Fresh Milled Everyday Dough Recipe

This Fresh Milled Everyday Dough Recipe is one of the most versatile staples in our kitchen. From sandwich bread and dinner rolls to hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, donuts, breadsticks, and cinnamon swirl bread, this dough creates endless variations with one reliable base recipe.

But getting here took so many rounds of trial and error while I searched for what felt like the perfect all-purpose dough. I wanted something soft, pillowy, and squishy without the crumbly texture fresh milled dough can sometimes have, while still keeping the process simple. No endless dishes, no complicated steps, and no unnecessary extra ingredients.

I tested version after version with milk, more or less flour, warm water, cold water, and even changing the order of when ingredients were added, all trying to find my perfect dough.

Then I found the ingredient that changed everything: lemon juice.

It softens the crumb for that pillowy squish, helps condition the dough so the gluten behaves a little smoother, slows oxidation so fresh milled dough stays prettier, and helps the finished bread stay softer just a little longer.

After all that trial and error, this became the dough I come back to for everything, and I promise, you can’t taste the lemon juice at all.

One batch makes about 3 pounds of dough, enough for 1 sandwich loaf, 4 dinner rolls, and 4 cinnamon rolls all from the same dough.

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Fresh Milled Everyday Dough Recipe

Author: Kern River Milling

Difficulty: Intermediate

Description

This Fresh Milled Everyday Dough Recipe is our go-to base dough for sandwich bread, dinner rolls, hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, donuts, breadsticks, and more. Soft, reliable, and endlessly versatile, it’s the kind of dough recipe that becomes part of your weekly kitchen rhythm.

Ingredients

Servings

• 730 grams Hard White Central Wheat from Fat Uncle Farms (Our go-to hard white wheat for soft sandwich bread, rolls, and everyday dough)
• 12 grams Vital Wheat Gluten (Adds strength and elasticity for soft, pillowy bread)
• 360 grams Warm Water
• 100 grams Honey
• 1 ¹⁄₂ 1 Egg + 1 Egg Yolk
• 70 grams Avocado Oil
• 12 grams Lemon Juice (My secret ingredient for that soft, squishy crumb)
• 12 grams Salt
• 10 grams Instant Yeast

Instructions

1. • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the hard white wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, warm water, honey, egg, egg yolk, avocado oil, and lemon juice. Leave out the salt and instant yeast for now.
   • Mix until everything comes together into a rounded ball and no dry flour remains.
   • Cover and let the dough autolyse for 45 minutes. This rest time helps the fresh milled flour fully hydrate and gives the gluten a head start.
   • After the autolyse, sprinkle in the instant yeast and salt.
   • Knead until the dough reaches windowpane, smooth and elastic with strong gluten development. This usually takes 8–12 minutes in a stand mixer, depending on your wheat.
   • Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 60–90 minutes.

     Once risen, shape this dough into your desired variation using the linked recipes below. (links coming soon as I add each new recipe)

   Soft Dinner Rolls

   Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls

   Classic Sandwich Bread

   Braided Bread

   Breadsticks

   Hamburger Buns

   Donuts

   Cinnamon Swirl Bread

   Pizza Dough

   

Keywords: fresh milled dough recipe, everyday bread dough, multipurpose bread dough, fresh milled sandwich bread dough, dough for rolls and buns, cinnamon roll dough recipe