As I was healing my body from hypoglycemia, I avoided any unsprouted grains. However, buying sprouted bread at the store was no cheap endeavor. So, I began searching for recipes to make my own sprouted bread at home. It was a bit of a more lengthy process than just making bread from flour, but it was so worth the health benefits. Plus, after learning about all the issues with gluten, I didn’t want any extra in my sprouted bread! So we lived on sprouted bread for quite some time while with God’s help, I healed my pancreas through a real foods diet.

After healing that area, I was introduced to the amazing, health-filled world of sourdough. I could not go back to yeasted breads now. Too many wonderful, sustainable results happen with a living, active culture. I have been loving my sourdough bread, which is a daily staple around our home. But every once in a while, it’s nice to have some variety. I had a hankering for some sprouted bread again recently (well actually, my youngest daughter put the thought in my head when she asked why we never had any sprouted, not sour bread any more?), but instead of using yeast, I thought I would try the sourdough starter as my “yeast”. As you can see in the above photo, it did rise some, but not quite as high as it would if there were some gluten in there. Since that is not going to happen, I am content with a slightly denser loaf, packed with uncompromising nutritional value. I expected it to bear a hint of tangy flavor, but to my surprise, there was none. With that in mind, I might add more starter next time and see if it helps improve the rise a little, without adding much tang.  I will update if this is the case. Without further delay…

Sprouted Sourdough Bread

makes 2 loaves

Note: You will need to sprout half of a gallon sized bucket of spelt berries – half of them you will use wet, the other half will need to be dried and milled.  For my process of sprouting, see end of recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups sprouted, wet berries (I used spelt)
• 2 cups hot water, filtered
• 4 tsp Real Salt, or other non-refined salt
• 3 cups sprouted spelt flour
• 1/2 cup active sourdough starter

Method:

1. Place wet berries and water in food processor or Blendtec type blender. Pulverize until in a smooth, dough-like consistency (or your blender starts dancing around the counter).
2. Pour above dough into a mixer along with the rest of the ingredients. Mix on medium until dough is formed and is elastic. If too sticky, add more flour, if too dry, add more starter or water.
3. Divide into 2 equal balls, round out to loaves and place in well-greased and floured bread pans (I use palm shortening to grease and brown rice flour to dust).
4. Allow to rise on the counter until almost to the top of the pan (remember it does not rise much) -about 4-5 hours.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for between 40-50 minutes.
6. Allow to cool completely before slicing, if you can stand it. It locks in the flavor nicely.

Though I have not seen any studies on the gluten level of sprouted grains, I sense that it is low to non-existent. If there were more gluten, the dough would rise, for one. But for another, I would react to it. Since neither is happening around here, I am pretty happy with my sprouted grains as a nourishing option.

*Side note on sprouting/My Method:

1. Two nights in advance, I soak the spelt berries in a plastic gallon bucket.
2. Next morning, I drain off the water (could be recycled into rejuvalac or for chickens). I place the berries in 2 strainers, rinse a bit, and cover with towel (to keep pests away, or nosy kids).
3. That evening, I usually see some tails, so I place half of the berries in baking sheets and put in the oven on the lowest temp (170) for the night (12-18 hours). The other half goes into a bag and into the fridge.
4. The next morning, if the berries are completely dry, I mill them. I now have flour, and wet berries ready to go for the bread. Extra berries can be used to make sprouted pancakes or muffins (with sourdough starter, no less- stay tuned for the recipes!

Find more Real Food recipes at Kelly The Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays.