What is einkorn?
To make a beginner einkorn bread it helps to know all about einkorn. Einkorn is an ancient heirloom wheat plant. It is where all modern wheat comes from. Also known as nature’s ‘original wheat’. Therefore, it has never been hybridized, and it remains as it once was over 10,000 years ago when humans first discovered and cultivated it. Einkorn is also the most basic form of wheat on the planet, it has only 14 chromosomes, whereas modern wheat has 42. So it it understood now that this is why humans are able to digest einkorn better than modern hybridized wheat. This may explain why we have begun to see such a rise in gluten intolerances. And many people today are able to consume einkorn products, but not the modern wheat alternative.
Should you switch to einkorn flour?
If you are looking for a wheat flour that boasts a high nutrient density, tastes incredible and doesn’t come with a host of digestive issues, then einkorn flour is right for you! In regards to nutrient density, einkorn wheat contains 30% more protein per serving than modern wheat. In addition, it also contains many more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. So our ancestors who ate einkorn wheat from the end of the ice age, through Biblical times and up until the 1960s were in fact consuming a product that was much healthier than we are today.
Einkorn flour most importantly tastes incredible and is much easier to work with than the other ‘wheat alternatives’ that have begun sprouting up due to gluten sensitivities. Today when we walk down the baking aisle in our grocery store we are bombarded with ‘healthy’ flours such as almond, rice, chickpea, etc. that are intended to be the solution to our modern digestive issues. But unless you have true celiac disease, this need not be the answer! You can eat wheat. It is not the enemy. Our modern farming and processing are to blame. Not the wheat plant itself.
It is important to learn from the past and continue to make forward progress, but it is also important to stick with what works! Einkorn wheat has worked for humans for thousands of years. And I promise you it will taste 10 times better than any gluten free alternative. It has a nutty and buttery taste that doesn’t even compare to any other flour I have tried, including modern wheat.
How do you get started baking with einkorn?
Einkorn flour works very similar to modern wheat flour, but with a few learning curves. So einkorn flour can be quite sticky when compared to modern wheat so it helps to keep your hands wet when working with the dough. You actually want the dough to be nice and sticky, and if you end up with a smooth dough it will bake dry. So resist the urge to add more flour to your sticky dough. In addition, in many recipes you will need to reduce the liquid by 20% because einkorn absorbs liquid slower than modern wheat. But if you follow my recipes you won’t need to worry about that because I’ve already tested recipes to find the correct ratio of water to flour.
Next, einkorn breads do not require kneading. This is because of einkorn’s weak gluten structure. So this also means that you do not need to let the dough rise until doubled in size when using active yeast, if you let the dough proof for too long it will actually collapse in the oven. Therefore, only let the dough rise until it springs back when you press it. Lastly, it helps to add an extra egg or egg white to any cake recipe, this is because einkorn flour is a bit more dense than regular flour, so this helps greatly when baking cakes.
Other than those tips above, simply follow along with my recipes to create beautifully baked einkorn products. I promise its not as difficult as it sounds. In fact, many regular muffin, pancake, waffle, cakes and cookie recipes can simply be substituted one for one with einkorn flour. The best thing you can do is get in the kitchen and try it out. Especially this super easy beginner einkorn bread.
Tools for baking with einkorn
You do not need these tools but it helps greatly! Click each item below to find the product for sale online. Or click here to find the exact einkorn baking bundle I use in my kitchen! BAKING BUNDLE. It is very inexpensive and make a world of difference.
In addition, it helps to know where to find einkorn flour. I purchase my einkorn flour from Jovial Foods. This is an incredible company that uses only organic products. I’ve been buying from them for years and I love the quality. Click here to find all purpose einkorn flour. Or click here to find the whole wheat form.
How to Make a Beginner Einkorn Bread
If you are looking for a wheat flour that boasts a high nutrient density, tastes incredible and doesn’t come with a host of digestive issues, then einkorn flour is right for you! This beginner bread is very easy and only requires 4 simple ingredients. Left to rise overnight, you can prep it the night before and bake it in the morning.
Prep Time
10-15 min. Rise overnight.
Cook Time
45 min.
Yield
1 loaf
Meal
Any
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water, ~100 F
- 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 6 cups all purpose einkorn flour (or 7 and 1/2 cups wheat berries ground into flour)
- 1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt
Directions
- In a large bowl, whisk the water and yeast until dissolved and creamy. Let sit for 2 minutes.
- Add the flour and salt and stir until a sticky dough forms.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit overnight on the counter (10-12 hours). The dough will roughly double in size.
- Heavily flour a work surface and use a dough scraper to turn the dough out onto the surface. Working from the outside in, gently stretch and fold the dough into the middle, working around in a circle. The flour the top of the dough and flip it over using your dough scraper to help. This stretch and fold will help seal the dough. Now cup the dough in both your hands and gently squeeze, rotate the dough in a circular motion. Rotate several times to help seal the dough.
- Heavily flour a banneton basket, or line a colander with a linen couche and heavily flour it. Place the loaf seam side up into the basket. Cover the basket with a linen couche and let rise for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, place a dutch oven in the oven, cover on, for 30 minutes at 500 F.
- Remove the dutch oven and place the loaf seam side down into the dutch oven. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 450 F. Remove the cover and bake an additional 5 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out my einkorn baking tools above to see the exact products I use in my kitchen!
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