No Time For Sourdough Bread

Have you been thinking about baking einkorn sour dough bread but feel daunted about how much time it will take? There really are ways to make sour dough bread, even if you are very busy or not home during the day. I love to make these rolls for my children, for their school lunch, and even though I work during the day I have found a way to bake that suits my busy schedule. Before we show you how we do it, you will need to have your own starter. Here is a post on how to create a starter from einkorn flour and water, which was recently updated. You can also purchase starters made with other wheats online and then refresh them with einkorn. If you are making yours from scratch, it takes a lot of patience to mature the starter for good bread, so don’t give up if the first loaves do not rise that much.

Most of my sour dough recipes start with a pre-ferment or poolish, enabling me to use only a small piece of my starter. When I wake up in the morning, I mix the ingredients and let them sit out in a dark place until late that evening. This is what the pre-ferment will look like when it is ready. The great news about this is if you change your mind and don’t feel like making bread that night, you can just put it in the refrigerator and use it when you want to. I have made great bread from a pre-ferment that was in the refrigerator for a week.

INGREDIENTS

• 25 g of sour dough starter
• 115g of einkorn flour
• 115g of warm water

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix the sour dough with the warm water, pressing with a fork until it dissolves. Add flour and mix until well-incorporated. Seal and store in a dark place for 12 hours.

In the winter when my kitchen is cool, I mix the dough right before I go to bed and let it rise at room temperature. In the warmer months, the dough will rise faster, so I mix the dough around 8 pm and let it rise at room temperature for an hour or two and then leave it in the refrigerator during the night. This is what the proofed dough will look like in the morning. For these rolls, I use a little bit of olive oil and brown sugar so they are soft.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/3 cups (400g) jovial einkorn flour
• 1 cup (200g) whole grain flour ground from wheat berries
• 2 tbsp. (30g) extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. (25g) brown sugar
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp. (250g) of warm water
• 1 tsp. (6g) sea salt
• pre-ferment

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix flour, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
• Pour oil and warm water in pre-ferment, mix gently and then add to flour mixture.
• Combine all ingredients with your hands in the bowl until they are incorporated well. The dough will be rather wet and sticky, but wetter einkorn dough will give you softer rolls. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let rise at room temperature for 8 hours in a dark place.
• In the morning, dust a work surface with some flour. Turn out the dough and knead gently until you form a ball of dough.
• Divide the dough into 10 pieces and using a little flour, roll them into round rolls, pressing down to remove air bubbles.
• Now you can form your rolls- kaiser, round, or braided- it’s up to you.

• Place them on a lightly oiled baking sheet, cover with a clean dish towel and let them stand for 30-60 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 425°F.
• Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.