Sprouted whole wheat bread

When I originally came up with the name for this blog I had planned to share recipes for recovering picky eaters like myself. When I finally decided to take the plunge and register a domain, I was at a turning point in my life. It was a time when I decided, we decided, to live a little more simply. To grow our own food. To raise our own animals for meat. To eat whole, nutritious foods. As we got further and further into this lifestyle, this blog became about more than sharing some recipes but about inspiring a way of life. My mission became to inspire people to become involved with the food that they eat. To form a connection with it. The original idea for this blog got a little lost along the way, but I’ve decided to bring it back and make it a recurring theme here on my Internet space. I give you “picky palate pleaser” recipes which will appear once a week on my blog and share the ways I have adapted recipes to suit my picky palate.

This week, I am starting with adding extra nutrition to foods by using sprouted grain flour. This sneaky ingredient adds a nutritional punch to favourites like breads and sweets and is easier for your body to digest than traditional flours. If only my mom had this trick hiding up her sleeve, I would have been eating “veggie” bread without even knowing it. A little later in this post I will share an easy recipe for sprouted whole wheat bread.

What is sprouted grain flour?

This is the question I found myself asking as I stared down at bins labelled organic sprouted flours — barley, wheat, spelt, kamut — at the bulk store. What is sprouted flour and how can I use it? Out comes the smartphone and after a quick search on Pinterest I grab the scoop and shovel some of this mysterious new flour into a bag with an idea for a recipe and a blog post.

By sprouting a grain — wheat, barley, oats etc. — it’s composition is changed so much that it more resembles a vegetable than a grain when the process is finished. While whole grains offer the body a host of nutritional benefits, they can be hard to digest. Sprouted grains however are more like veggies which are easiest for our bodies to break down. The sprouting process, which can be done at home, converts the natural starches found in the grain into vegetable sugars. That same process also removes the bitter taste grains can have, making it sweeter to use in baking. And, because the grains are dried at a very low temperature, none of the health benefits are cooked out during the processing stage which is great for use in raw recipes.

Bread has never been a problem for me. I love it. Always have. Always will. But I know wheat flours, even organic, are not so good for me. The problem, as I mentioned, I love bread… and chocolate chip cookies and cake and all those other wonderful treats made with flour. The idea of sprouted grain flour is super appealing as it can easily replace traditional flours.

How to use sprouted grain flours

Sprouted grain flours can be substituted 1:1 for traditional flours in most baking recipes. If using a gluten-free sprouted grain such as spelt, barley or kamut it is recommended to use more than one variety in your recipe.

I tried several recipes in preparing for this post, some of which were complete flops. My sprouted chocolate chip cookies were the first batch not to disappear overnight. My sprouted chocolate banana bread was heavy, dry and lacking in flavour. I was ready to give up on baking with sprouted grain when I found a simple bread recipe. Life changing.

One of the techniques I am trying to perfect is that of bread making. I’ve had a few successful loaves but most are dense and heavy (with the exception of my sourdough bread which was Ah-mazing). This sprouted whole wheat flour bread is wonderful just sliced and buttered. Toasted it reminds me of a childhood favourite — Malt Bread.

Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread

• 1 C warm water
• 1/4 C raw honey
• 1/2 Tbsp yeast
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 3/4 sprouted whole wheat flour

Combine water, honey and yeast in the bowl of your mixer. Once combined let sit for a couple minutes to activate the yeast.

Add olive oil, salt then two cups of the flour. Turn your mixer on low using the dough hook. Add more flour as needed until dough is no longer sticky, I used an additional 3/4 C. Knead dough for 8-10 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise one hour.

Punch dough down, shape into a loaf and place in greased loaf pan. Let rise additional hour.

Heat oven to 350 and bake loaf 30 minutes.

Let cool on a baking rack. Bread will last a few days stored in a bag on the counter and even longer in the fridge.

12 sprouted grain flour recipes to try

1. Sprouted Blue Corn, Buckwheat and Blueberry Muffins from The Nourished Kitchen
2. Sprouted Pumpkin and Cranberry Bread from Mix
3. Sprouted Buckwheat and Banana Waffles from Rude Health
4. Raw Ginger Brownie Pops from Fragrant Vanilla Cake
5. Raw Chocolate Chunk Cookies from La Tortoise
6. Easy Sprouted Whole Grain and Honey Bread Machine Recipe from Kristen Hay Photography
7. Sprouted Flour Tortillas from Cheese Slave
8. Sprouted Flour Brownies from Homemade Mommy
9. Sprouted Flour Pizza Crust from The Healthy Economist
10. Sprouted Flour Cheddar Crackers from Mommypotamus
11. Sprouted Quick Rolls from Weed Em and Reap
12. Sprouted Flour Bread Machine Sandwich Loaf from Essential Eating

Bonus: Tutorials to make your own sprouted flour

I was super stoked to stumble upon a few tutorials on how to make your own sprouted grain flours. Since I was already planning to start sprouting some barley for the farm animals, what’s a little more that we can turn into homemade sprouted flour. I cannot wait to try this out!

How We Make Our Sprouted Flour from Girl Meets Nourishment

How to Sprout Whole Grains and Make Sprouted Flour from Kitchen Stewardship

How to Make Sprouted Wheat/Spelt/Anything Flour from Penniless Parenting

Be sure to add your own sprouted grain flour recipe to the link up below.

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