Ancient Grain Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe

This ancient grain bread recipe is easy to digest and packed with whole grain nutrients, because it is made with einkorn wheat berries. Not only are these ancient grains superior to modern wheat in health benefits, they also give sourdough a delightful nutty flavor. If you are new to einkorn bread, this is a great place to start!

WHAT IS EINKORN WHEAT?

Einkorn is an original, or “wild wheat” that our ancestors ate thousands of years ago. It differs from modern wheat because it is not hybridized- it is still in its ancient form. With different genetics from modern wheat, einkorn has a different form of gluten, more protein, and is higher in other nutrients. Because of this, many people who suffer from gluten or wheat intolerance have no problem eating einkorn wheat!

I didn’t eat bread for years because it made me feel bloated and I didn’t digest it well. Gluten-free baking was usually a tragic disappointment for me, so I didn’t like to attempt it very often. I missed bread so much!

Next I tried sourdough with modern wheat. While my negative symptoms weren’t as bad, they were still there.

One day, I learned about ancient einkorn and was so excited to give it a try! I immediately bought the only book I could find about it: Einkorn – Recipes for Nature’s Original Wheat by Carla Bartolucci and started baking.

After learning to bake sourdough bread with it, I am now able to enjoy breads and other sourdough baked goods with no negative symptoms!

EINKORN HEALTH BENEFITS

• Einkorn has higher amounts of nutrients such as magnesium, iron, vitamin B6, niacin, manganese and riboflavin than modern types of wheat.
• Einkorn is very high in protein for a grain, almost twice as much as modern soft wheat.

Although all grains can irritate our gut when eaten in excess or incorrectly, the benefits may outweigh the risks when it comes to eating some grain. If we stick to ancient grains , eat them in moderation, and prepare them in traditional ways, we can reap the nutrients (and the enjoyment) that grains have to offer! With that being said, some people are more sensitive to grains than others. For many people grains are best omitted from the diet entirely. I encourage you to find what foods make you feel the best!

WORKING WITH EINKORN

If you have the right expectations in mind, these little aspects of baking with einkorn won’t catch you off guard and lead to discouragement:

• Einkorn flour creates a different loaf of bread than modern flour: it will not rise as much and give you as large air bubbles because the gluten is different. But believe me, the complex flavor and texture is still delicious!

• Einkorn flour creates a very sticky dough. It’s a little more difficult to clean up and can be tough to get off of your hands. Don’t let this discourage you from baking with this wonderful grain! The trick is to keep the hand you are working the dough with wet. This will keep the dough from sticking to your hand as much.

• We use freshly ground whole grain flour. Using the whole grains fresh creates a much better flavor, and the nutrients will be higher. Once grains are ground into flour the nutritional value decreases rapidly on the shelf, and quite frankly becomes rancid.

• You will need to use 100% einkorn sourdough starter to bake 100% einkorn bread. You can turn any starter into einkorn by slowly transitioning with each refresh (starting with replacing a couple of tablespoons and then increasing the amount each time)

I’m sure once you get used to it like me, you won’t even notice these differences!

How to Make Einkorn Sourdough Bread

I begin by grinding whole einkorn berries. Grinding your own flour fresh will enhance the flavor and nutritional content of the bread. Once a grain is ground into flour, it degrades in nutrients and becomes rancid over time.

I love my Nutrimill – an affordable, attractive mill. If you aren’t ready to invest in an electric grain mill, you could try a small cheap hand mill at first, or you could buy whole wheat einkorn flour.

Once you have your flour, you are ready to bake!

Start with using refreshed 100% einkorn sourdough starter. If you are new to einkorn you will need to either make a sourdough starter from scratch or convert some of your sourdough starter to an einkorn starter by slowly transitioning with each refresh.

Add refreshed einkorn start to a large nonmetallic bowl. Place bowl with starter on scale and tare to 0.

Add filtered lukewarm water to bowl, and stir to combine with starter. Tare scale to 0.

Add dry ingredients (flour and salt) and combine with wet ingredients until a thick clumpy dough forms. Cover bowl with a plate and let rest for 30 minutes.

Wet hands, then stretch and fold dough by pulling each edge toward the center, about 10- 15 times, or until a ball forms. Cover bowl with plate and let dough rest 30 minutes.

Repeat stretch and fold two more times at 30 minute intervals, covering bowl with plate while resting.

At the third stretch and fold, form into a ball and let dough rest, bowl covered with plate, at room temperature for about 5 hours.

After 5 hours, wet hands and form the risen dough into a ball. Use flour if needed to help form into a tight ball. Place dough ball seam down onto a piece of parchment paper, and cover with a large bowl. Let rest for 1 hour. (Alternatively, for a slightly more risen, more fermented, and prettier loaf: place dough ball seam side up into to a well floured large bowl or proofing basket. Cover and let rest for a few hours or overnight in the fridge. This will create a slower final rise that will be more stable, and your scoring pattern will be more precise. This means the end result will be a prettier looking loaf. With this method, parchment paper is not necessary. The dough will have a little flour on it and it will be cold, so it will keep its form and can be placed directly into the dutch oven).

Place a cast iron dutch oven into unheated oven, and preheat oven to 450°.

Once preheated, score the top of the dough with a square, X, or other design. Carefully tranfer the dough by picking it up with parchment paper and putting directly into dutch oven (or place cold, floured dough directly into dutch oven and score). Cover with dutch oven lid and place on center rack of oven.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Remove from oven. Take bread out of dutch oven, either by picking up with the parchment paper or by turning the dutch oven over, and let bread cool at least 20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

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