Healthy and easy recipe for whole wheat Einkorn sourdough bread that uses 100% whole grain einkorn flour & a sourdough starter.
Ever since I first published my no-knead einkorn sourdough sandwich loaf, you guys have been asking for a slightly different version: whole wheat einkorn sourdough.
You wanted a recipe that was just as easy, uses healthy whole grain einkorn and was fail-proof so that even the novice sourdough baker could pull it off.
Well, after testing MULTIPLE recipes, I’ve found the perfect one!
Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread
We fell in love with einkorn sourdough bread on the very first loaf, so if you’ve never tried it before, you are going to LOVE it!!
I tried all sorts of different recipes and variations in order to find the perfect whole wheat einkorn sourdough bread, and I’m so excited to finally share a recipe that is:
- Perfectly tangy (not too sour)
- Simple and straight-forward (no complicated steps!)
- Consistent. When you want delicious whole grain sourdough bread, THIS is the recipe you’ll come back to over and over again.
- Quick. We’ve eliminated most of the hands-on work!
- Easy. It’s great for beginners, and advanced bakers will enjoy it too!
- Healthy. Einkorn is an ancient grain, has amazing health benefits, and is often tolerable for those who are sensitive to gluten!
- 100% Whole Grain. We’re not using a single bit of all-purpose flour here, so this is truly a whole grain bread!
I know that “sourdough” is often associated with “takes forever” and “is really hard,” but I promise you it’s none of these things!
Granted, it’s not as fast as my Man Bread or Rosemary Olive Oil bread, but most of the time required for this recipe is rise time, which happens while you sleep!
What’s left are very simple steps, which I’ve outlined below so you can have a successful loaf, every single time!
Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe Ingredients
If you can believe it, you need just four ingredients to make this whole wheat einkorn sourdough bread recipe:
1. Sourdough Starter. Here’s my tutorial for how to make an einkorn sourdough starter. You can use starter made with all-purpose einkorn, whole wheat einkorn, or a combination of the two.
Note: A sourdough starter isn’t considered mature enough for bread until it’s one month old. If you’re making sourdough bread, there’s no way around this. If you want to make yeast bread instead, I recommend my no-knead artisan loaf or my white sandwich bread recipe.
2. Water
3. Honey
4. Salt
5. Whole Grain Einkorn Flour. This recipe was specifically created to use whole grain einkorn flour. You can buy whole einkorn berries and grind them yourself (this is the grain mill I use) OR you can buy whole grain einkorn flour.
I buy both my whole einkorn berries and my all-purpose flour in bulk from Jovial Foods. You can save 10% off all items in the store with exclusions on special promotional items such as cookbooks and new harvest oil when you use coupon code DWCRUMBS. Also, there’s free shipping over $99. Visit their site HERE.
Note: If you want to use all-purpose einkorn flour, I recommend following my no-knead einkorn sourdough loaf recipe instead. You can shape the all-purpose loaf into a boule using the instructions below, or into a loaf using the instructions in that post.
In case you skimmed this, I want to reiterate two things:
First, you need a MATURE sourdough starter in order to make sourdough bread.
That means you’ve made a starter (using this einkorn sourdough starter tutorial) and you’ve been feeding it daily for at least one month. There is no way to cheat this. If your starter is not active AND at least one month old, this recipe will not work.
If you don’t have a starter that’s mature, I recommend feeding your starter until it is and in the meantime, use your sourdough discard to make sourdough biscuits or sourdough pancakes.
Second, this recipe is created specifically for whole-grain einkorn flour, NOT all-purpose einkorn flour.
These two flours bake differently and require slightly different techniques in order to consistently get the best loaf.
How to Make Einkorn Sourdough Bread: Kneading + The First Rise
A lot of people get stuck when making sourdough bread, so I’ve written a step-by-step to help you get the perfect boule of tangy whole wheat sourdough bread every time!
1. Combine the ingredients.
In a large, non-metal bowl (I have this set of pyrex glass bowls and I use the largest bowl), combine the starter with the water and honey. Make sure your water is between 105F and 110F and no warmer!
Add 6 cups of whole wheat einkorn flour and the salt.
(Note: If you’re using freshly ground whole wheat, you’ll want to stir the flour a few times to “settle” the flour before adding it to the bowl.)
Stir the dough using big, gentle strokes that scrape the outside of the bowl and come inward towards the center of the bowl. DON’T stir vigorously making tiny circles in the center of the bowl.
Stir until the dough looks mostly wet and slightly shaggy. The dough will not be super firm and spring back to the touch like a traditional yeast dough.
Set a timer for 15 minutes.
2. Rest and fold.
This step seems silly, but please don’t skip it! This helps your final loaf to be strong and sturdy, without overworking the delicate einkorn flour. I’ve tested making the loaf without this step, and skipping the step does affect the final loaf.
When the timer goes off, sprinkle a little bit of flour over the top of the dough and around the edge of the bowl. Reach in on the outside of the dough (along the sides of the bowl), and gently scoop the dough and fold it over towards the top, center of the dough.
Turn the bowl ¼ of a turn and repeat the gentle scoop and fold over process until you’ve worked your way around the entire bowl.
3. Let the dough rise.
Move a rack in your oven to the lowest setting. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and place the bowl on the rack.
Turn the oven light on and close the oven door. Let the dough rest undisturbed for 8-12 hours.
This initial rise time is very forgiving. I’ve let it go 12 hours (8 pm before bed to about 8:30 am the next morning) and I’ve let it go closer to 15 hours too (8 pm before bed to about 10:30 am after picking up my groceries). I haven’t had any issues either way!
The only caveat is that you want to make sure you start this with a cold oven. You don’t want to use an oven that you just baked or roasted something in, otherwise, the loaf will over-proof and it will bake slightly during the rise time (which we don’t want to happen).
You also want to make sure you have a working light bulb in the oven. Turning the light “on” and not having a light bulb will not generate any heat.
Using the light in the oven to warm the environment is key to a consistent rise every time you bake this sourdough bread recipe, so don’t cheat!
How to Shape the Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Boule + The Second Rise
This step begins the second rise, which is NOT forgiving like the first rise. If you won’t be home to bake bread in the next few hours, let the first rise continue. Otherwise, proceed!
4. Prepare your banneton basket.
A banneton basket is what creates those lovely flour rings on top of sourdough loaves. These are not required, but you do need a round vessel of some sort in order to properly shape the dough.
I have a banneton and a linen couche and I LOVE them. If you plan on baking sourdough boules regularly, they’re a must-have in your kitchen.
I’ve heard that a bowl lined with 100% cotton dish towels or a clean t-shirt or a pillowcase will work in a pinch, but I personally haven’t tried this.
In either case, you will need to flour it VERY WELL otherwise your dough will stick. I define “very well” as rub the flour into the material, then add more flour and rub more, then add a solid layer of flour.
This might sound like overkill, but it takes practice to figure out just how much flour you need to prevent the dough from sticking. I’ve had MANY loaves stick to the material and it’s incredibly frustrating. So, flour very well, and as you gain more experience, you can determine exactly how much flour is enough.
If you don’t want to bake a boule, you can use a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
5. Shape the loaf.
Lightly flour your working surface and scoop out the dough. Do not turn the bowl over and dump the dough out.
As best as possible, you want whatever part of the dough was at the bottom of the bowl to be resting on your floured surface, and the portion of the dough that was facing upward in the bowl, still be facing upward.
Note: Do not flour the surface of the dough! This is tempting, but doing so will cause small pockets of flour to be in your final loaf.
Pull the corners, or the outside of the dough up and over towards the center of the dough. This is the same motion you did in the “rest and fold” section at the very beginning, after letting the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Do this scoop and fold motion around the entire loaf until it’s a round-ish shape and firm enough to handle.
Rub your hands into some flour that’s on your working surface and flip the entire round of dough over.
Create a “turn and tuck” motion by placing your hands on the outside of the dough and turning the dough counter-clockwise while tucking the dough underneath itself. This is a small movement, and to help with this, think about GENTLY tucking sheets under a mattress. You’re not shoving them under, and you’re only tucking what your hand/fingers are capable of tucking.
Continue this “turn and tuck” motion for about 2-4 minutes. This will create a seal underneath and the top will become smooth.
When the top is smooth and you have a mostly round shape, flour the top of the dough well and turn it upside down into the prepared, well-floured banneton. The seam of the dough should be visible.
6. Let the dough rise.
Move a rack in your oven to the lowest setting. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and place the banneton on the rack.
Turn the oven light on and close the oven door. Set a timer and let the dough rest undisturbed for 1 hour.
When the timer beeps, remove the dough from the oven and place in a warm location. For me, that’s on top of the stove. Meanwhile, prepare your Dutch oven.
7. Prepare your Dutch oven.
Preheat the oven to 500F and place a 6-quart dutch oven with the lid on, in the oven. I have to have my baking rack at the lowest setting for this to fit.
Let the Dutch oven preheat for 30-60 minutes while your dough finishes its second rise.
Whether your dough needs 30 minutes or 60 minutes to rise will depend on your environment, and there’s no one-size-fits-all for this. For your first loaf, I recommend a 30 minute rise time. For your second loaf, I recommend a 60 minute rise time. From there, you can gauge if your dough should be on the shorter end or longer end of the second rise time. For me, I’ve found that 60 minutes, in the morning, is perfect.
Note: Your dough will not necessarily double in size or rise to the brim of the banneton.
Baking Your Einkorn Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
When you’re ready to bake, reduce the oven temperature to 450F and pull out the Dutch oven using oven mitts.
With your oven mitts on, flip the banneton over so that the dough dumps directly into the Dutch oven, seam down. If the dough doesn’t come out centered into the pot, wait 20 seconds or so, then grab the handles and shake the dough so it’s centered.
Place the lid on the Dutch oven and bake for 20 minutes. When the timer beeps, remove the lid and continue to bake for another 20 minutes.
When the timer beeps again, remove the pot from the oven, and with your oven mitts on, reach in and remove the loaf of sourdough bread. Place the bread on a cooling rack to cool for two hours.
Note: Bread continues to bake as it cools, and cutting into the bread while its cooling can lead to uncooked places, sunken spots, and an uneven crumb. I know it’s hard, but patience is important!
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Healthy and easy recipe for whole wheat Einkorn sourdough bread that uses 100% whole grain einkorn flour & a sourdough starter.
- Prep Time: 13 hrs, 40 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 2 minute
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Breads
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 cup warm water
- ¼ cup honey
- 6–7 cups whole grain einkorn flour**
- 1 ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large, non-metal bowl (I have this set of pyrex glass bowls and I use the largest bowl), combine the starter with the water and honey. Make sure your water is between 105F and 110F and no warmer.
- Add 6 cups of whole wheat einkorn flour and the salt. Stir the dough using big, gentle strokes that scrape the outside of the bowl and come inward towards the center of the bowl. DON’T stir vigorously making tiny circles in the center of the bowl. Stir until the dough looks mostly wet and slightly shaggy. The dough will not be super firm and spring back to the touch like a traditional yeast dough.
- Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then sprinkle a little bit of flour over the top of the dough and around the edge of the bowl. Fold the dough by reaching in on the outside of the dough (along the sides of the bowl). Gently scoop the dough and fold it over towards the top, center of the dough. Turn the bowl ¼ of a turn and repeat the gentle scoop and fold over process until you’ve worked your way around the entire bowl.
- Move a rack in your oven to the lowest setting. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and place the bowl on the rack. Turn the oven light on and close the oven door. Let the dough rest undisturbed for 8-12 hours.
- Prepare your banneton basket. Flour it VERY WELL. If you don’t want to bake a boule, you can use a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour your working surface and scoop out the dough. Do not turn the bowl over and dump the dough out. As best as possible, you want whatever part of the dough was at the bottom of the bowl to be resting on your floured surface, and the portion of the dough that was facing upward in the bowl, still be facing upward.
- Pull the corners, or the outside of the dough up and over towards the center of the dough. Do this scoop and fold motion around the entire loaf until it’s a round-ish shape and firm enough to handle. Flour your hands and flip the entire round of dough over.
- Create a “turn and tuck” motion by placing your hands on the outside of the dough and turning the dough counter-clockwise while tucking the dough underneath itself. Continue this “turn and tuck” motion for about 2-4 minutes. This will create a seal underneath and the top will become smooth.
- When the top is smooth and you have a mostly round shape, flour the top of the dough well and turn it upside down into the prepared, well-floured banneton. The seam of the dough should be visible.
- Move a rack in your oven to the lowest setting. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and place the banneton on the rack. Turn the oven light on and close the oven door. Set a timer and let the dough rest undisturbed for 1 hour.
- When the timer is done, remove the dough from the oven and place in a warm location.
- Preheat the oven to 500F and place a 6-quart dutch oven with the lid on, in the oven. Let the Dutch oven preheat for 30-60 minutes while your dough finishes its second rise.
- When you’re ready to bake, reduce the oven temperature to 450F and pull out the Dutch oven using oven mitts.
- With your oven mitts on, flip the banneton over so that the dough dumps directly into the Dutch oven, seam down. If the dough doesn’t come out centered into the pot, wait 20 seconds or so, then grab the handles and shake the dough so it’s centered.
- Place the lid on the Dutch oven and bake for 20 minutes. When the timer is done, remove the lid and continue to bake for another 20 minutes.
- When the timer is done again, remove the pot from the oven, and with your oven mitts on, reach in and remove the loaf of sourdough bread. Place the bread on a cooling rack to cool for two hours.
Note: Bread continues to bake as it cools, and cutting into the bread while its cooling can lead to uncooked places, sunken spots, and an uneven crumb. I know it’s hard, but patience is important!
Notes
** You can buy whole einkorn berries and grind them yourself (this is the grain mill I use) OR you can buy whole grain einkorn flour. I buy both my whole einkorn berries and my all-purpose flour in bulk from Jovial Foods. You can save 10% on your order when you use coupon code DWCRUMBS.
The light in my oven is not working at this time. There is a proof setting on my oven, but not sure if that would be too warm. Thoughts???
Thank you,
Beth
Hello Beth,
The oven’s proof setting is likely safe for proofing dough, but it’s best to monitor the temperature to ensure it doesn’t get too hot. The oven light for heat temperature is between 80 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re concerned, you can also check the temperature with a separate oven thermometer and adjust accordingly.
The dough was extremely dry with 6 cups of flour! How did you even get it mixed? I had to add in another cup of water and another 1/3 cup of starter before I was even able to get it mixed, but I had to mix it/fold it many more times than mentioned in recipe due to hard lumps throughout the dough. What is the consistency that the dough should be? I am using whole grain fresh stone ground einkorn flour and einkorn starter that I grew myself over the last month. I’m going to give it a shot With the modifications I just mentioned. But I’m nervous I over mixed it or the dough consistency is not correct.
Can you please let me know what texture/consistency it should be once mixed?
Hi Amy,
Tiffany says, “Moisture in bread can vary greatly with the environment (your home and city/state), so you may not need all 6 cups of flour. Freshly ground einkorn will also take longer to absorb moisture than pre-ground flour. If you mix the flour into the water and starter per the recipe, you shouldn’t have hard lumps. The dough should have the texture of regular yeast doughs, perhaps slightly tackier.”.
Hi! I’m new to Einkorn, but am experienced with sourdough and have an active starter (white apf). Will that work to make the levain?
Hi S,
Tiffany says, “Yes! You should be able to use a mature starter made with white all purpose flour to make the levain for einkorn sourdough.”.
any ideas why the bottom burned? I followed it precisely. I did add more water at the beginning as I live in a very dry climate but I’m wondering how I can prevent the bottom burning in future loaves.
Hi Barbi,
I’m sorry that happened to your loaf. Next time try it without adding more water and let us know how it turns out. 🙂
Consider if your bread is too close to the bottom of the oven and aim to be in the middle of the “box” of the oven. If that position burned, move the loaf up a level next bake. Baking too low can certainly burn the bottom.
Try putting a baking sheet on the rack just below the Dutch oven. That has helped me 🙂
I’m confused. I’ve put 4 cups of flour in and it’s super dry. There’s no way I could add 2 more cups of flour. Anyone else have this problem?
Yeah, those measurements looked pretty dry. I measure by weight and used my usual formula. 325 g of flour, 227 g of water, 100g of starter, 10 g of salt. I usually mix bread flour and whole wheat flour. For this recipe I used 175 g of einkorn whole wheat flour and 150 g of regular whole wheat flour. The dough was a tad bit wetter than the usual when I use the normal bread flour and whole wheat flour. I mix the flours together in my big bowl and I mix the water and starter together with the honey in a serparate container before pouring it into the mixed flour. I autolyse (let sit) the flour, water, and starter for one hour then add the salt with a bit more water. After that I wait 30 minutes and then do the stretch and 1/4 turn every 30 minutes or so after that for 2 hours (4 times) with wet hands to prevent the dough from sticking to my hands. This adds more water to the dough. I end up with a pretty slack dough.
What size banneton basket did Tiffany use? Thanks! I can’t wait to have enviable loaves like the ones in this post!!
Hi Rena,
Tiffany has a 8″ round, 11″ oval, and 15. At first she thought, they seemed small but the loaves expand afterwards. Hope that helps!
Hi, thank you for the discount code for the Mockmill! I used it and it worked perfectly! When you grind your einkorn berries for this whole wheat bread, what setting (1-10) do you have the Mockmill at? And how do you have your Mockmill calibrated? Did you leave it at the factory settings or have you changed it?
Hi Vic, Great question! Tiffany uses factory settings and this one is 1. 🙂
Thanks so much for the reply!
Could maple syrup be used in place of honey?
Yes Kathy, but we haven’t tested it. If you try it, please report back and let us know how it tastes!
I’ve been making the Einkorn Sourdough sandwich loaf for a while now, always with whole grain einkorn flour instead of all purpose. Would it work if I baked that recipe in this shape and method with the Dutch oven? I just love the flavor of that recipe. Or should do the sandwhich recipe with 6 cups of flower and bake it as a round boule?
Hi Hannah,
It will work, but you def need dutch oven for that recipe, too soft to free-form. If you want larger round loaf like whole wheat boule, make 1.5 batch so you have more of everything. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Hi, i have been baking with Einkorn for a LONG time, but I have not attempted sourdough yet. So I’m doing my research and looking at everything. I was wondering the reason why you add honey to this recipe. Every version of Sourdough I have seen it just flour, water, salt, and starter. Really curious.
Heidi, to improve the flavor and robustness of the sourdough.
Hi Tiffany,
Thank you for sharing all the wonderful recipes on your page. I was wondering if I could use regular Wheat Flour for this recipe or any other recipes where Einkorn is used?
-RR
Yes, you can, but the end product may differ slightly from the recipe.
Hi Tiffany, I am Cecilia from Janie’s Mill, Illinois – we stone grind Einkorn here and I have been looking for ages for a really good recipe I can share with my customers. Thank you so much for this one. I am going to bake it this weekend. Your directions are wonderfully clear – I look forward to sharing the link with the bakers who buy our Einkorn flour. Baking with Einkorn is an experience all in itself! Thank you again. Talk soon. Cecilia
Hi, Excited to try your whole grain einkorn recipe. I’m not an experienced bread maker so thank you for the simple recipes and putting in so much work to make them failproof! Those are the only type of bread recipes I’m attempting 🙂 What are the baking instructions for making the bread in a loaf pan?
I suggest using a round pan (or a baking dish) but if you are going to make it in a loaf pan, you can follow the recipe then split it in half or quarters to help it fit into a loaf pan.
Hello, I am having trouble finding einkorn whole wheat flour (actually any kind of whole wheat flour)! What are you doing to keep whole wheat flour on hand during this co-vid pandemic?
I have a few sources online that I buy from – JovialFoods.com and einkorn.com have had stock!
As Cecilia mentioned in previous post, Janie’s Mill, Illinois, sells Einkorn berries.
I am so pleased with this recipe! Thank you for creating a whole grain version for us Einkorn lovers. I did bake mine extra since we tend to like a thick, dark crust. I hope to repeat this one regularly!
I love my kefir. I drink it everyday. It really help me because I am diabetic. My problem is that I want to use my extra kefir to sourdough my bread. I also have Einkorn flour. Do you have any good bread recipies with both Einkon and kefir fermentation ?Barbara
Hi Barbara! Using kefir won’t give you sourdough bread, but if you want to use it for the extra tangy flavor, just use it in lieu of warm water in any regular bread recipe and adjust the amount of flour so you get the right consistency!
I’m so glad you finally posted this recipe! I’m one of your readers who has been waiting for it! Would you say the finished product is dense? That has been my problem with whole wheat einkorn sourdough bread. I’d love to make this, but unfortunately I killed my sourdough starter. I had it in the oven with the light on, but completely forgot about it. Later I turned the oven on for dinner, which completely cooked my starter! That was a sad day… I made that starter from scratch and cared for it to maturity. Oh well, maybe I’ll make another one sometime. When I do and it’s mature, this will be my first bread recipe!
Yay!! Thanks for hanging with me, Adrianne! This is more dense than the all-purpose version for sure. It’s not rock hard, but it’s a solid dough. I’m sorry to hear about your starter, and I cried a small tear for you. 🙁 I hope your next one comes back even stronger! ♥
I’m used to baking bread by measuring all ingredients by weight rather than volume. I have some einkorn flour and starter that my husband is begging me to turn into sourdough bread for him, but all recipes I have seen previously gave me a headache trying to figure out how to schedule around my workday. I’m stoked to try your recipe! But do you have weight equivalents, especially for the flour which can really vary in density?
Valentine, I do not have all the weight equivalents, however, I did find some information on einkorn flour from cups to grams. 1 cup of whole grain einkorn flour equals 95 grams. 1 cup of refined einkorn flour equals 120 grams