically fresh milled flour does bake differently than commercial flour does. That’s for a few reasons.

One, because commercial flour has added ingredients to help dough develop gluten, bake better bread, make more tender baked goods, and so on. Obviously fresh milled flour doesn’t contain those.

Two, fresh flour does contain bran and germ, which can pose somewhat of an issue in baking from time to time. For instance, when you’re making bread with fresh flour the bran tends to “cut” the gluten strands since it’s somewhat “sharp.” I’ve found the best way around this is to knead my dough for a little longer, and add vital wheat gluten if I’m feeling fancy.

Fresh milled flour recipes

If you’re just starting out with fresh milled flour, I often recommend that people actually don’t use specifically fresh milled recipes. Which i know is especially strange coming from someone who shares fresh milled flour recipes… But if you start out with recipes you know well, you’ll be more likely to be successful. That being said, once you’ve made a couple of your family’s classic recipes with fresh flour, you’ll probably be ready to graduate to new recipes. Here are a few of my favorites.

• fresh flour sourdough sandwich bread (soft & sturdy)
• the best sandwich bread with fresh milled flour (yeast)
• homemade tortillas with fresh flour
• fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies
• the best fresh milled blueberry muffins
• lemon bars with fresh flour
• lasagna noodles from scratch

Want more? See my full library of free fresh milled flour recipes.

What’s bad about store bought flour?

The easiest way to explain why I choose not to buy flour at the store anymore is for two reasons:

What’s missing from modern flour,

And what’s added to modern flour.

1. What’s missing: All flour starts as whole grain wheat kernels called wheat “berries.” Historically, flour is made simply by grinding those wheat berries into flour. But once we realized that flour could turn from a use-quickly food into a long-term shelf-stable food, everything changed. You see, the bran and germ parts of the wheat contain oils. These oils hold lots of nutrients, but they’re also what cause flour to go bad quickly. Once flour millers realized that removing these two parts of the wheat through sifting and heating, the powdery, starchy, white flour we know of was born. Flour should be whole grain, ground wheat: the bran, germ, and endosperm. Instead we just get the starchy endosperm in our modern flour.
2. What’s added: Flour should be one ingredient: whole wheat berries, ground into flour. Instead, modern flour comes as a cocktail of ingredients, including synthetic vitamins, dough enhancers & maturing agents, enzymes and bleaching agents. I don’t know about you, but I prefer when my food is as close to it’s original form as possible, and I certainly don’t like eating added preservatives when they don’t even need to be there. Leave it to commercial industries to turn a one-ingredient superfood into a a 12-ingredient science experiment.

More like What is Fresh Milled Flour:

• 5 ways to afford a grain mill on a budget
• Where to purchase wheat berries for fresh milled flour
• How to make a fresh milled sourdough starter, step-by-step
• Full library of FREE fresh milled flour recipes
• Join Fresh Flour University

The post What is fresh milled flour? first appeared on Souly Rested.

DIY Dr pepper syrup: make soda at home

When I first started making homemade sodas, my DIY coke recipe went semi-viral.

But when I developed and shared my homemade Dr pepper recipe? Holy cow, it went bonkers.

Who knew how badly the world needs homemade soda recipes! Although most of you love the Dr pepper recipe, I’ve also received haters for it. You’d be shocked how passionate some folks are about making sodas at home!

Some people complain that it doesn’t taste exactly like store bought Dr pepper.

Well, no duh. It’s not store bought.

Some people complain that the ingredients for making the soda are too expensive.

Well, they’re all organic, and the links are for bulk ingredients, so it’s going to be expensive off the bat. But per serving, it works out to roughly $0.60/per serving.

Not a bad price for a medicinal, organic glass of homemade soda.

But I stand firm in the fact that Dr pepper syrup makes the best homemade soda I’ve tried yet.

Why make DIY Dr pepper syrup?

If you look at the ingredients in store bought soda, you might be surprised. Even beyond what’s actually on the label, conventional sodas are packed with “natural flavors.” This is essentially an unregulated term that can include and number of troubling chemicals.

Think of conventional soda as a cocktail of;

“natural” and artificial flavors,

artificial coloring,

TONS of refined sugar,

unnecessary added caffeine,

and added preservatives just to keep things fresh

Homemade Dr pepper syrup and soda?

Medicinal herbs, spices, and fruit.

Plus, coconut sugar (an unrefined sugar packed full of antioxidants) & plain seltzer water.

Sound better?

Instead of a chemical cocktail, we turn soda into a truly medicinal powerhouse. It’s a soda you can truly feel good about.

You control the ingredients and flavor.

What’s in DIY Dr pepper syrup?

Homemade Dr pepper syrup is made from botanicals, real fruit, and spices that may provide medicinal benefits.

Is it hard to make soda at home?

Making soda at home is very simple.

First, you make the soda syrup (in this case, Dr pepper syrup, of course) by combining the Dr pepper syrup ingredients, adding water, and simmering. Then you strain the chunks out and store the syrup to use later. Add the right amount of seltzer water and homemade Dr pepper syrup, and there you have a glass of homemade Dr pepper.

Isn’t that crazy simple?

What ingredients are in homemade soda?

The ingredients in homemade soda will very. But the general idea is herbs and spices, fruits or aromatics of some kind, sweetener, and flavors/extracts.

Then you’ll also need seltzer of some kind to make the homemade soda bubbly and fizzy. I like to use my awesome homemade soda machine, but you can also purchase plain seltzer or soda water and that will work just fine.

Homemade soda syrup + seltzer water = homemade soda.

How to make a soda with DIY Dr pepper syrup

My preferences on seltzer-to-syrup ratio change based on my mood. Sometimes I want a less sweet, more “crispy” Dr pepper, in which case I’ll add less syrup and more seltzer. Some days I crave a sweeter, more syrup-y Dr pepper. 

And that’s the beauty of making soda at home: you can make it exactly how you want it.

My general recommendation is to mix 1/4 cup of DIY Dr pepper soda syrup with about 8 oz (roughly 1 cup) of seltzer. This will create a classic, sweet soda.

What sweetener should I use in DIY Dr pepper soda?

My personal choice for sweetener in homemade Dr pepper is coconut sugar. This is only only because it’s actually nutritious and full of antioxidants, but also for it’s deep, rich, caramel-y flavor.

Brown sugar is an easy substitute if you don’t have coconut sugar on hand, or simple use cane sugar. 

You could also easily use liquid sugars like maple syrup or honey. I’d use a heaping 1/2 cup of either of them in place of the 3/4 cup coconut sugar.

Can I buy pre-made Dr pepper syrup to make soda?

While you can buy pre-made syrups like these ones, which will provide more flexibility as they’re shelf stable. But there’s nothing quite like making your own Dr pepper syrup for homemade sodas, where you know each ingredient.

I’d rather stick with making my own syrup with spices and real fruit. It’s easy, and made with things you most likely already have on hand.

Just store any leftover syrup in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze in ice cube trays for longer term storage.

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DIY Dr pepper syrup + making soda at home

medicinal, homemade Dr pepper syrup with minimal ingredients

Keyword DIY soda syrup, Dr pepper, homemade soda

Servings 1 glass

Cost $0.65/serving

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup homemade Dr pepper syrup (see note)
• 8 oz seltzer water

Instructions

• Add Dr pepper soda syrup to a clean glass
• Slowly add seltzer water to the glass, about 8 oz, but adjust to your sweetness preference
• Slowly and gently stir to combine, if necessary. Try not to stir to aggressively or it might go flat
• Add ice and enjoy your Dr pepper made with DIY Dr pepper soda syrup!

Notes

*See my full recipe for full syrup instructions

*SEE FULL SYRUP RECIPE HERE.

What you need to make DIY Dr pepper syrup:

More like made soda at home: DIY Dr Pepper syrup:

• Dr pepper recipe: homemade soda
• DIY coke: yes, you can make delicious soda at home
• Root Beer recipe (with real ingredients!)
• How to make tea blends

The post Make soda at home: DIY Dr Pepper syrup first appeared on Souly Rested.

Fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies have changed my life.

I’ve always been a chocolate chip cookie snob. But back in the day, that meant following the Nestle Tollhouse recipe to a T, including using refined, bleached all-purpose flour, refined white sugar, margarine sticks for “butter,” and Nestle chips.

Let’s just say, things have changed a little. 

Fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies

My chocolate chip cookies these days involve:

• fresh milled, whole grain, ancient einkorn flour (learn all about einkorn here)
• unrefined sugar (coconut sugar) and organic cane sugar
• real butter (feel free to brown your butter for even more flavor, like I do in this recipe for Kamut Chocolate Chip Cookies)
• chocolate chips made with coconut sugar (linked below)

…And my chocolate chip cookies have never tasted better. Toll house has nothing on my fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies.

What is einkorn?

Depending on who you ask, einkorn is often considered the oldest grain that still exists today.

Einkorn is an ultra nutritious ancient grain. (source) Unlike modern grains that are hybridized for specific traits that increase productivity (and wind up weakening nutrients), einkorn still has the simple genetic makeup that it had in ancient times. 

Einkorn, like other ancient and heritage grains, offers us more carotenoids and phenolic compounds than is found in modern wheat. (source)

Can I use store bought einkorn flour in chocolate chip cookies?

If you don’t have a grain mill, or don’t want to mill your own flour, you can use this einkorn fresh flour.

Another great option if you need a substitute for the einkorn flour in this recipe? This stoneground barley flour.

Although milling your own flour is always best, both of these flours from organic farmers as as close to milling your own as you can get.

What is fresh milled flour?

We all know that flour comes from wheat.

But what lots of folks don’t realize is that the flour they buy at the store is hardly even the same product as the wheat it started out as. Commercial flour has been heated, treated, and sifted until it’s left with just one out of the three parts of a wheat berry.

Commercial flour is just starch, when it should be starch + bran + germ = whole grain flour.

Add on top of that, most flour contains at least 3 additional preservatives, enzymes or dough conditioners, plus synthetic vitamins (made in a lab instead of nature).

Milling your own flour allows you to turn wholegrain wheat berries into the freshest flour in the world. Your body will thank you.

Learn how to mill your own flour here.

What do I need to make fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies?

First, you need a grain mill and einkorn wheat berries. Other than that, these cookies are made with pretty standard ingredients you should have on hand:

• butter
• coconut sugar (or sub brown sugar)
• organic cane sugar 
• vanilla extract
• eggs
• fresh milled einkorn flour
• fresh milled chickpea flour or you could use cornstarch (optional, gives a chewier texture)
• baking powder
• chocolate chips

Grab my free pantry checklist with details and discounts on all my favorite ingredients.

Where should I buy einkorn flour/einkorn wheat berries?

Unfortunately, there are lots of “knockoffs” in the ancient grain world.

Lower-quality grains trying to pass for high-quality ancient grains. I only trust one of my favorite regenerative wheat farmers when I stock up on einkorn wheat berries.

You can check local natural food stores for wholegrain einkorn berries, or purchase from bulk food suppliers like Azure Standard.

If you don’t have a grain mill or don’t want to mill your own flour, you can purchase stoneground, organic einkorn flour (as close to milling your own as you can get!) from one of my favorite regenerative wheat farmers here. Another great option is to substitute barley for einkorn in these cookies. Another favorite small, organic family farm offers fresh milled barley flour.

Tips for baking with einkorn flour

Einkorn has a naturally sweet, buttery flavor, so you might find that you actually add less sugar to anything you make with einkorn.

As with all fresh milled flour, einkorn flour can sometimes hydrate differently than all-purpose flour would. Add flour to all recipes slowly, and don’t be afraid to add more/less einkorn flour than a recipe calls for in order to get to a proper consistency.

If you’re milling your own einkorn flour to make a somewhat “delicate” recipe, consider cooling your freshly milled einkorn flour before using it, so your butter doesn’t warm up too much when mixed with the flour. (This is especially helpful with pie crusts and biscuits; you can stick the flour in the fridge or freezer to cool down before using.)

Go here for everything you want to know about this amazing ancient grain: Einkorn 101: history, milling, flaking, cooking & more

Fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies recipe

INGREDIENTS for einkorn chocolate chip cookies

3/4 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups fresh milled einkorn flour (220 grams)

1 cup fresh milled hard red flour (130 grams)–see notes for my favorite

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp chickpea flour (fine and sifted)–see notes

1 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS for einkorn chocolate chip cookies

1. Cut up butter into 1-tablespoon-size chunks and mix them with the sugars on medium speed, just until well mixed (over mixing may heat up your butter too much and make your fresh flour cookies too thin).
2. Add in vanilla and eggs, just until mixed.
3. Mix einkorn and hard red flours, baking powder, and chickpea flour together and add to mixer until everything is combined.
4. Mix in chocolate chips and form balls (I make our cookie size about 40 grams each). Dough is often a little crumbly, but this results in a nice chewy, soft cookie in the end, so simply press the dough and chips together with your hands to form balls. Place cookie balls on cookie trays about 2 inches apart and flatten each cookie ball with the bottom of a glass or a cookie press.
5. Bake in oven at 350 for 7 minutes, removing tray from oven but letting cookies rest on hot trays until they are almost cool. Move to cooking rack until fully cooled then store in air-tight container. 

NOTES for einkorn chocolate chip cookies

• I only order my einkorn grains from this family farm, that I know I can trust to raise organic, regeneratively grown wheat. They’re also always clean grains, stored well. (Or you can try the flour here.)
• This is my favorite hard red wheat for this recipe. (Or you can try the flour here.) I try to use organic, heritage grains when I’m able to, over modern, hybrid grains, which aren’t as nutrient-dense. 
• I mill chickpea flour instead of using refined cornstarch (see how here), using these organic chickpeas (also called “garbanzo beans”) in my Mockmill Lino 200 (find my mill here), but you can skip this ingredient (it just helps your cookies be a little chewier).

Try a Test Cookie

If this is your first time making this cookie recipe, you may want to do a few test cookies before baking the whole batch, because fresh flour behaves differently in different kitchens and different conditions. If so, hold back about 1/2 cup (55 grams) of the einkorn flour in step 3 and form a single test cookie before step 4 (adding in some chips by hand to the test cookie). Bake the test cookie and let it cool to see if it is the consistency you want. If it is too thin, add in half of the reserved einkorn flour to your mixing bowl, mix well, and make another test cookie.  Do this until you have a cookie you are pleased with, then move on to step 4 and bake your entire batch.

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fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies

soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies made with ancient grain einkorn flour

Keyword ancient grain, chocolate chip cookies, einkorn, fresh milled flour

Servings 2 dozen

Equipment

• grain mill

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups fresh milled einkorn flour 220 grams
• 1 cup fresh milled hard red flour 130 grams
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp chickpea flour fine and sifted
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

• Cut up butter into 1-tablespoon-size chunks and mix them with the sugars on medium speed, just until well mixed (over mixing may heat up your butter too much and make your fresh flour cookies too thin).
• Add in vanilla and eggs, just until mixed.
• Mix einkorn and hard red flours, baking powder, and chickpea flour together and add to mixer until everything is combined.
• Mix in chocolate chips and form balls (I make our cookie size about 40 grams each). Dough is often a little crumbly, but this results in a nice chewy, soft cookie in the end, so simply press the dough and chips together with your hands to form balls. Place cookie balls on cookie trays about 2 inches apart and flatten each cookie ball with the bottom of a glass or a cookie press.
• Bake in oven at 350 for 7 minutes, removing tray from oven but letting cookies rest on hot trays until they are almost cool. Move to cooking rack until fully cooled then store in air-tight container.

Need a grain mill?

Here’s a Complete Guide to Choosing a Grain Mill to help you decide which one is the best for your family.

More like fresh milled einkorn chocolate chip cookies:

• Kamut chocolate chip cookies
• Einkorn 101: history, milling, flaking, cooking & more
• Crumbl copycat strawberry pretzel pie cookies
• Fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread recipe

The post Fresh Milled Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies first appeared on Souly Rested.

Fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread

The holy grail of bread baking? Fresh flour sourdough.

For years after I made the switch to fresh milled flour, I assumed I just wasn’t going to make good sourdough bread again. I was cranking out beautiful commercial yeast loaves. But whenever I attempted sourdough bread with fresh flour, I was very discouraged with the results.

So I perfected my Fresh Flour Sandwich Bread, made with yeast. And it’s still a favorite in our house.

Then I decided to conquer fresh milled sourdough bread. It took me some time, but I was determined.

And, friends, I’m here to tell you that fresh milled sourdough bread truly is the most delicious and nutritious bread in the world. (Keep reading, I’ll convince you too.)

Soft & sturdy sourdough bread. With fresh flour.

This recipe was my breakthrough.

It’s soft enough to make brioche-style French toast.

It’s sturdy enough to hold up to a juicy heirloom-tomato BLT sandwich.

It’s great for toast (with butter or avocado), grilled cheese (my husband actually insists that grilled cheese made with this sourdough bread is the best ever), egg & cheese souffle, and the list goes on. Anything your “regular” sandwich bread can do, this loaf can do better.

Fresh milled flour gives this loaf deep, earthy flavor, combined with the classic “tang” of sourdough.

What is fresh milled flour?

Flour comes from whole grain wheat kernels. These kernels are grown, harvested, and ground into flour. On their own, whole wheat kernels are incredibly nutritious. They’re packed full of all kinds of essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and protein.

The problem? Commercial flour at the grocery store has been processed and stripped of essentially all the nutrients that the whole wheat berries once contained.

Why? Wheat berries contains oils. These oils are incredibly nutritious, but they pose a problem for commercial millers. Oil goes rancid once the wheat berries are milled. But when the bran & germ (the source of the oils) is removed from commercial flour, it lasts almost indefinitely. When Big Food can create food with a long shelf life, profits soar.

Add in to the commercial flour many dough enhancers, bleaching agents, added enzymes, and synthetic vitamins, not to mention the pesticides in traditional flour, and you have a recipe for indigestibility, gluten intolerance, and poor gut health (source). Crazy that we’ve villanized gluten for decades, when the gluten was never really the problem.

The case for grain mills + wheat berries

On the flip side of commercial flour that’s been sifted, heated, bleached, and a million additives added? Nutrient-dense fresh milled flour.

Purchasing a grain mill + wheat berries allows you to mill fresh, whole grain flour, on demand.

Your body loves fresh milled flour, thanks to its high fiber and protein content, along with the natural oils present in fresh flour. You’re able to mill your flour on-demand, and turn around and turn that flour into the most nutritious bread in the world.

No bleaching agents.

No added enzymes, dough enhancers, or additives.

No synthetic vitamins.

And no pesticides if you’re sourcing good grains.

Fresh milled flour is real, whole grain flour, naturally packed with vitamins. Naturally containing everything you need to make great bread.

Why use fresh milled flour in sourdough?

Sourdough bread that’s long fermented is easier for our bodies to digest.

Sourdough made with commercial flour (read more about that above), is not only missing nutrients but is also filled with synthetic additives. Long-fermented (sourdough) bread made with commercial flour is, unfortunately, not the epitome of nutritiousness. (Don’t get me wrong, though, any homemade bread will still be 100% better for you than prepackaged options.)

Sourdough AND fresh milled flour?

Fresh flour sourdough is a powerhouse combination of easy-to-digest (long-fermented) REAL vitamins and minerals (not synthetic ones) and all the natural nutrients housed in the wheat berry as it was grown in the farmer’s field, with nothing missing. 

Fresh milled sourdough bread truly is the most nutritious bread in the world.

What wheat berries to use in sourdough sandwich bread

You’ll notice that this recipe simply calls for “hard red wheat.” That’s a generic term that can include several different kinds of wheat–but usually the term refers to modern varieties.

If you’re new to fresh milled flour, and you have “hard red” in your kitchen, just stick with that and use it up.

If you’re looking to maximize nutrients, I love ancient and heritage grains. Turns out, specific varieties of hard red wheat have been preserved throughout generations–and have avoided commercial hybridization. These heritage (and older ancient) grains are always more nutritious and flavorful. (source and source)

My favorite varieties of heritage hard red wheats include Turkey Red and Rouge De Bordeaux. Or you can stick with “classic” hard red wheat, like this one.

This recipe also works well with spelt, khorasan, or any combination of these grains. It’s nice to switch up your combination occationally for a varied nutrient profile and a slightly different taste.

What’s the secret to soft sourdough with fresh flour?

I finally found the secret to soft sourdough sandwich bread with fresh milled flour. Turns out, the combination of making a preferment and also adding a tangzhong to the dough = magic.

It might sound complicated, but it’s not.

The preferment just means you take a little time to let your flour soak in the liquid. This step ensures that you’re working with active, well-fed starter in the right amount and right thickness. It creates consistency.

A tangzhong is a simple process of cooking some of the liquid and flour before adding it to your recipe. This helps the dough hold moisture and leaves your dough softer, sturdier, and helps it stay fresh longer.

The secret to soft sourdough sandwich bread with fresh milled flour?

A preferment + a tangzhong.

We’ll chat about these methods more below. Stick with me.

Can I add a tangzhong to sourdough with fresh flour?

There’s a common misconception that enhancements shouldn’t be added to sourdough bread.

Not true.

I’ve seen great improvement in the texture, flavor, and length of freshness in my sourdough when I add a tangzhong to my dough.

So yes, you absolutely can add a tangzhong to your sourdough sandwich bread, and, in fact, I reccomend it. It makes a world of difference.

Why isn’t my fresh flour sourdough rising?

If you’re struggling to get your sourdough to rise well when it’s made with fresh milled flour, let me share a few tips I’ve learned over the years.

• Don’t be afraid to knead your sourdough. Especially sandwich bread doughs really benefit from a good kneading (and I’m not just talking stretch and folds, although they have their place). In this recipe, I treat the dough very similarly to how I treat my yeasted sandwich bread dough.
• Make sure your sourdough starter is super strong, active, and well-fed. When you’re baking with fresh milled flour, it’s essential to use the strongest starter possible.
• Add a tangzhong to your dough. (See above for more about tangzhong and why it helps.) This will help your bread not only develop strength, but also develop into a softer, sturdier, and longer lasting loaf.
• Use the right wheat berries. If you’re struggling to make sourdough bread with fresh flour, try switching up not only just the type of grain you’re using, but also where you’re sourcing your grains from. High-quality grains, dried properly, and sourced carefully will improve your bread. See all my favorite choices here.

Fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread (soft & sturdy)

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fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread (soft & sturdy)

Nutritious 100% fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread

Keyword bread, sourdough bread, sandwich bread

Servings 1 large loaf

Equipment

• grain mill
• loaf pan
• high-powered mixer optional

Ingredients

preferment

• ¾ cup 200 g active sourdough starter
• ½ cup warm water
• 1 cup 130 g hard red flour*

tangzhong

• 6 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons 16 g hard red flour*

For the dough

• all of the preferment
• all of the tangzhong
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups 390 g hard red flour*

to add after the dough is in the mixer:

• 1/4 cup butter softened

Instructions

• The night before, mix all the ingredients of the preferment together. a shaggy dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight.
• The next morning, make the tangzhong by whisking the milk and flour over high heat constantly until it thickens into a paste. Add the tangzhong to your preferment from the night before, along with the milk, egg, honey and salt. Mix and slowly add about 1 ½-2 cups of the flour, or more if needed, until a soft, sticky dough forms. Don’t add all the flour at once, it’s better to add more at the next stage, when it gets kneaded, than to add too much now. And you may find you don’t need to add any more flour at all. Cover the bowl again and allow it to sit for at least 10 minutes. (I usually let it sit about ½ hour, and even longer is fine.)
• After the dough has rested, add the dough to your mixer’s bowl and start kneading the dough. If the dough seems extra sticky, add more flour as your mixer is kneading it. You want your dough to be soft but not too sticky. After kneading for about 5 minutes, the dough should start to look stretchy and supple. As the mixer continues to knead, cut your softened butter into slices and slowly add it into the mixer. At first, your dough may be a buttery mess, but after another 10 minutes or so of kneading with the butter incorporated, it should come together to form a soft, stretchy dough that’s slightly sticky but easy to work with.
• If your dough is still overly sticky at this point, add a little more flour, slowly, as the mixer is kneading, but no more than ¼ cup at a time. After a few more minutes of kneading if it’s still too sticky, add another ¼ cup and keep doing that (but don’t exceed 3 cups by too much, total unless your dough truly needs it), until you have a soft, stretchy, sticky (but manageable) dough. Be patient and give your dough plenty of kneading time. I’ve been known to let this dough knead for ½ hour in my mixer, or even more.
• Grease a large bowl, roll your dough in the oil to cover all sides, and let the dough rise in the bowl until it has almost doubled (could be as long as 3 hours, depending on how warm or cool your home is on baking day). After the dough has almost doubled, gently scrape it onto a work surface to shape your loaf, and place into a standard size loaf pan.
• Rub or spray some oil on the top of your loaf (to keep it from drying out as it finishes rising), cover your pan, and set aside to rise again for about 3 more hours. When your dough has risen well, uncover your pan and score the dough.
• Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of your loaf reads 190-200 degrees. Let the loaf cool slightly in the pan, then gently dump it out onto a cooling rack. Brush the top of the loaf with butter while it’s still warm, to keep the crust soft, let your bread rest for about 20 minutes, and enjoy!

Notes

*I prefer to use a nutritious heritage Hard Red wheat, like Turkey Red or Rouge De Bordeoux.

What you need for making fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread:

More like fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread recipe:

• The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Grain Mil (& 6 Questions to ask)
• Wheat berries: everything you need to know
• Sourdough with Fresh Milled Flour: what you need to know
• Best sandwich bread with fresh milled flour (yeast recipe)
• Everything you need to know to conquer milling & baking with fresh flour 

The post Fresh milled sourdough sandwich bread (soft & sturdy) first appeared on Souly Rested.

If life is stressful, this hibiscus tea blend should be your new go-to.

This Hibiscus Tea is easy to make yourself (or you can try this amazing blend). It’s a delicious combination of 4 herbs that all work together to help your body deal better with stress and anxiety, plus the actual act of preparing a cup of this tea, and enjoying the beautiful color, smell, and taste of it, will also give you a great excuse to slow down and relax a little.

Hibiscus Tea Blend

To make enough tea to fill a 3-quart (or 96-oz) pitcher of tea, you’ll need:

3/4 cup dried mint leaves

2 TB hibiscus

2 TB tulsi basil

1 tsp dried rosemary

Directions for making Hibiscus Tea Blend

Combine 4 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, using your hands or a wooden spoon.

Store tea blend in a sealed jar in a dark, cool cabinet.

To mix a pitcher full of hibiscus tea

1. Steep 3/4 cup of tea in 4 cups of hot water for 20 minutes.
2. Strain out loose leaf tea and discard.
3. Add sugar to taste. (Bill likes 2/3 cup organic cane sugar)
4. Then place sweetened tea in a 3-quart (96 oz) pitcher and fill remaining space in pitcher with cold water, until the pitcher is full.

Cold brew hibiscus tea

I love to make this tea with a cold brew method that does the “work” while I sleep. I use this cold brew system, place 1/3 cup of the loose leaf tea blend in the filter, fill the glass pitcher with filtered room-temperature water, and let it sit 8-10 hours or overnight. Remove filter, sweeten, and store in fridge in the lidded pitcher.

To sweeten, since you’re adding sugar to a cold liquid, you have a few options: add 1/4 cup maple syrup and stir OR add 1/3 cup organic cane sugar to 3/4 cup hot water, in a separate bowl, and stir until dissolved then add sugar water to pitcher, there should be just enough room without overflowing after removing the strainer and loose leaf tea.

SAVE 15% OFF the already discounted sale price on this amazing cold brew system with code SOULYRESTED.

To make a cup of hibiscus tea

This tea blend is delicious hot or cold. If you want to just make a cup at a time:

1. Steep 1 TB of blend in 16 oz of hot water, in a steeper (use code SOULYRESTED) in a 16 oz. mug, for 20 minutes. (I use a mug cover to keep the tea warm while it steeps.)
2. Remove the filter from the jar, discard or compost the tea leaves, and rinse the filter or place it in the dishwasher.
3. Add sweetener of choice and enjoy.

Why these 4 ingredients?

Bill has been battling high anxiety and stress over the past year, leading him to the Emergency Room twice, in two different states, and multiple scary incidents of amnesia.

It’s been a terrifying experience for me to watch. I share the details and warning signs of how stress led to this and how you can hopefully avoid this, in episode 226 of the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast:

The Hidden Dangers of Chronic Stress (that noone talks about), ep. 226

Or watch on youtube:

He’s been drinking this tea daily, for a few months, and we’ve seen definite improvements and his blood pressure has lowered considerably. 

I’m not a medical expert, I’m only sharing our personal journey and this tea has been an wonderful part of his healing.

HIBISCUS

I source mine here. (Use code SOULYRESTED)

Hibiscus has long been known as a natural way to lower blood presssure, but it also can help your body fight inflamation, infections, and so much more. See many medicinal benefits of this flowering plant here.

MINT

This is a great source for organic mint. (Use code SOULYRESTED)

You probably already know that just a few sips of mint does amazing things to calm your stomach. It also helps us relax by easing muscle tension and lowering anxiety. See lots more benefits of mint here–including headache relief and improved cognitive function.

TULSI BASIL

This organic tulsi basil is wonderful. (Use code SOULYRESTED)

This wonderful herb is a natural adaptogen that lowers stress, calms the mind, and even does a great job of balancing stress hormones. Read lots more amazing benefits of this adaptogen here.

ROSEMARY

I get my rosemary here. (Find out more about this amazing food supplier & how to save $$ with them, here.)

Rosemary can help you relax by easing stress and quieting your mind. This study shows the impacts of this wonderful herb.

Print

Hibiscus tea blend

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dried mint leaves
• 2 TB hibiscus
• 2 TB tulsi basil
• 1 tsp dried rosemary

Instructions

Directions for making Hibiscus Tea Blend

• Combine 4 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, using your hands or a wooden spoon.
• Store tea blend in a sealed jar in a dark, cool cabinet.

To mix a pitcher full of hibiscus tea

• Steep 3/4 cup of tea in 4 cups of hot water for 20 minutes.
• Strain out loose leaf tea and discard.
• Add sugar to taste. (Bill likes 2/3 cup organic cane sugar)
• Then place sweetened tea in a 3-quart (96 oz) pitcher and fill remaining space in pitcher with cold water, until the pitcher is full.

To make a cup of hibiscus tea

• This tea blend is delicious hot or cold. If you want to just make a cup at a time:
• Steep 1 TB of blend in 16 oz of hot water, in a steeper (use code SOULYRESTED) in a 16 oz. mug, for 20 minutes. (I use a mug cover to keep the tea warm while it steeps.)
• Remove the filter from the jar, discard or compost the tea leaves, and rinse the filter or place it in the dishwasher.
• Add sweetener of choice and enjoy.

Don’t want to make it yourself?

If you’d rather support an amazing small family business, go say “hi” to my friend, Amber, and check out her Heart to Heart Tea

Tea Supplies, Tools, and Favorites

I love loose leaf, organic teas, whether I’m mixing the blend myself or purchasing a new delicious blend. Go here to find out lots more: My Favorite Teas & Tea Tools

More like Hibiscus Tea

Copycat Starbucks Medicine Ball

Make your own Masala Chai Tea Blend

Yarrow & Elderflower Tea

Ginger pear tea

DIY Coke (yes, it’s medicinal)

The post Hibiscus Tea | How to blend it and make it yourself first appeared on Souly Rested.

My biggest haters are over grain mills.

When I started posting on Instagram, I never would have imagined that my biggest haters would be over the fact that they can’t afford a grain mill.

And I get it. Things are tight right now. But when I invested in my grain mill, I knew it was just that–an investment. In my family’s health, in a hobby I enjoy, in getting more nutrition into my life.

But, to answer the non-haters genuinely looking for advice on ways to afford a grain mill on a budget, here are my top 5 tips.

Owning a grain mill saves money.

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty, I want to make something clear: I save money everyday by owning a grain mill.

Truthfully, there are exceptions, and this isn’t the case for every person. But for my family, I save hundreds of dollars per year (which means a grain mill pays for itself quickly!). I achieve this by purchasing wheat berries in bulk.

The breakdown:

I used to purchase King Arthur organic flour, which cost me $10.95/5 lbs. That’s $2.19/lb.

Now I purchase organic wheat berries which I mill into organic flour for $0.92/pound when I purchase a 50-lb bag.

That’s = $1.27 per pound cheaper to mill my own flour.

Over the course of a year, if I’m making 2 loaves of bread per week, that’s $132.08 I’m saving every year, just in flour.

Which means that in two years (with a savings of $264.16), I’ve paid for my grain mill.

And that’s just the bread!

That doesn’t even take into account the money I’m saving on baked goods, homemade desserts/pastries, and so on.]

5 ways to afford a grain mill on a budget

We’ll dive into more details below, but my top 5 recommendations for affording a grain mill are:

1. Buy the most affordable mill
2. Search thrift stores/buy used or refurbished
3. Split the cost with a friend or a neighbor
4. Save up for it
5. Use a payment plan

Also, don’t discount planning to use your mill to actually make money.

Buy the most affordable grain mill

If you’re on a budget, be realistic with what you can actually afford. And keep in mind that you can upgrade your mill latter when budget allows.

1) My top pick for a budget-friendly grain mill is the Nutrimill Impact mill.

It’s regular price $249, plus the code “soulyrested” takes the price down to $229.

It’s not as pretty as some other mills, but

-it makes really fine flour great for bread & baked goods,

-it’s compact and portable,

-and it’s easy to use and beginner friendly

Plus, it’s just over $200.

2) My second pick for a grain mill on a budget is the Mockmill 100. It’s regular price $380, which puts it at the lowest priced on-demand style mill.

The Mockmill 100 out-preforms the much higher-priced Nutrimill Harvest ($499) with all the same function, just without the pretty wooden exterior.

Budget-friendly grain mills:

Search thrift stores (buy used)

With the rise in grain mill sales, I’ve noticed several grain mills in my local thrift stores for a fraction of the price they cost new. Also be sure to check reseller websites (they’re not just for clothes!) as well as FB marketplace locally to you.

You might be shocked what you find! There are several models of antique mills that I’ve seen folks selling for super cheap that also work well, they’re just clunky and take up more storage space. Totally worth the savings, though, if you’re on a budget!

Buy refurbished

Make sure to check Nutrimill’s website periodically under the “refurbished” tab. 

They sell their grain mills and mixers at a serious discount there. Check the descriptions on the listings for why exactly the mill was refurbished, but the discounts are insane. If you can snag one (they sell out quickly because of the great prices), you’ll save a bundle.

Split the cost (and the mill) with a friend or neighbor

This is one of my favorite options on the list. Not only does this option help you afford a grain mill, but it also fosters community, which I’m always all for.

There are several neat ways you could arrange this.

1. Split the cost of the mill, and also split the time you each spend with the mill. Maybe one week on, one week off?
2. Split the cost, but one of you houses the mill, but the other has access to all the fresh milled flour they need.
3. Keep your cost buddy stocked with fresh bread instead of flour.
4. Also, check to see if anyone in your area already owns a grain mill and would allow you to use their mill once a week to mill all your flour.

Save up for it

I know, it’s not very romantic. But look for small things you can cut out, and set that money aside for your grain mill fund. You might be there before you know it!

Fresh milled flour is worth waiting (and saving) for.

Use a payment plan

Although it’s not always ideal, if you can’t swing the full price of a mill in one paycheck, look into payment plants. I know that Nutrimill offers shop pay plans to pay a portion of your order every month, as well as Paypal payment plans on all their grain mills.

Honorable mentions:

Buy (good) flour until you save up

My favorite grain company also sells fresh-milled flour that I recommend to anyone waiting to purchase a grain mill. It’s the same quality as if you milled it yourself! Knowing you’re using super high-quality and nutritious flour will also help you be more patient as you wait for a grain mill.

Save on the best flour with code “soulyrested”

Plan to use your mill to make money

Taking the plunge and spending the money on a mill often makes a lot more sense if you have a plan to turn that investment -> into cash.

Sell fresh milled flour to your local community, sell baked goods/bread made with fresh flour, or offer your mill for “rent” to other locals who either want to try their hand at milling, or can’t afford the price of a mill yet.

More like 5 ways to afford a grain mill on a budget:

• Wheat berries: everything you need to know
• Nutrimill or Mockmill: which grain mill is best?
• How to choose a flour mill, simplified (includes a quiz!)
• Sourdough with fresh milled flour (recipe)

The post 5 ways to afford a grain mill on a budget first appeared on Souly Rested.

I kind of hate bread machines. Even with fresh milled flour.

As a newlywed, I was gifted a bread machine.

Knowing very little about real food at the time, I didn’t see the value in homemade bread. As soon as I got fed up with moving the huge, clunky machine around my kitchen, I donated it.

After a while, I started to wonder if I had made a mistake. As I got more interested in the food my family was eating, I started to make my own bread.

But truthfully? I enjoy the process of making bread. Personally, I don’t want to outsource that process to a machine.

However, I can’t ignore the messages. You guys want to know how to use your bread machines with fresh milled flour. And if you’re in a busy stage of life, I don’t blame you at all.

I absolutely utilize machines to make my life easier. In fact, I knead all my bread dough in my heavy-duty mixer. But with you guys in mind, I’ve mastered using fresh milled flour in a bread machine.

What is fresh milled flour?

We all know flour is made from wheat. What many folks don’t know is that the flour we buy at the store? Hardly contains any of the real wheat it started out with.

Why is that? Wheat naturally contains oils, which, if left in flour, does rancid quickly. In an effort to make flour last longer on shelves, millers realized if they removed the bran + germ (the parts of the wheat where the oils are) through sifting, the fine, starchy flour that’s left lasts almost forever.

If we want to keep our flour as nutritionally dense as possible, the only real solution is to mill your own.

Not sure where to start milling your own flour? Grab a grain mill (see my recommendations here) and wheat berries (see which ones you need here), and you’re off to a great start.

Why use a bread machine with fresh milled flour?

We’re all busy. And if you’re trying to eat real, whole foods? Your plate is even fuller.

The struggle is real: keeping real, high-quality food on your family’s table, day in and day out. Any machines that help with that are a win in my book. If you’re in the market for a bread machine, I’ve heard great things about this one.

Bread machines offer flexibility–you can use it to just mix and knead your dough, or you’re able to use the bread machine to make bread for you–from raw ingredients all the way to cooked bread.

Use the right bread machine settings.

If your bread machine has it, use the “whole wheat” setting, which usually allows your dough to rest for longer in-between cycles. Sometimes the whole wheat settings will also allow for longer kneading/rise times, which fresh milled flour sometimes needs. If your machine doesn’t have a whole wheat setting, you’ll need to play with the settings manually.

Get the liquid right for fresh milled flour.

If your machine is struggling to knead your fresh milled flour bread dough, try adding a little more liquid to your dough than usual. Doughs made with fresh flour tend to be heavier in general, which requires more of your bread machine motor. In fact, when I started making bread with fresh milled flour, I burned out my Kitchen Aid mixer, and had to upgrade to this bad boy, which is much more powerful.

Adding a little more liquid with create a softer dough and allow your bread machine to actually knead the dough more effectively.

Keep an eye on your fresh milled dough in the bread machine.

Watch the dough carefully throughout the cycle the first few times you use your bread machine with fresh flour. Don’t expect to just set-it-and-forget-it right off the bat.

You’ll need to dial in specifics for your bread machine with fresh flour, but soon enough you’ll be dumping ingredients, pushing a button, and enjoying fresh bread in a few hours, hands-off.

If the dough seems dry, stiff, or crumbly throughout the mixing and kneading process, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is soft and stretchy. Keep notes of how much water you add, so you know for next time.

If the machine bakes your dough before it’s fully rise, keep notes and adjust the settings/rise times.

If the machine doesn’t knead your dough long enough (it should be stretchy!), adjust the kneading times.

Tweak your bread machine to work with fresh flour.

Don’t be afraid to play with the settings on your machine.

Most newer bread machines have a “whole wheat” setting, which usually just makes the kneading time longer. If yours doesn’t have this, try using manual settings and lengthening the kneading time. Fresh flour takes longer to develop gluten, so you’re going to want to add more kneading than typical.

Also play with the ingredients in your dough. If your dough is over proofing in your bread machine, try lowering the amount of yeast in your dough.

Add enhancements for better dough.

If fresh milled bread isn’t turning out well in your bread machine, add vital wheat gluten to your dough or try other mix-ins like egg, fats, or sunflower lecithin. These natural dough enhancers will help “boost” your bread.

I add up to 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of fresh flour used in a bread recipe.

Babysit your bread machine.

Check in on the dough during the mixing and kneading phases, but don’t open the lid during rise times! This can let heat out, deflate the dough, and lead to sad loaves in the end.

Let the fresh flour dough rest.

Try adding a rest period. To do this, mix your flour and water, and allow the machine to mix for 2-3 minutes. Then let that sit for 20-30 minutes. After that, add the rest of your ingredients, mix, knead, and rise as usual.

Don’t overbake.

Stop the baking process 5-10 minutes early if you’re baking your bread in the machine (see next point for the alternative). Leave the loaf sitting in the machine to rest and finish cooking. This will help prevent dried out or crumbly loaves.

If your bread machine has a crust color, you may want to set that to light. Fresh flour bread tends to burn on the top/crusts more quickly than bread made with store flour.

Don’t use the bread machine all the way through.

Use the bread machine as a tool to mix and knead, but shape and bake the loaves by hand. The baking settings on bread machines can be wonky sometimes, and the cooking step seems to cause the most pitfalls for fresh flour bread. If that’s happening to you, consider letting the bread machine do its thing for mixing, kneading, and bulk rising, then take over the rest of the process by hand.

Need a grain mill?

If you want a grain mill but can’t decide which one is best for you, check out my free guide to choosing a grain mill.

More like how to use fresh flour in a bread machine:

• How to use fresh flour in any recipe
• Fluffy 100% whole wheat dinner rolls with fresh milled flour
• Where to purchase wheat berries for fresh milled flour
• The ultimate guide to choosing a grain mill (& 6 questions to ask)

The post 9 tips for using fresh flour in a bread machine first appeared on Souly Rested.