Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe

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Making a soft and moist whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread with einkorn flour can be difficult. This recipe will help simplify your whole wheat bread making . My goal is to help you confidently work with the whole grain einkorn to get a good rise with little effort or worry.

We’ve been enjoying a moist centered whole grain einkorn sandwich bread at our house. Instead of using milk in this bread, I use egg white as an extra binder.

I’ve been even more excited about milling my own flour since learning how much more nutrients can be absorbed into the body and hearing amazing stories of people’s health being transformed simply from switching to using freshly ground flour.

This recipe can be made with any whole grain einkorn flour and a bubbly sourdough starter. Our family’s favorite way to eat it is toasted and buttered but you can use it for your sandwiches too!

What’s So Special About this Bread

Why Einkorn

If you haven’t heard yet, you should know that einkorn is in a class of it’s own. As the mother of all wheat, it’s thousands of years old. Don’t think it’s quality is based solely on it’s heirloom aspects ( though they are pretty cool). It’s nutrition goes above and beyond any modern day wheat and the gluten is completely different, making it a good choice for many with gluten sensitivity. You can learn more HERE.

Why Sourdough?

So why not just use yeast packets? Here are three reasons I love using sourdough starter in bread.

1. Helps with digestion.
2. Makes a longer rise time for busy lives.
3. One less thing to buy: it’s just four and water!

Sourdough is a fermented food and, though it isn’t filled with live cultures when you eat it ( due to the baking process) the fermenting does help break down the grain. This process can be especially wonderful for those with digestive issues.

While using a packet of yeast may make bread in just a couple hours, I prefer the long sourdough method as it can work around my life and appointments. I can either make it in the morning or evening and it’s ready to go 7-9 hours later without needing my presence constant presence.

Lastly, I’m so glad I don’t have to remember to grab yeast packets at the store. It could be better on the wallet but most of all I’m thankful for one less thing on my list!

How to use Fresh Ground Flour

While I do use fresh ground flour from my mockmill 100, there’s a few specific things I do differently than when making my all-purpose sourdough bread.

Allow the flour to sit

“But wait! Isn’t this supposed to be freshly ground?” You say. Yes, it is. Letting it sit for 30-60 minutes allows it to cool a little from the milling process and let the warm air pockets begin to subside in between flour granules. As flour is milled, the warmth will naturally invite air into your jar of flour. It’s best to give it a little while to settle unless you know the measurements for your bread by heart and have used them many times.

Note: This is on argument for using weighted measurements as opposed to cup in bread making..

Tap your Measuring Cups

Another way I encourage the flour to settle as it would if stored is to tap my measuring cups 8-10 times before pouring in the flour. This helps warm airy flour a lot!

Store in An Airtight Container

Even those who use freshly milled flour need to have storage ready. Make sure you use an airtight container to preserve your nutrition as long as possible. I share some facts about the breakdown of food and how to slow this process down in this post.

Tools You’ll Need

Bread Pan

While a normal 9.5 x 5 inch loaf pan will work for this recipe, I recommend purchasing a sandwich specific sized pan such as the one in My Favorite Things in the Kitchen List. I’m so glad to have this Norpro sandwich bread pan since I’ve been making a goal to consistently serve homemade bread this winter.

Large Bowl and Spoon or Danish dough whisk

I’m pretty simple with my sourdough bread making meaning I’ve been very slow to purchase a lot of equipment. I really wanted to begin with the basics and, though I do think there are very helpful tools ( and you’ll probably see me use more as time goes by) I’m still using a basic large bowl and Spoon or even a butter knife to combine my dough.

Parchment Paper

I use a little piece of parchment paper in the sandwich pan to help prevent sticking. If you don’t have parchment paper, I highly recommend you add it (see the list of non-toxic tested brands HERE) to your kitchen essentials as it’s a wonderful addition to sourdough baking as well as so many other cooking projects.

Bench Scraper and Bowl Scraper

These two items are some of my favorite tools in the kitchen. My husband made me the beautiful bowl scraper I constantly. It makes it much easier to get the dough out as my hand gets more control being so close, I also use This stainless steel bench scraper. Because of it’s tight edge it can be a chopper for herbs, onion or garlic and scoop them up. Love this one!

Oil or Butter for greasing pan

I also grease my pan just before baking. Be sure to use an oil with a higher smoke point oil such as avocado, butter, or a cold pressed coconut oil.

Tea towel or Plastic Wrap

You’ll want a tea towel or plastic saran wrap to cover your rising dough.

Oven Proof Glass Dish

I use an 8 x 8 inch glass dish filled with one inch of water to add extra moisture during the baking process. This dish set on the rack below the bread while the oven preheats.

Sourdough Sandwich Bread Ingredients

1/2 Cup Active Sourdough Starter

1 1/2 Cups Warm Water

1 Tablespoon Honey

2 Egg Whites, Beaten

1 t Sea Salt

5 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Einkorn Flour

Recipe for Sandwich Bread

Use an Active Sourdough Starter

As with every sourdough recipe, this one starts several hours before mixing your dough ingredients together. It starts by creating and active sourdough starter to power the bread rise. If you haven’t baked with your sourdough starter for awhile, be sure to feed it daily starting a couple days before baking. Then finally feed it several hours before starting the recipe (or night before if starting in the morning).

Here’s my recipe for making your own einkorn sourdough starter.

Mix your Bread Dough

Mix together the Sourdough starter and warm water. Add beaten egg whites, honey and salt until combined. Add in flour and pull together until completely combined. Cover with a damp cloth and let sit for 15-30 minutes.

Stretch and Fold

The nice thing about this whole wheat einkorn bread is that you don’t need to do a lot of kneading. Place the dough on a slightly floured surface and wet your fingers to prevent sticking. This really does work!

During this folding session, if the dough begins to stick to your fingers, wash your hands off and wet your fingers again. Avoid adding much flour unless the dough is overly sticky.

Push the dough flat to stretch it and then fold a side in. Continue this action, turning the dough to fold in different sides about 8 times. This also adds in air to help rise the dough. Roll dough back into a ball and place back into the bowl. Cover with a wet tea towel or plastic wrap once again and allow to rise for about 7-8 hours at an indoor temperature ( about 68-72 degrees F). For warmer temperatures, rise will be quicker. In colder temperatures, rise will take longer.

Preheat Oven

To prepare for baking, fill a glass baking dish such as a cake pan to about one inch full of warm water and place on lower oven rack. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

While preheating the oven, take out your dough as earlier and fold a few more times. Grease a 4.5 x 10 inch loaf pan and lay a piece of parchment across the bottom, leaving greased ends uncovered.

Baking the Bread

Place the sandwich dough inside your loaf pan and score the top. Run a bit of water or milk over the top of dough. Place on middle rack of oven and baking for 20 minutes. Turn oven down to 375 degrees F and bake 20-30 minutes longer until edges are golden brown and inside of cracks are completely cooked.

Let Bread Cool

Take bread out onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 45-60 minutes. This is one of the hardest parts of making bread for me. I have more than once caused a gummy middle to my bread simply because I wanted to eat it too soon. As tempting as it is, know you’ll have the best inside texture if you allow the bread to cool.

Other Options and Add-ins

You don’t have to leave this bread plain you know. Feel free to add in other flavorful items such as:

• Poppy Seeds
• Flax seeds
• Herbs such as rosemary and sage
• Ham and cheese bits
• Cranberries and Walnuts

I hope this gives you a wonderful bread you can use for multiple things!

Let me know if you have questions and how it works for you.

From the Hilltop,

Krista