Einkorn sourdough bread has a wonderfully fluffy, chewy interior and a satisfying, crusty exterior. This ancient wheat bakes the most amazing loaf of sourdough bread, with an added bonus of easier digestion.
Over the last six months or so, I’ve been working on converting the majority of our baked goods to einkorn flour.
Anytime I can’t ferment a baked good (like in chocolate chip coconut cookies), einkorn flour comes in handy. It is the world’s oldest heirloom wheat that hasn’t been hybridized.
Not only is it healthier, because it has more bio-available nutrients like folate, but it is much easier to digest. Some gluten sensitive people find that they can tolerate einkorn, even though it contains gluten.
I set out to create the perfect loaf of sourdough einkorn bread, and after a few tweaks, it comes out just right every time.
Truth be told, after I really perfected my no-knead sourdough bread recipe a few months back, I applied some of those techniques to this bread and couldn’t be happier with the results.
The bread rises so much more, and really blooms revealing the beautiful design.
If you are new to sourdough, you can find how to create a sourdough starter here.
Pair it with some cheeseburger soup or roasted red pepper and tomato soup for a delicious and comforting meal.
Tips:
- To ensure your bread is 100% einkorn, start your sourdough starter with einkorn flour, or convert your current starter to einkorn flour.
- Working with einkorn flour is different from conventional wheat. It yields a much stickier dough and can be tricky to shape. You can make this in a loaf pan or a dutch oven. A loaf pan makes perfect einkorn sandwich bread, whereas the dutch oven will yield a crusty loaf.
- When using a sourdough starter, it is recommended to use filtered water (this is my favorite way to filter water). Some water may contain too much chlorine, which can kill the beneficial bacteria and yeast.
- To really make this bread rise and have the perfect texture, I incorporated a modified stretch and fold process like with my other sourdough loaf. Since einkorn doesn’t have the same type of gluten structure, the process looks a little different, but still yields a wonderful result that is light and airy.
- I use both whole grain einkorn flour and all-purpose einkorn flour. I found this combination to be best for creating a delightful texture. You can substitute the whole grain einkorn for more all-purpose flour, if that is all you have on hand.
- Einkorn dough tends to be much stickier than regular bread dough. I like to use dampened hands and a bench scraper to combat this without having to add extra flour.
Watch The Tutorial
FAQ
I don’t have an einkorn sourdough starter, can I still make this?
Yes, you can use a regular wheat sourdough starter without issue.
How do you convert your wheat sourdough starter to an einkorn starter?
If you want to make this bread 100% einkorn, convert your starter to an einkorn starter by feeding it with einkorn flour for a few days. By the fifth feeding, your starter will be around 96% einkorn flour.
How do you know your sourdough starter is ready?
To make a delicious loaf of bread, you need to use a nice, active starter. Feed your starter 4-12 hours before creating the dough. It is usually ready when it has doubled or tripled in size.
Take a spoonful of your active starter and drop it into a cup of water. If it floats, then it is ready to use for bread.
How long does sourdough bread last?
Allow sourdough bread to cool completely before storing. Place in a bread box, an air-tight container, or a plastic zip-lock bag and store at room temperature. It will stay good for 4-5 days, if it’s not all gone by then!
You can also store bread in the freezer for a few months.
Can einkorn flour be used for sourdough?
Yes. While you cannot just use your favorite sourdough bread recipe (or any other sourdough recipe) and convert it to an einkorn version one-for-one, you can easily use einkorn flour for sourdough with a few tweaks. This is because einkorn flour requires less liquid than other flours.
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Tools you may need:
Grain mill (optional) – I love my Mockmill
Stand Mixer (optional)
Measuring cups
Lame
Bench scraper
How To Make Einkorn Sourdough Bread
Feed your sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting your dough.
Once your starter is nice and active (lots of bubbles), grind einkorn berries, if needed. Skip this step if you have pre-ground flour.
Add flour and salt to a large bowl. Mix together.
Add sourdough starter and water to a large bowl and mix with your hands until it comes together.
Let rest for 15 minutes.
Flatten out dough and then stretch and fold in the edges on all sides. Roll into a ball. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap.
If the dough is sticky, dampen your hands before working with it. This allows you to easily work the dough without adding any extra flour.
Allow to rest again for 20 minutes. Repeat flattening and folding process.
Allow to rest for 20 minutes again and then repeat process another time.
Shape and cover with plastic wrap.
Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 3-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your home.
Shape loaf with hands. Place it in a floured banneton basket. Cover with a plastic bag and place in the fridge overnight.
If you do not have a banneton basket, you could use a piece of parchment paper. Place the dough on the parchment paper, place in a bowl, and cover to rise.
I usually use a plastic grocery bag and tie it to help keep it more air-tight.
The Next Day:
Preheat the oven to 450.
Place dutch oven in the oven and preheat for 30 minutes to an hour.
Once the dutch oven has preheated, take the dough out of the fridge and place onto a sheet of parchment paper.
Score the top of the dough and gently place the parchment paper and dough into the dutch oven, cover with lid, and place in the hot oven.
Bake for 30 minutes with the lid.
Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.
How To Store:
Wrap with beeswax wrap, in a bread box, or in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can also place in a ziplock bag (sliced or whole) and freeze for an extended period of time.
Baker’s Schedule:
The night before: feed sourdough starter.
The Next Morning:
8 AM: Start einkorn sourdough bread dough. Mix together ingredients. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
8:20 AM: Flatten and fold dough. Shape into ball. Place into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Rest for 20 minutes.
8:45 AM: Repeat the same process allowing the dough to rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
9:10 AM: Repeat that same process allowing the dough to rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
9:35 AM: Shape and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 3-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your home.
7 PM: (This time is dependent on when the dough doubles in size) Punch down dough and shape into a ball with hands. Place it in a floured banneton basket. Cover with a plastic bag and place in the fridge overnight.
The Next Day
8 AM: Preheat oven to 450 and allow dutch oven to preheat for 30 minutes to an hour.
9 AM: Take the dough out of the fridge and place onto parchment paper. Score. Place into dutch oven and bake.
How To Make Einkorn Sourdough Bread Loaf
Mix together the dough as previously stated.
Shape loaf with hands and put in a greased loaf pan; allow to rise until doubled in size. This will take around 3-12 hours.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Find More Einkorn Recipes Straight From Our Farmhouse Kitchen
- The Best Einkorn Pie Crust
- Gingerbread Cake With Einkorn Flour
- Einkorn Tortillas
- Einkorn Flatbread
- Berry Crisp Made With Einkorn
- Homemade Gnocchi With Einkorn Flour
- Einkorn Pancakes
If you try this recipe and love it, I would appreciate if you could come back, comment on the post, and give it 5 stars! Thanks.
Einkorn Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose einkorn flour
- 1 cups whole grain einkorn flour
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Feed your sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting your dough.
- Once your starter is nice and active (lots of bubbles), grind einkorn berries, if needed. Skip this step if you have pre-ground flour.
- Add flour, sourdough starter, salt, and water to a large bowl and mix with your hands until it comes together.
- Let rest for 15 minutes.
- Flatten out dough and then stretch and fold in the edges on all sides. Roll into a ball. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap.
- Allow to rest again for 20 minutes.
- Repeat flattening and folding process. Allow to rest for 20 minutes again and then repeat process another time.
- Shape and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 3-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your home.
- Shape loaf with hands. Place it in a floured banneton basket.
- Cover with plastic bag and place in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- Place dutch oven in the oven and preheat for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Once the dutch oven has preheated, take the dough out of the fridge and place onto a sheet of parchment paper.
- Score the top of the dough and gently place the parchment paper and dough into the dutch oven, cover with lid, and place in the hot oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes with the lid.
- Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
- If you want your bread to be 100% einkorn, start your sourdough starter with einkorn flour, or convert your current starter to einkorn flour.
- Working with einkorn flour is different from conventional wheat. It yields a much stickier dough and can be tricky to shape.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Hi Lisa!
Did you recently change this recipe to reduce the freshly milled grain and the flour by 1/2 cup each? I’m coming back to this recipe after a few months of trying out some others, and the ratios seem different from what I remember. I see a few comments about the dough being too dry, so I’m curious if you made a change. I know sourdough varies greatly from person to person depending on the flour they use, the humidity of their home, etc. I’m able to modify the recipe to get my desired results, but just wondering if I’m remembering it wrong or if a change was made.
In any case, I’ve greatly enjoyed this recipe along with so many other ones you have shared.
I’m looking for an einkorn loaf that I can use my Kitchenaid to do most of the work. Can this recipe be converted to use the stand mixer?
I haven’t tried that, but I bet you could.
Can I use freshly milled hard white wheat in place of the all purpose eikorn?
Yes, that should work.
I am new to sourdough bread making and this was the easiest and best recipe I have tried. Thank you!
That is fantastic to hear!
After I shape and place in the banneton basket do I need to place in the oven or can I just let it proof for a bit in the basket then cook it? I followed the recipe and after I took it out of the fridge the next morning my dough had fallen and when cooked it was a bit dense.
You can cook it straight away or just not leave it in the fridge for that long!
Do I need to put the dough in the fridge overnight for the loaf pan? If so does it go in the fridge in the loaf pan? I’m not sure but my dough has already doubled in size and now I’m not sure if I rise it again in the loaf pan or put it overnight in the fridge. Please help…
Yes, that is fine to put it in the fridge overnight.
So, if I’m reading this correctly… for sandwich loaf you don’t proof overnight in the fridge? Just 3-12 hours in the loaf pan? Thanks for writing all this up! Thinking about dipping my toes in this. We avoid gluten, but I’m wondering if this would work for our digestive systems.
Yes, but you can always proof it in the fridge still. It just helps to slowly break down the gluten even more!
This isn’t my first rodeo with einkorn sourdough bread. I appreciate the recipe. However, as someone else previously stated, this dough is quite dry. Noting this recipe required 3/4 C more flour than others and the same amount of water and starter. That said, I had to wing it adding more water. Not sure of the outcome.
Einkorn is actually a super thirsty flour and requires more water. I use my regular SD recipe and up the hydration to 80-85% and it works perfect every time. Super smooth and beautiful to touch.
This looks awesome! I love the extra flavor einkorn flour provides.
I have yet to get started with sourdough… If I made a starter with this flour, do you think it could still be utilized in your regular sourdough recipes? (I.e sourdough cinnamon rolls, pancakes etc). I know you mentioned that working with einkorn requires a few tweaks, just wondering what those may be and if you think it would still yield similar results.
You can! It would definitely need adjustments to account for the hydration requirements that einkorn needs.
Hi there,
This is the second time making this loaf and the dough is much less sticky than normal regular sourdough dough and it’s coming out dense when baked- any ideas what i’m doing wrong? thanks!!
There is a learning curve to einkorn. It’s usually a little stickier and more dense than typical sourdough made from all purpose or wheat.
Hi! I am excited to try this recipe. Have you tried adding chocolate chips or dried fruit to this recipe? If so when do you add in the process? Baking this for my kids and want to make sure this loaf gets eaten 🙂
You can add them in just before baking!
I’m new to sourdough and am wondering what the starter should smell like. This probably reveals my ignorance! I’m on day 5 of feeding it and the smell is absolutely overpowering. It’s bubbly everyday, so I think it’s active…Thankful for your recipe, it’s helped me get over the hump of getting started!