Soaked whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread

So, you know how much I love my sourdough sandwich bread, but it doesn't allow for soaking the flour to properly break down the phytates, and I've always had to add plain bread flour to make it soft enough to make a good sandwich. So, I decided to do some tweaking to see if I could make it qualify for my whole grain challenge.

I figured it would take some trial and error, and I didn't think I'd find anything as good as my original recipe. Well, it only took one try and I'm hooked on this new method!

I'm learning from soaking my whole grains and cooking through my Nourishing Traditions cookbook that  flour soaked 12-24 hours in kefir bakes up much lighter than unsoaked flour, so I thought I'd simply try replacing the water in the recipe with kefir, and let the flour mixed with the kefir soak overnight before I add the rest of the ingredients and bake the next day.

What's that you say? You don't have any kefir? Well, you should hop on over here and enter my kefir grain giveaway so you can make your own endless supply of this great beverage/flour soaking liquid for cheap!

So, here you have it, my new and improved sourdough sandwich bread recipe!

Here's what you need:
4 cups whole wheat flour (I prefer white wheat)
1 cup kefir or buttermilk
1 cup sourdough starter
3 Tablespoons of some type of sugar (honey, maple syrup, rapadura, plain white, doesn't matter)
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt

Here's what you do:
The night before you plan to bake bread, mix the flour and kefir in a large bowl. Stir, or don't, the flour will soak up the kefir either way. Let sit covered for 12-24 hours. (The amount of kefir is not enough to completely wet all of the flour, so it will be really crumbly.)

When you are ready to make your bread the next day, follow the instructions the same as you would for the regular sourdough sandwich bread, but instead just add 1 cup sourdough starter and no water.

*Tip: I recently discovered that the best thing to grease your pan with in order for the loaf to not stick is butter. I know, I'm always talking about butter, but it really does work better than anything else for this!

When you're done, be sure to have a slice right out of the oven with some honey and butter on top! Yum!




This post was shared at Simple Lives Thursday, homestead barn hop,

Homemade hamburger buns with your sourdough starter

I'm still exploring what all I can do with my sourdough starter, and here's a quick, easy recipe you can do with the sourdough sandwich bread recipe I shared recently.

• Make a batch of sourdough sandwich bread dough.
• Instead of putting the dough into a breadpan, divide into eight equal sized balls and flatten slightly.
• Take a knife and slice an "X" on each bun.
• Allow to rise in the oven (turned OFF) until doubled in size (about 35-40 minutes)
• it helps to have the dough close together so the buns will bump into each other and rise up instead of flatten out.

Turn the oven onto 375 and bake for 25-30 minutes, until baked through

These hamburger buns are delicious, and they freeze really well so you can make them any day you have some free time. Just thaw them in the fridge the day before you plan to use them (or stick them in the oven to thaw right away if you forget!)

Super easy, cheap, and way healthier than the buns at the store. Have you ever tried to buy hamburger buns without high fructose corn syrup? I couldn't find any at Winn-Dixie the last time I looked.

Enjoy your healthy buns! :)

Have you tried making a sourdough starter yet?

Bread baking tips and tricks

On Wednesday, I shared my all-time favorite bread recipe. Today, I'm going to help you troubleshoot with some tips I've learned along the way.

Buy a bread machine.
My bread machine was a gift, but I would readily invest in one. I see at least on every time I shop at Goodwill or the Salvation army, so you could find one for cheap. I rarely ever use it for baking, but it is so easy to just add my ingredients and let the machine take care of all of the kneading work. It can be used to make anything from rolls for dinner to cinnamon raisin bread for breakfast. We've saved some serious money with our bread machine, and my dough comes out consistently better when I use it.

Find a friend.
If you know an older lady who has mastered the art of breadmaking, ask her for some lessons. I did, and it was a great time learning and chatting over rising dough.

Keep trying.
It took me a quite some time to get a decent loaf of bread, but I absolutely love baking now, and I've acquired a skill I'll use for years and hopefully pass down to my kids.

Dough tips:

• If the dough doesn't begin forming a ball within 3-5 minutes, add more flour one rounded Tablespoon at a time
• If the dough forms a dry ball, or several clumps instead of one smooth ball, add water one tablespoon at a time. You want the dough to feel sticky when you tap it, but not stick to you.
• Oil your hands to help prevent sticking while you transfer it
• Bread flour is best, it has more gluten, which helps the dough rise without falling down.
• If you accidentally let your bread rise too long and it does fall, just flatten it out and make a pizza. Pretend you meant it that way.
• Don't use baking flour, I did that once and made flatbread. Baking flour has very little gluten, which makes it great for baked good like cakes and cookies, but no good for bread baking. If you do make such a mistake (like I did), just call it flatbread and pretend you meant to do that...

Starter tips:

• Feed your starter at least once a week. It can go longer, but will get angry at you. (Angry sourdough starter makes a more sour tasting bread)
• You know your starter is dead if it turns orange or gets fuzzy. I've never seen this happen, though. Sourdough is hard to kill
• If grey water shows up on top, that's called "hooch" (hehe), and you can just stir it back in or pour it off. It's really up to you.
• You can feed your starter any type of flour, even gluten free ones. Just don't give it self-rising flour, the baking soda will mess with the acidity.
• It's best to keep your starter in a glass bowl or jar. Your starter can react with metal and leach chemicals out of plastic. I still use plastic sometimes, though.
• Stir your starter with a wooden or plastic utensil. Again, metal will react.

A final word:

My bread recipe does have some regular old refined flour in it, but it's half whole wheat, and bread flour helps the bread to rise higher and gives me a lighter loaf.

Also, a true sourdough bread would not have any added commercial yeast, but it would taste more sour. You can alter the recipe by replacing the water with additional starter and not adding the yeast. The rise time will be much longer. This "true" sourdough bread goes great with soup or as a side at dinner.

You can make a lot of things with your sourdough starter besides bread. I'm testing out some recipes now. There's even a recipe for sourdough chocolate cake out there that I'm curious about. I'll let you know if I try that one.

Do you have any bread baking tips to share? Have you tried baking sourdough bread yet? How's your "pet" starter doing?

*If you're interested in getting a well established starter and you live in the South Louisiana area, let me know and I'll be glad to share!

Join us Monday, when I'll be gearing up for my cloth diaper party with some info on why you should consider cloth diapering!

Finally Sourdough!

I've been talking since week 1 about a series on sourdough, and here it's finally beginning. The more I think about it, the more I realize that learning sourdough is no simple thing. Therefore, we'll just start at the beginning and hope this series doesn't grow into a big old dough monster. Be comforted that keeping and using your sourdough starter is indeed simple, and I also think it is fun.

Why bother baking my own bread?
I think it is a great idea to bake your own bread. It is economical and you know exactly what you're putting on your family's plates when you serve them your homemade bread. It is very difficult to find bread at the store that doesn't include a laundry list of preservatives and enhancers. Also, I have yet to find a bread at the store that can compare to the taste of my homemade sourdough bread. Of course, that last one is just my opinion. :)

What is sourdough starter?
Sourdough starter is simply flour, water and bacteria. What is that you say? Gross? Bacteria? Actually, many bacteria are beneficial to our bodies and our immune systems. You might say I'm pro-germ, but that would be another post for another day. The bacteria is the yeast that will make your sourdough bread rise. It also helps breakdown phytates, freeing up more of the nutrients in your whole grain flour. Sourdough yeast helps begin the digestive process, making sourdough bread more easily digestible than other breads. It also lowers the insulin response, making it less likely to spike your blood sugar.

Ok, you've convinced me. How do I make sourdough starter?
Ha! I knew you'd see the light! The best way to get sourdough starter is from a friend who already has some. The starter culture will be well established and you'll have someone nearby to answer any questions you have on your journey. If you live in south Louisiana, I'll be glad to sell you some for just a little! You can also order a sourdough starter online.

I've never tried making my own starter, I got mine from my Mom. I have researched it, though, and it doesn't seem too hard. I've found 2 methods:

Method 1:
You need:
2 cups flour (all purpose, bread, or whole wheat)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 packet or 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
2 cups warm water

Mix all the ingredients in a glass jar or bowl. Cover loosely. Let sit on your countertop, stirring once a day, until it starts to get bubbly and smell yeasty.

Method 2:
This method is a little more in depth, but doesn't seem difficult. It involves actually "catching" yeast that are already floating around in the air. That's fascinating to me. We have little yeasties floating all around us, apparently. I think that this method would make a good homeschool project.

Since I haven't tried this, I'll refer you to this page, where Laura at Heavenly Homemakers chronicles her starter making journey in-depth. (In order to get to days 2-8, you'll have to type "sourdough starter" in the search box and click on the day you want in.)

Now that you know how to start your starter, you'll need to know how to feed it to keep it alive, so tune in Wednesday for that info, as well as a recipe for some yummy sourdough sandwich bread. I actually have some in the oven calling me right now!

Have you ever tried sourdough bread? Have you ever tried making bread? Do have any experience with sourdough starter? Do share!