Sprouted Wheat Sourdough Bread

Sprouted grain bread has a lot more benefits over any whole-grain bread. It is higher in protein and fiber content and lower in carbs, it is also easier to digest. Sprouted wheat sourdough bread has a lower glycemic index compared to regular breads because of its lower gluten content. If you are interested in trying it yourself, here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter 

• 5g sourdough starter
• 35g water
• 30g all purpose flour or bread flour 
• 5g rye flour 

Dough

• 240g bread flour (80%)
• 60g stone ground whole wheat flour (20%)
• 207g water (69%)
• 27g (9%) cold water added along with salt, total hydration, 78%
• 60g levain (20%)
• 6g salt (2%)
• 50g sprouted and grounded wheat berries

Directions 

Sprout wheat berries in 2 days 

Day 1

Wash wheat berries and cover them with water, let them soak for 24 hours.

Day 2

Rinse berries, drain all the water, let them stay in a container covered with wet paper towel for 12 hours. If the paper towel dries up quickly, run it under water and cover the wheat berries.

Rinse the berries again, cover them with wet paper towel for another 12 hours.

You should start seeing lots of sprouts after 36 hours of soaking.  By the 48th hour mark all the berries should sprout.

Starter

• 7 am add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let it sit at a room temp 74-78F for about 8-10 hours until starter reaches its peak (at least triples in volume).
• Learn how to make starter from scratch here.

Dough

• 5 pm mix water with flour and cover, let it rest 1 hour for autolyse.
• During the autolyse the flour absorbs the water, becoming fully hydrated. This will activate gluten development.
• 6 pm add sourdough starter. 
• Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated.
• Cover, let rest for 30 minutes.
• 6:30 pm add salt and extra water. 
• The process of adding extra water is called bassinage, it helps to tighten up gluten. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or with KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 minutes until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom.
• Continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during the warm fermentation period.
• Leave to rest 30 minutes. At 74-78F /23-26C.
• Meanwhile grind sprouted wheat berries in a food processor.

• 7 pm spray your work surface with water, wet your hands to perform lamination.
• Lamination is the process of stretching the dough as thin as you can without ripping it.

• Spread your ground wheat berries all over the dough, fold and it let rest for 45 minutes.
• 7:45 pm 1st stretch and fold.
• 8:30 pm 2nd stretch and fold.
• 9.15 pm 3rd stretch and fold

Note: usually the fermentation of the dough with wheat berries goes super fast, because wild yeast has access to a sugars from the berries. You might need to reduce the time in between stretches if the dough rises too quickly.

After the final stretch let the dough proof for 30 minutes at 76-80F/ 23-26C. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter and puffy. We are looking for 50% rise. 

Preshaping sourdough 

• 9:45 pm transfer the dough on to a work surface and dust its top with flour. Flip the dough over so the floured side faces down.
• Fold the dough onto itself so the flour on the surface remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. This will become the crust.
• Place the dough round on a work surface and let it rest for 30 minutes uncovered.

Shaping sourdough 

• 10.15 pm dust the dough with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over on to a work surface so the floured sides face down.
• Starting with the side closest to you, pull the right 2 corners of the dough to the left, then fold them up into half of the dough. Repeat this action with the other side too.
• Finally, roll the dough. Shape it into a smooth, taut roll.
• Transfer the roll, seam side up, to a prepared proofing basket (loaf pan with kitchen towel).
• Cover it with plastic and return the dough to the 80F (27C) environment for 15 minutes.
• Then transfer the dough to rise for 14-24 hours in the refrigerator.

Baking

Next morning

• Preheat your oven to 500 F, place a cast iron pan with the lid inside for 45 minutes -1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the fridge. 
• Flip it over on a parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or a scoring lame. 

• Transfer the dough on to the hot cast iron pan, cover it with the lid (to create steam for a beautiful and crunchy crust ).
• Bake at 500F for 15 minutes with lid on.
• Remove the lid, lower temperature to 450F. 
• Bake for 20 more minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy your sprouted wheat sourdough bread!