Tag: sourdough

Grain-Free Sourdough Bread (Paleo, Keto Cycling, High Protein)

Grain-Free Sourdough Bread (Paleo, Keto Cycling, High Protein)

This is a recipe that has been in flux for a few years now… and this version boasts higher protein, fewer carbs & more dietary fiber. I beefed up the psyllium husk in this so it’s not quite as heavy as past iterations.  The more 

Dark Paleo Sourdough

Dark Paleo Sourdough

I often make this bread for same day eating, but if you want that sour sourdough flavor, it is best left to cure overnight and baked the next day.  It is dark and sweet as a bread due to the tigernut (sweet) and psyllium (dark). 

High Protein Grain-Free Sourdough Keto Bread

High Protein Grain-Free Sourdough Keto Bread

I used to make artisan sourdough bread all the time, and then had to go without for several years. Since then, I’ve been developing different ways of making it with atypical ingredients. I had a big bag of ground lupin from Costco left over in the cupboard so I decided to give it a shot and it came out beautifully. Lupin is an extremely high protein an extremely low carbohydrate bean. It was used as a super food buy some of the original Olympians in Greece. It can be a bit bitter, but I think it came out nutty and lovely. I also do a lupin pie crust that personally I think is delectable.

 

High Protein Grain-Free Sourdough Keto Bread

Brenna May
I used to make artisan sourdough bread all the time, and then had to go without for several years. Since then, I’ve been developing different ways of making it with atypical ingredients. I had a big bag of ground lupin from Costco left over in the cupboard so I decided to give it a shot and it came out beautifully. Lupin is an extremely high protein an extremely low carbohydrate bean. It was used as a super food buy some of the original Olympians in Greece. It can be a bit bitter, but I think it came out nutty and lovely. I also do a lupin pie crust that personally I think is delectable.
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course American
Cuisine gluten-free, keto
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/4 cup filtered or well water
  • 1 tsp maple syrup or raw honey
  • 1 tsp dry active yeast
  • 2 tbsp psyllium husk
  • 1/2 cup cassava sourdough starter
  • 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp pink salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda optional, but adds rise
  • 1 cup ground lupin
  • 1 cup arrowroot
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/8 cup coconut flour
  • 1 egg OR 1 tablespoon beef gelatin

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, add the almond flour, arrowroot, ground lupin, psyllium husk, salt and baking soda and mix together.
  • Add the olive oil, work it into the flour and then make a well in the center to start adding the wet ingredients.
  • In the well, add the water, sprinkle with yeast and add maple syrup or honey. Wait 10 minutes for the yeast to activate and consume all the sugars.
  • Add the cassava sourdough starter, the apple cider vinegar and egg to the center and gently mix together without mixing in too much of the flour. Let sit for a couple minutes.
  • Begin folding the flour into the sponge until it is biscuit consistency. Then press together, knead it gently and form it into a boulé or baguette shape to rise.
  • Oil a bowl and set in the boulé to sourdough for 12-24 hours.
  • Alternatively, I like to roll a couple tea towels into a 6x9 pan and lay the third towel inset into it, dust it with arrowroot flour and lay the dough in the middle to rise in a sort of baguette shape.
  • Then I dust the top with arrowroot again and fold the tea towel over the top to rise/ferment for 12-24 hours.
  • The next day, preheat a cast iron pan or pizza stone in the oven to 450°F
  • Transfer the boulé or baguette to the oven, score the top with a knife and close the door.
  • Turn the oven down to 375°F and bake for 30-45 minutes. In my Breville air fryer oven I bake it on convection for 35 minutes.
  • Let cool completely before slicing.

Notes

*This loaf can me made without the long fermentation if you just can’t wait - but you won’t have the lovely sourdough flavor. You can proof it for an hour in a warm oven and then bake.
Keyword grain free, grain free bread
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!


Sourdough Cassava Pancakes

Sourdough Cassava Pancakes

It has been a long run of sitting out on our Pancake Saturday watching my family eat and enjoy a pancake recipe that took me years to adapt and perfect.  When I had my Hashimoto’s diagnosis, grains were out… even beneficial grains like einkorn.   

Cassava Sourdough (Paleo, AIP, Keto Cycling)

Cassava Sourdough (Paleo, AIP, Keto Cycling)

I love artisan sourdough.  I was able to tolerate Einkorn over all others until I developed Hashimoto’s and needed to go completely grain free.  I have done keto, paleo, whole30 and even full carnivore to heal my gut when my health has dipped to its 

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Starter

I am often asked for some of my sourdough starter.  I have begun sourdough starters in several forms over the years both as we have moved about internationally and because my needs have changed.  My first sourdoughs were in Scotland so with such a blend of grains and breeds in the artisan flours I bought over there… the starters were relatively easy.  I did learn, however, not to keep them in plastic and then go abroad… as the starter interacts with the container and would leech plastic materials into the starter.  Lesson learned… and it was one that certainly woke me up to chemicals to a degree as I started switching everything to glass after that sort of intuitively.

My second sourdough starter came when we moved to the USA and I knew I could not eat the flour that is subsidized here.  American Red Wheat is highly inflammatory and has undergone years of both genetic engineering and in the early days of subsidizing it was sprayed with glyphosate to increase its yield so farmers could make more money.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they had no idea what this would do to human bodies for years to come… but I find it ironic that for years I seemed gluten intolerant in the US but could eat freely in EVERY OTHER COUNTRY I visited.  And lets be clear.. I traveled to 21 countries, some on multiple occasions and usually for weeks to a month, in my young adult years.  I used Antimo Caputo 00 Italian Pizzaria Flour in the US originally, and this was an easy sourdough starter to keep.  I could make a batch of something, feed it and then stick it right in the fridge for 1-2 weeks until I needed it again.

When we moved to Ireland I started to experience sensitivity to the basic flour and had to adapt and noticed my children suffered as if they were eating American Wheat again.  I began using Dove’s Farm White Spelt and Einkorn there for our family and my baking skills and recipes had to adjust.  I became sensitive even to spelt and that is when I went “full einkorn”.  Here in the US I buy Jovial Einkorn usually straight from Jovial Foods but also from Thrive Market, Amazon and on occasion, Fred Meyer.

After my diagnosis with Hashimoto’s I needed to say goodbye to even Einkorn for sake of healing.  I haven’t done much sourdough bread making since then but on occasion I will make keto almond sourdough or a keto coconut sourdough bread.  I’ve struggled with both nut and coconut flours though… so am now experimenting with cassava sourdough.  It makes great pancakes but I am yet to try it in a bread.  But… all of these have a similar principle of starting to get them going… with some variations.

All three require flour and water and days to ferment.  Einkorn has a very viable natural yeast so starting this does not require additional yeast, whereas other variations do.

I begin with equal parts flour and water for grain sourdough, beginning with a 1/2 cup each and adding to it daily for 3-5 days until it is robust and bubbling.  It will swell dramatically in the first few days, so be sure your glass container is large enough to handle many times the amount you originally place in it.  For Cassava, different types yield different proportions.  I have found it can vary from 1:1 to 2/3:1 cassava flour to water.  Make sure your water is non-chlorinated & filtered, well water, or bottled from a service and contains no BPA.  Chlorine will kill the ferment as will other toxins.  I became more aware of toxins in food and water when I began fermenting in earnest… as it was extremely frustrating to see my hard work and investment ruined repeatedly by toxic ingredients, pesticides, plastics etc.  And I started wondering what it was doing to my own microbiome.

For all flours except for Einkorn, start with 1/2 cup warm water (not too hot or it will kill the yeast) and 1 tsp dry active yeast, and let sit for 10 minutes.  Add the equal parts flour.  For Cassava, I started with 1 cup warm water + 1 tsp yeast basically so my brain wouldn’t hurt.  I tried this with 3 different types of cassava flour (one being Azure, which I would not recommend as it is so course and drank up all the water and turned hard) but for Otto’s depending on the humidity in your home, the proportions varied from 2/3 cup to 3/4 cup flour to 1 cup water.

Leave it to bubble for 24 hours and then feed it with flour and water again.  Do this for 3-5 days until you have the desired amount.  At this point you can refrigerate your starter or use it and feed it again with the appropriate proportions.

A NOTE ON EINKORN: Einkorn flour is particularly sensitive.  You MUST leave the flour out for 18-24 hours after feeding to reach the balance it needs and then refrigerate.  If you leave it out longer you will get Kahm’s yeast or mold, if you refrigerate right after feeding it loses it’s potency, the bacteria suffers and it can mold as well.  Einkorn will need to be used and fed weekly if you do not want to get a dark hooch on the top.  Hooch is the liquid that settles at the top of the starter with lack of daily use.  If it is gray, it is not ruined, just pour it off and replace with fresh water, stir it up and use as usual.

 

Sourdough Starter

Brenna May
Italian 00, Einkorn & Cassava StartersAll sourdough starters require flour and water and days to ferment.  Einkorn has a very viable natural yeast so starting this does not require additional yeast, whereas other variations do. I begin with equal parts flour and water for grain sourdough and different proportions for cassava.
Prep Time 3 days
5 days
Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American, European

Equipment

  • Large glass jar for starting and storing
  • Wooden spoon

Ingredients
  

Italian 00 Pizza Flour Sourdough Starter

  • 1/2 cup non-chlorinated, filtered water well water is usually fine
  • 1 tsp dry active yeast
  • 1/2 cup Italian Flour
  • 2 cups Italian Flour (set aside to feed the starter)
  • 2 cups non-chlorinated, filtered water (set aside to feed the starter)

Einkorn Sourdough Starter

  • 1/2 cup non-chlorinated, filtered water
  • 1/2 cup Einkorn flour
  • 2 cups Einkorn flour (set aside to feed the starter)
  • 2 cups non-chlorinated, filtered water (set aside to feed the starter)

Cassava Sourdough Starter

  • 1 cup non-chlorinated, filtered water
  • 1 tsp dry active yeast
  • 2/3-3/4 cup Otto's Cassava Flour (added slowly)
  • 1 ½ cups Cassava Flour (set aside to feed the starter)
  • 2 cups non-chlorinated, filtered water (set aside to feed the starter)

Instructions
 

Grain Based Starters other than Einkorn:

  • For grains we work in equal parts water and flour.
  • Start with 1/2 cup warm water in your container (not too hot or it will kill the yeast) and 1 tsp dry active yeast, and let sit for 10 minutes.
  • Add a 1/2 cup flour and stir.
  • Leave it to bubble for 24 hours and then feed it with equal parts flour and water again.  Do this for 3-5 days until you have the desired amount.  At this point you can refrigerate your starter or use it and feed it again with the appropriate proportions.

Einkorn Starter:

  • Start with 1/2 cup warm water in your container and add 1/2 cup einkorn flour.
  • Leave it to bubble for 12-24 hours and then feed it with equal parts flour and water again.  Do this for 3-5 days until you have the desired amount.  Wait 24 hours after last feeding and then refrigerate for up to a week.

Cassava Starter:

  • Start with 1 cup warm water + 1 tsp yeast and let sit for 10 minutes.
  • Scoop out 3/4 cup flour and start sprinkling it into the yeast water and leave it to swell slowly. I find the right balance is somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 cups but cassava takes some time to absorb the liquid.
  • When you have the consistency of thick pancake batter, leave to bubble for 24 hours and make a note of the amount of flour used.
  • Repeat the proportions on days 2 & 3 and then let bubble for 2 more days on the counter before refrigerating.

Notes

A NOTE ON JARS: Your starter will swell dramatically in the first few days, so be sure your glass container is large enough to handle many times the amount you originally place in it.
A NOTE ON WATER: Make sure your water is non-chlorinated & filtered, well water, or bottled from a service and contains no BPA. Chlorine will kill the ferment as will other toxins. I became more aware of toxins in food and water when I began fermenting in earnest... as it was extremely frustrating to see my hard work and investment ruined repeatedly by toxic ingredients, pesticides, plastics etc. And I started wondering what it was doing to my own microbiome.
A NOTE ON EINKORN: Einkorn flour is particularly sensitive.  You MUST leave the flour out for 18-24 hours after feeding to reach the balance it needs and then refrigerate.  If you leave it out longer you will get Kahm's yeast or mold, if you refrigerate right after feeding it loses it's potency, the bacteria suffers and it can mold as well.  Einkorn will need to be used and fed weekly if you do not want to get a dark hooch on the top.  Hooch is the liquid that settles at the top of the starter with lack of daily use.  If it is gray, it is not ruined, just pour it off and replace with fresh water, stir it up and use as usual.
A NOTE ON CASSAVA FLOURS: Different types/brands yield different proportions. I have found it can vary from 1:1 to 2/3:1 cassava flour to water depending on the brand. I prefer Otto's and have found it to be the most consistent.  If you use a different brand for your starter... adjust it with water until it looks like a thick pancake batter.
 
Keyword bread, cassava, cultured food, einkorn, italian flour, sourdough, sourdough starter
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Cultured Einkorn Kefir Pancakes

Cultured Einkorn Kefir Pancakes

Hey friends! As promised, I’m posting some of my family recipes in the absence of my ability to be creative with my own food at the moment… you know… the stuff I can actually eat. This is a thin pancake, much like a cross between 

New York Style Einkorn Sourdough Pizza Crust

New York Style Einkorn Sourdough Pizza Crust

I would love to say this is my original pizza crust recipe but the truth is it has evolved with flours, three overseas moves and the constant reminder of biting into a slice of Sal’s pizza on a trip to my Dad’s home town in 

Italian Einkorn Sourdough Pizza (With Kefir)

Italian Einkorn Sourdough Pizza (With Kefir)

This post is a LONG time coming for some people.  I don’t really post a lot of my grain recipes because I don’t eat grains.  But I have had friends ask for this often enough that I thought I should include it in my recipes.  I make this recipe every week, and lately I have adjusted it to make three pizzas and a loaf of bread for the week.  But as I haven’t mastered that… I will just include this basic recipe which can be made into pizza crusts or loaves of sandwich bread.  It also works to put into a brotform and let rise in the fridge for 2-3 days to make a lovely sourdough bread.

 

Italian Einkorn Sourdough Pizza Crust

Brenna May
I make this recipe every week, and lately I have adjusted it to make three pizzas and a loaf of bread for the week.  But as I haven't mastered that... I will just include this basic recipe which can be made into pizza crusts or loaves of sandwich bread.  It also works to put into a brotform and let rise in the fridge for 2-3 days to make a lovely sourdough bread.
 
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Dinner
Servings 3 Pizzas

Equipment

  • Cast Iron Pizza Pan or Pizza Stone
  • Mixer with Dough Hook
  • oven

Ingredients
  

  • 6 cups einkorn flour
  • 2 tsp tsp pink salt
  • 2 tbsp Tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for greasing
  • 2 tsp tsp yeast in 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 tsp tsp raw honey or maple syrup sugar and yeast should be equal
  • 1 cup einkorn sourdough starter
  • 1 cup milk kefir

Instructions
 

  • Combine Flour and salt in a large bowl or mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and combine with your fingers.
  • Make a well in the center and add the equal parts yeast and maple syrup. Pour 1/2 cup warm water over the top and give it a swirl and leave for the yeast to consume the sugars for 10 minutes.
  • Add the sourdough starter (and milk kefir if using) and combine, kneading until it has formed a ball. If I have a dough hook this takes about 10 minutes, if I am doing it by hand it takes closer to 30 minutes.
  • It should be a little sticky but you should be able to handle it easily. If it is too wet add more flour a tablespoon at a time, if it is too dry add more water a tablespoon at a time. This is easiest in a mixer with a dough hook.
  • When you have a ball, grease a bowl with extra virgin olive oil (or the mixing bowl if you don’t need it for something else) and plop the ball in, flipping it over and swirling it around until it’s covered with olive oil. Cover with cling film or a damp towel and let rest for a few hours* or in a fridge overnight for use the next day (my preferred method).
  • The next day, take the dough out of the fridge a few hours before baking.
  • Heat up a cast iron pizza pan or stone to 425°F in the oven
  • Break the dough into 2-4 balls, depending on what you are doing with it.
  • Roll out the balls on the hot pizza pans with a bit of olive oil. We like to spread them really thin.
  • Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the tops of the crusts for baking.
  • Bake in the oven at 375-380°F for 10 minutes
  • Remove from oven and top to your liking. Two of my kids do not like sauce and one only likes it like focaccia so we often end up doing 2-4 individual sized pizzas.

Notes

*Extra einkorn flour or water for troubleshooting as the needs can change depending on humidity
*If you want it the same day, it is sometimes better to increase the yeast and sugar to 3 tsp, especially if you are planning to make a sandwich loaf as well.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

Cultured Coconut “Sourdough” Keto Bread

Cultured Coconut “Sourdough” Keto Bread

Well it’s official. Actually it has been official for over a month but being the introverted lady that I am I have only recently felt ready to share. After a battery of blood tests I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease, which is actually quite