Einkorn Sourdough Bread

Directions

The Day before baking

1. Remove your sourdough starter from the fridge. Feed it by stirring in as much einkorn flour (room temperature) as you have starter, Plus slightly less non-chlorinated water (so if you have 1/2 cup starter, use 1/2 cup flour, and around 1/3 cup water -- it's not exact science, so don't stress it!)
2. Let the starter set at room temperature. It should bubble and swell over the next few hours. Feed two times more throughout the day until you have a nice bubbly starter and enough to use for a batch of bread (the next time you feed it, for example, you may use a good cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water). You may feed the starter for the last time early in the morning of the day you want to make bread, but you will need to wait until the starter bubbles and swells before you can use it. So if you need to mix the dough first thing in the morning, feed it for the last time just before you go to bed the night before. Wonder if your starter is bubbly enough to raise bread? Just pop a spoonful of the starter into a glass of water--if it floats, it's active and ready to use; if it sinks, give it some more time and possibly another feeding to make it more alive and stronger. 
3. Try to use non-metal bowls and spoons when working with sourdough, especially when working directly with the starter. I often do use a metal spoon to stir the final bread dough, or the metal dough hook on my mixer. 
4. Remember to get your flour out of the freezer so it's room temperature for baking the next day!
   

Ingredients

• 3 cups active sourdough starter
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups very warm water
• 3-6 Tablespoons honey
• 3 3/4 teaspoons sea salt or Himalayan Sea Salt

Add in: 13 1/2 cups Einkorn flour

Fold in: 6 Tablespoons pastured pork lard or butter

Instructions

1. Add flour one cup at a time to the mixture of starter, milk, water, salt, and honey. Stir until combined, but do not knead! (Einkorn absorbs more than regular flour and if you knead it, the dough will absorb too much flour, making your loaves dry and more crumbly.) You may need more or less flour depending on how wet your sourdough starter is. The final consistency should be sticky, but able to be handled carefully. Pour butter or lard over the dough and stir briefly. It doesn't need to be combined perfectly! Mine often just coats the dough. 
2. Put your dough in a covered bowl to rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle flour on the counter. Pat dough into a large rectangle (dough should be sticky and will not be elastic like regular flour). Sprinkle with a couple tablespoons of flour. Fold dough in thirds, then in half again. Return to bowl. Cover and let rest at least 3-5 hours (Longer is fine, especially if your house is cold or your dough is slow to rise. Be patient! Most times sourdough will work for you if you give it enough time!)
3. Punch down dough and divide into three pieces. Grease bread pans generously with coconut oil. Shape loaves, place in bread pans and cover them with a cloth. Let rise approximately 2 hours. A warm room will make the process faster, but a cool one may take even longer. 
4. Preheat oven 425 degrees. Place bread in oven. Lower temperature to 375 degrees and bake 35-40 minutes. 
5. Remove from the oven and from bread pans. Cool on a wire rack. Slice and store in the freezer very soon (otherwise it becomes more crumbly). 
6. TIP: My favorite way to do this is to bake my bread in the evening after it has spent the day in the two risings. Slip the slightly warm bread into bread bags and tie shut. In the morning the crust will be softened, moist, and easier to slice. Also a plus if you are serving children (or adults!) that don't appreciate a hard crust. Store in the freezer and remove just as  you need for toast and sandwiches. 
7. Don't forget to feed your sourdough with Einkorn flour again before you store your flour in the freezer!

This bread requires gentler handling than typical gluten bread, but the flavor is so worth it. Get ready for some delicious toasted cheese sandwiches and also morning toast slathered with raw butter!

I am so thankful to have this 100% Einkorn bread to feed my gluten-sensitive family--and even my husband, who is not gluten-sensitive, chooses this bread far above any other homemade bread.

Enjoy the packed nutrition, and who knows? Just maybe, a taste of real bread after many lack-luster gluten-free substitutes!

~Gwendolyn