This is a partnership post with Jovial Foods. A company, built on integrity, that I proudly indorse.
Since starting on my own real food journey, bread has always been an area in which I’ve struggled. In the beginning of my journey, I was honestly overwhelmed by all of the negative information surrounding a food which, since the days of old, has always been considered a source of sustenance. Most of the information I was learning about had to do with the phytic acid within the bran of the wheat berry.
I wrote about this information in a recent post I wrote called, The Tangled Web of Bread.
Over the years I’ve soaked my grains, sprouted them, made sourdough and fermented them, purchased a grain mill and freshly milled them all for the sake of making nutrient dense baked goods for my family. I’ve been cautious as I’ve experimented with different methods of baking bread making sure to filter out dogma from truth. Yet, one thing that I’ve seen grow tremendously over the past five years is the amount of people switching to a gluten-free diet in the name of gluten intolerance, not celiacs disease.
In my research I’ve often wondered, “is this a fad or is there something behind this growing phenomenon.” I’ve learned that it’s a bit of both. Many people have jumped on the bandwagon of eating grain free diets; however, there are many families that truly have gluten intolerances.
For me, it clicked once I learned about ancient grains and how they differ from modern, hybrid grains. (If you’re unfamiliar with this topic, please read my recent post called, The Tangled Web of Bread. ) I learned that modern grains have 3 times more gluten than ancient varieties of grain. When I learned that, I knew right away that our modern agricultural methods for developing wheat that yields more grains and produces lighter, fluffier, loaves of bread has a lot to do with why we are seeing so many gluten intolerant people today. Also, the mineral content for modern wheat is about 30% – 40% less than those of ancient grains. Additionally, the increase in gluten means that the composition of wheat flour today compared to wheat flour a few hundred years ago is very different.
Modern grains that are milled and sold at every store around the world are a development of agriculture. They are not traditional and certainly not the type of bread that Jesus broke with others. After years and years of trying to figure out what kind of bread to make that would truly nourish my family, I was delighted to finally make a full switch to using ancient einkorn grains.
When I first made the switch I purchased a 50lb bag of einkorn wheat berries. I was excited to use them and started milling them at home right away, substituting the flour 1:1 in my recipes. The flour worked great for most of my unleavened recipes; however, when I tried to make pizza dough or a loaf of bread the results were horrible. The flour seemed to always stay tacky. I could never add enough flour to get it to that perfect consistency bread bakers are used to. Then, the loaves would never rise enough and the end result was a dense, dry loaf. It was a learning curve, indeed. I was so frustrated that I put my wheat berries away for a while and moved on to using Jovial’s high extraction einkorn wheat flour.
Their pre-ground flour is much easier to use. I was having great success with it and posted my results on Instagram.
On that post, someone had mentioned that there was a recipe for bread on the box of the Jovial einkorn wheat berries. I knew I had quite a few boxes so I immediately went over to review the recipe. When I read how simple this bread was to make, I honestly couldn’t believe it at first.
It was so simple, I had to make it. All you need to do is grind the entire 16oz box of Jovial’s einkorn wheat berries. In a small bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of warm water and 2 tsp of honey. Once the flour is ground, mix it together with 1 tsp salt. After the yeast has activated, add it to the flour.
Mix together until just combined, don’t overwork it. The end result should be a heavy and wet batter type of dough.
Once it’s mixed, cover it and let it rise for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, stir the batter well and then transfer it to a loaf pan, smoothing the top. I then covered it by placing another loaf pan inverted on top to ensure that nothing would stick to the batter on its second rise.
Depending on the temperature in your home, the second rise should take anywhere from 20-30 minutes. Don’t let it rise too high creating too many bubbles or your final bread will sink while baking.
It’s seriously that easy and the end result is soft and chewy with a delicate sweet and nutty flavor.
Go on… slather it with honey!
Simple, 100% Whole Wheat Einkorn Bread
To get the full recipe, please visit Jovial’s recipe page for their Easy, 100% Whole Wheat Bread.
Jovial Online Coupon Code
Also, please remember that until June 1st, you can get 10% off PLUS FREE shipping on anything you order through the Jovial online store using the coupon code, HumbleK. Click here to visit their online store today! Their 16oz box of wheat berries cost $3.99. Not bad for a loaf of nutrient dense bread!
Do you use einkorn grains for your baking? Have you had success making a loaf of bread using freshly milled wheat berries? Have you tried Jovial’s recipe? Please share with us your experiences using einkorn wheat berries in the comments below 🙂
This coupon don’t work !!!!
Bev, did you use HumbleK
I can’t wait to try this !! I love trying new grains and have not milled any yet. I want to !!
I’m assuming the yeast goes in with the water and honey? It doesn’t say.
Looks delicious. I have also started using einkorn. It is a lovely, flavorful wheat.
I love the simplicity of this. I don’t have a grinder (but keep thinking I should get one!) – I just ordered a 32oz bag of Jovial’s organic Einkhorn flour using your coupon code (thanks!) and can’t wait to try it out!
Do you have to use Einkorn? Can I make the same recipe with freshly ground hard wheat berries?
Lori, I’m not sure, but I’d definitely give it a try! Let us know how it turns out 🙂
I tried baking my own einkorn bread after my wife read “wheat Belly”. She cut out all wheat – but she was missing it, so I tried einkorn flour. I’ve seen (and tried) a few different methods, but I think that the simple method you outline above is definitely best.
Some sites seemed to recommend letting the first prove go on overnight – between 10 and 15 hours – but I didn’t find that to be an improvement on letting it prove for 30 to 45 minutes, then another 30 minutes or so in the tin, before sticking it straight in the oven.
Unlike my better half, I don’t have any problem with wheat – but I really love the flavour of the einkorn bread. I haven’t tried Jovial flour – not sure if it’s available here in the UK.
How many cups of flour does one box of berries make? I buy my wheat berries locally and would love to try this recipe. Thanks!
Did you get the answer to your question regarding how many cups of flour are required for the bread recipe? I too have a local source for the Einkorn berries but do not know how many cups.Any comments would be most welcome. Thanks
What brand loaf pan do you recommend. I’m 100% new at bread baking. :-/
I tried this last night- my mill is a bit courser than the one you are using- I want to make sure I’m willing to go through this effort before spending the money on one. I’ve made bread several times with the Einkorn flour and have enjoyed it, but would really like to mill my own.
Anyway, it really didn’t rise in the oven. Was that due to me not grinding the berries fine enough, or is there a tweak I should make to the recipe?
Thanks!
Hello! I am using a 90-year-old hand grind (“Wheat Krinkler”). I run the berries through on “coarse“, then run them through a second time on “fine“. I end up with basically cracked wheat, and do NOT grind any finer into flour. The loaf does not rise much, but the result is amazing, true Whole wheat. Finer ground flour risers better, but the larger grain provides more fiber and is healthier imho. Delicious!!
Sounds great!!
Diana,
Do you use the yeast that you buy off the shelf in local grocery store, the packets?
Stephanie, I buy the Red Star Active Dry Yeast in bulk from Costco. I believe you can get them in packets at the grocery store as well 😀
Hello Diana,
Here in UK we can’t get All purpose Einkorn unless we order it from the US at mega bucks a kilo!! So good to see your recipe but HOW MUCH dry yeast do you use please? I can’ t see the quantity anywhere. . I have Carla Bartolucci’s Einkorn book but sadly her recipes are only for Whole Grain Einkorn.. We can get the Whole Grain Einkorn here in Uk so keep the recipes coming p,ease. Many thanks and blessings.
Sorry, I meant her recipes are only All Purpose flour which is unavailable here in Great Britain, so good to find some recipes that are whole grain. I buy large packs of yeast so no idea how much to add, and I assume you leave it to soak a while first before adding to the flour?
Do you know if you can make einkorn bread with a long fermentation eg 24 hours- to make it more digestible? Using yeast rather than a sourdough starter?
Many thanks
Augustine
I haven’t experimented enough with whole wheat einkorn to give you an answer to the long fermentation. I do know; however, that since it is an ancient grain, it’s easily digested by those with gluten intolerances.
Augustine, here is the original recipe … https://jovialfoods.com/recipes/easy-100-whole-wheat-bread/. It calls for 1 1/2 tsp of dry yeast.
I recently bought some Einkorn flour (not wheat berries). I’d love to try this bread, how many cups of flour does a 1lb box yield? I would love to try this recipe! Thanks!
It doesn’t say how much yeast you used. This recipe doesn’t match up with the recipe on the Jovial website. I used the recipe on the jovial 100% organic einkorn all purpose flour yesterday and it turned out dark and hard and short/flat.
It did expand during both of the rise, 45 min first rise and 30 second rise.
I’ve had the same problem before. Turns out my water was too hot and killed the yeast.
Hi, glad I found your recipe! So you never developed the gluten to help the bread “rise”? Very interesting! I only have experience with spelt but recently bought some einkorn and want to try baking bread! Thanks!
Can you make this bread in a Bread Machine??? Or do you have a recipe for it?? Thanks
I make it in our Zojirushi breadmaker, using the ground, whole berry version of the einkorn wheat that Tropical Traditions sells (I believe they’re sold out at the moment). I used this wheat instead of the wheat flour the recipe calls for, and it sinks. We call it Smiley Bread because of this. It’s dense but moist. My kids love the taste and the appearance of sunken bread, so I haven’t gone to the bother of tweaking it to make it rise so that it looks more like a conventional loaf. In my bread machine, it turned out fairly dense but moist.
There is a bread machine recipe on the Jovial site:
http://jovialfoods.com/recipes/100-whole-grain-einkorn-bread-machine-recipe/
Here’s the recipe. One package yields about 2 1/4 c. berries.
http://jovialfoods.com/recipes/easy-100-whole-wheat-bread/
Do you mean 1 package / box of berries yields 2 1/4 cups of flour?
Hi there. Do you find it best to just freshly grind the berries as you need flour? Or could a I do a bunch at once to make flour and store it in an air-tight canister so it’s ready when I need it? I love using Einkorn, but the flour is so expensive! The berries are much more reasonable. Do I have to “dry” it or anything? And do you find the whole grain flour to work as well as the more refined einkorn flour or does it have a much grainier texture? (i.e. will it really change the texture of cookies/pastries/etc. if substituted in for typical AP flour?)
Aubrey, I grind as I use simply because once you grind the wheat berry, it starts to lose its nutrients. I find the all purpose einkorn flour MUCH easier to bake with than the 100% whole wheat, freshly ground. There’s definitely a learning curve to using einkorn.
I’ve just purchased the 100% whole wheat einkorn flour (not the regular) and it only has a recipe for banana bread on the back. I would like to made REGULAR old bread. Please help!
Thanks
I never found the answer to a previous readers question. How many cups of flour does one box of berries yield? I don’t have a wheat grinder, and want to try this with Einkorn flour instead of the wheat berries.
endorse with an “e”
Great post! Thanks!
Do have a recipe recommendation for whole grain einkorn bread with a sourdough starter?
Hi Emily, you’ll have to check out Jovial’s cookbook, Einkorn by Carla Bartolucci. It’s great and walks you through the process! http://amzn.to/2j8XZDm
Hi Diana ,I like using the einkorn flour for sourdough crackers,so yummy! I also started my own sour dough starter with the einkorn flour,and then making the bread too,the flavor is very nice.Thanks for sharing Grace
Ugh! I just followed this recipe exactly, and their directions say to put dough in an 8×4 inch pan. It exploded all down the sides of the pan after only rising for 20 minutes. I figured it was toast, no pun intended, but baked it anyway. It was not pretty. The whole top came right off and the remainder of the soft, hot bread just flopped over onto itself. Such waste of expensive berries and my time! Why would they say to put into such a small pan?!
I’m so sorry to hear this, Tracy. You know when using whole wheat einkorn, I’ve found making an artisanal loaf of sourdough to be much easier and tastier. I’ll have to share a sourdough recipe!
Would very much like see the whole grain einkorn sourdough bread recipe!!!
Thanks,
Dan