Sprouted and Fermented Sandwich Bread Recipe

Such a long title but well earned for such a delicious staple in your kitchen.

A year or two ago I was chatting with the owner of our local flour mill and she was telling me that they sell wheat sprouts for baking.  I really wanted to try them but I never got around to going there to get them.

A couple of weeks ago I had an extra tray in my sprouter so I put some white wheat in it.  A couple of days later I had some really cute shoots and I decided to try some sprouted wheat bread.

My go-to bread recipe is adapted from a very old pioneer recipe that was in our church recipe book.  My

White Wheat Sprouts

young friend Ryan Smith actually went to Neta Allen's house and watched, measured and recorded the pinches, handfuls and dollops of ingredients.  Thank you, Ryan and Neta.  Neta has since passed on and I feel her spirit with me often as I make her recipe which was actually used in the advertising the Young Women in our ward who sponsored the book as a fundraiser for camp.  "Order our book!  It contains Neta Allen's bread recipe!"  Oh, yes. I snapped that thing right up.  It is full of great, yummy goodies from people I know and love.

I also love freshly ground wheat and then I use a little unbleached, un-bromated white flour that I buy from our local grain mill.  I know it's fresh and it helps the texture.  I made a batch last week and have another batch of Sprouted and Fermented Sandwich Bread in the bowl on my counter getting happy for a day.  This also makes the most amazing toast!

I'm not one who likes to scroll through lots of fluff and talk so I'll get right down to the recipe.

Sprouted Sandwich Bread

makes 4 loaves

5 C Scalded milk (cooled) or water with 1/3 C powdered milk
4 C wheat sprouts
1 C Organic Sugar. (white sugar won't feed natural yeast growth)
1 1/2 Tbs Salt
1/2 C oil
1/2 C natural yeast start

Blend milk/water and milk powder, and sprouts in blender.  I use a Vitamix and it is pretty much liquified
Pour liquid into large mixing bowl (I use my Tupperware fix and mix with the lid but you can also use your Kitchen Aid or other bread mixer.)

Natural Yeast Start

Add 1/2 c. natural yeast start, (be sure to feed your start and return to fridge.) sugar, salt, oil and 3-4 c. flour of your choice.  Mix well.  (I use a whisk for this part then use a wooden spoon until the dough is ready to be kneaded by hand.)  Keep adding flour and kneading until your dough is smooth and elastic.  Make sure all the flour is incorporated and the dough is still slightly sticky.
Put on a lid or wet dish towel and let set for at least 8 hours. If it raises out of the bowl, punch it down and continue setting. (I typically make it one day and bake the next..  This dough also stores wonderfully in the fridge so you can make scones or bake at different times.)

The dough should at least double and then it is ready to shape into loafs and let rise in pans. If your room is cool, let it set a while longer to fully feed.  Natural Yeast will actually pre-digest the things in the wheat that makes it easier to digest and uptake the vitamins and minerals.

I grease two bread pans for every loaf and put the second pan upside down over the bread.  This gives it protection from drying out and lets it rise.  Natural yeast bread tends to rise more slowly than yeast bread but my sprouted bread was a little quicker.  Just watch it.

When your bread is ready to bake, preheat your oven to 365', turn it down to 350' as you put in your bread and set your time for 25 minutes.  Oven temperatures and times may vary. 

When done your loaves should be golden brown on top and sound somewhat hollow when you tap the bottom.  Internal temperature should be between 195' and 200'.It's better to over-bake a little than to under-bake it.

Natural Yeast bread tastes fresher longer and does not mold as quickly as traditional yeast baked breads.  Please let me know how it goes for you.