whole wheat sourdough loaf cut fresh on a wooden cutting board

Soft Fresh Ground Einkorn Sourdough Bread for the Beginner

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I’ve found so many benefits for my family’s health by using fresh ground flour. This whole wheat bread recipe is made with the nutrient dense einkorn wheat and so simple to make. No Dutch oven is needed and it’s very hands off making it both easy and great for tight schedules.

Fresh white flour tops an oval artisan loaf of sourdough bread with one slice waiting to be eaten.

What is Einkorn Wheat

Einkorn is the oldest known wheat that has never been hybridized. This means that ALL other wheat varieties came from einkorn. It’s the mother wheat.

Because of this ancient grain’s unique place, it’s structure is completely different. Einkorn wheat has just 14 chromosomes compared to modern day wheat’s 44 chromosomes! The difference of these wheats is seen in nutrition, protein and digestibility. You can find all the information on einkorn’s amazing nutrients in this post

Many with sensitive stomach’s or gluten intolerance have found they tolerate einkorn wheat. Some believe this to be due to the absence of the D genome that modern day wheat carries. This D genome has been associated with celiac disease. Wondering if you can tolerate this wheat? This post clarifies many questions about einkorn and inflammation.

Baking with Einkorn Wheat

Lastly, einkorn is quite different to bake with than modern day conventional wheat. The high protein content, weaker gluten structure and different chemical makeup effects how it stretches, rises and more. This recipe is here to help you feel confident in baking with whole grain einkorn, even if you are just starting out.

You will see many tips in my recipes, to help offset the unusual behavior of this dough. My post, Baking Tips for Einkorn, also give many helps for your success.

Where to Buy Einkorn

I have two places I regularly buy einkorn. I’ve also used Amazon and other big online stores but honestly, they are not as reliable. Once I got a great deal on einkorn from a large health food store online. I waited a couple weeks before hearing that the package had been damaged in the mail. I continued to wait and after several more weeks I researched to finally discover the package had once again been damaged in transit. Then apparently forgotten.

The moral for me was that a good deal is good unless you don’t actually receive it. Reliability and quality of the product have made me just as happy as cheap pricing. I still look for a better price, but from a place I know will give quality and take care of the delivery.

slices of whole grain sourdough bread with einkorn flour sit on a wooden cutting board next to a half of a loaf of bread.

Here’s My Favorite Places to Get Einkorn Berries and Flour.

Sourdough Starter Tips

Did you know Sourdough starter (also called just “sourdough,” or “starter”) is simply flour and water?

No special ingredients here! This amazing yeast is nothing more than the same ingredients you put in bread. The difference is that TIME has allowed the organisms needed for rising the bread to grow and multiply.

If you haven’t yet, you can make your own sourdough starter with einkorn flour. Here’s my step-by-step guide for making your own sourdough starter.

It’s best to make bread with “active” sourdough starter. This simply means you’re using “starter” that’s been feed in the last 8 hours or so. The recent feeding will help give it the energy needed to rise your bread.

Equipment You’ll Need

Before you get all stressed over special equipment hear me out. You DON’T need special sourdough equipment. In fact, I even have a post showing how you can bake the crispy edged sourdough boule round without a dutch oven!

That said, here’s what you do need for this recipe.

A large Mixing Bowl and Spoon

I choose a bigger bowl to prevent flour from being tossed out during mixing. Dough whisks are popular for mixing sourdough bread dough but not a requirement. I often just use a knife! Don’ be intimidated by what you don’t have.

A Tea Towel or Plastic Wrap

I honestly go back and forth with using tea towels or plastic. While I’m trying to avoid much plastic usage, it does sometimes come in handy. If you opt for a tea towel dampen the middle to help hold in hydration while the dough rises.

A baking Sheet

The size of baking sheet doesn’t matter but know that the material it’s made from will cook differently. For example, a stainless steel baking sheet will cook differently than ceramic or even iron, though each of these will cook your bread fine!

Parchment Paper

I’ve become quite attached to my parchment paper. It has saved me so many messes and made clean up 10x easier. Not to mention, it also prevents sticking and makes it easy to remove the finished loaf from the pan.

A long oval shape of dough sits amidst flour on top of a parchment lined baking sheet awaiting it's baking.

Ingredients for the Bread

Sourdough Starter

Make sure you feed your sourdough starter about 4-8 hours before making your bread for the best results. This guarantees an active starter to help the rise of your sourdough loaf.

Warm Water

Using warm water activates the organisms in the sourdough and flour as they come together, getting your dough off to a great start. Remember: use warm NOT HOT water. Ideally you want the water between 75-90 degrees Fahrenheit ( 24-32 degrees Celsius) to get the best start to activating organisms without killing off your cultures.

Whole Wheat Einkorn Flour

Fresh ground flour is ideal but using plain whole wheat einkorn is fine too. If you are milling your own wheat, you can mill straight into the bowl by using a scale to weight the correct amount of flour.

Sea Salt

Salt helps more than just the flavor of your bread. It’s actually there to help strengthen the elasticity of the gluten. This is especially helpful for einkorn! Don’t add the salt directly into the sourdough starter to avoid stopping yeast activity.

Yield: 1 loaf

Soft Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread

whole wheat sourdough loaf cut fresh on a wooden cutting board

A loaf of Whole wheat einkorn sourdough bread with a softer crust than usual.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • (120 grams) 1/2 Cup Active Sourdough Starter
  • (275 ml) 1 cup warm water (<95 degrees F)
  • (480 grams) 4 Cups Whole Wheat Einkorn Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sea salt

Instructions

    1. Mix together your active sourdough starter and warm water. Then add flour and salt, mixing until it forms a dough ball.
    2. Cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 6-8 hours. Remember, a warm place will cause it to rise more quickly, cooler places will slow the rise down.
    3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees C) and place a sheet of parchment paper on your baking sheet.
    4. Take the dough out onto a slightly floured surface, folding the dough in half, then stretching it a bit and folding again. Do this 4-5 times, then form a long oval shape with the dough.
    5. Place dough onto parchment lined baking sheet and score if desired. It's not required! I use three angled slashes on mine.
    6. Place in oven and bake for 25-28 minutes and remove from oven. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before slicing.

Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe

Mix together your active sourdough starter and warm water. The add flour and salt, mixing until it forms a dough ball.

Cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 6-8 hours. Remember, a warm place will cause it to rise more quickly, cooler places will slow the rise down.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees C) and place a sheet of parchment on your baking sheet.

Take the dough out onto a slightly floured surface, folding the dough in half, then stretching it a bit and folding again. Do this 4-5 times, then form a long oval shape with the dough.

Place dough onto parchment lined baking sheet and score if desired. Scoring bread is simply making cuts into the dough, directing where it may split as it rises. I use three angled slashes on mine.

Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes and remove from oven. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before slicing.

whole wheat sourdough Einkorn bread sits on a wooden cutting board with one slice face up.

Reheating Your Sourdough Bread

You can reheat your bread loaf by putting it directly onto the middle oven rack at 350 degrees F. (176 degrees C) for 10 minutes). Remove promptly and slice.

Let me know if you try this recipe and how it worked you you!

Krista

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