A simple soaked sandwich bread recipe using kefir as the soaking medium that is light on the stomach, digestible, easy to make, soft, and delicious!
Making traditionally prepared bread by soaking flour overnight (as opposed to modern, difficult-to-digest yeasted bread) can be a bit tricky to master.
No one wants to waste quality ingredients not to mention precious time on failed attempts!
To make a long story short, it took me a little trial and error to get the recipe to work, but the results are awesome!
You can even slice the loaf for soaked sandwich bread!
*Note that the texture of soaked bread is quite a bit softer than sprouted or sourdough sandwich bread.
Please note that I only use einkorn flour to make this loaf, so if you want to try making it with another type of flour, it may take a couple of attempts to get it exactly right.
Why do I prefer einkorn as the best form of wheat?
Einkorn is the only form of nonhybridized wheat on the planet and contains good gluten (the kind many people are NOT allergic to!).
My friend Cathi who shared this recipe with me uses spelt flour. Based on our joint experience, it should work the very first try with either einkorn or spelt.
Other types of flour may take a bit of trial and error on your part to perfect.
Preparation Tips
Please note that you must soak the flour for this recipe using raw, homemade kefir made with live grains (not powdered starter).
**The dough does not rise as well if you soak the flour using raw yogurt, clabbered raw milk or buttermilk. The recipe also does not work well with plain store-bought kefir, likely because commercial versions are not fermented properly.
I recommend using unsprouted flour for this recipe. The texture turns out better. Sprouted flour is best reserved for recipes where the flour is not soaked.
Do not substitute raw honey instead of the sucanat as cooking honey is not healthy.
Once you’ve made your loaf, be sure to save the crusts! You can make homemade breadcrumbs with them!
If you love this soaked bread, try these other recipes that use soaked flour too!
- Soaked Devil’s Food Cake (yogurt works great for this recipe)
- How to Make Soaked Bread in a Bread Machine (any fermented dairy medium)
- Soaked Pancakes (dairy-free)
Soaked Sandwich Bread Recipe
Easy soaked bread recipe that can be sliced and used for sandwiches as well.
Ingredients
- 6 cups flour freshly ground einkorn or spelt recommended
- 3 cups raw kefir
- 2 Tbsp butter preferably grassfed and organic
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sucanat or organic brown cane sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
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Mix 3 cups of flour and 3 cups of kefir well, cover with a clean cloth and let sit on the kitchen counter for 12-24 hours. After soaking, the dough should be liquid-y and very bubbly.
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Add baking soda, sweetener, coconut oil or butter and 3 more cups of flour. Stick to 6 cups of flour and don’t add more even if tempted to do so based on consistency of the dough.
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Mix well for 3-4 minutes. The resulting dough should be soft and easily workable with your hands.
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Divide loaf into 2 … put in 2 buttered loaf pans (these are what I use) or make 1 huge loaf with a single large loaf pan.
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Let the pan(s) sit lightly covered with a clean cloth for another 12 hours on the kitchen counter. The dough will rise nicely in the pan(s) so allow for enough room at the top or it will spill over the sides.
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Bake at 350 ºF (177 ºC) for 30 minutes for 2 smaller loaves and 350 ºF (177 ºC) for 55 minutes for 1 large loaf of soaked bread. Check that a knife inserted in the center comes out clean to ensure that the bread is done.
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Once cooled, slice into sandwich slices. Enjoy immediately and refrigerate what will not be used up within 24 hours.
Oh Sara, I love you!!!! In the past, I was so looking for a bread recipe just like this one in your blog but I was unable to find any of this kind before. I went to search to other traditional nourishing blogs but any recipe really convinced me. The bread recipes from nourishing traditions recipe book intimidate me a little bit. This one is just perfect. We are a Waldorf home so making bread is a must in our home weekly rhythm. I cant wait to make it this coming Thursday…our bread day! Thanks so much!
I love your site. I love most of your recipes. And I am moving to what you call traditional cooking more and more. What I find difficult is your dependence on raw dairy. Where we live we simply cannot get raw dairy and when you insist that it ‘won’t work’ with pasteurized (not homogenized) dairy I just want to give up and go away. It is illegal in any form to sell (or even share via a CSA type approach) raw dairy. It is being fought in the Supreme Court but it is still unattainable. I’m loathe to even attempt your recipes that call for raw dairy because I don’t want to waste the ingredients and because you are so insistent that it “won’t work”.
I think she has found what works for her, and is sharing it with others who have access to the same foods. She puts the warning of it not working with denatured milk so that those who dont have raw will not waste the ingredients, not to upset those who don’t have the ingredients. You might try sourdough bread, as you do not need kefir to make it and it breaks down phytic acid too. In many states raw milk sales and herd shares are legal, some are not, but doesnt mean you can’t make a private deal with a farmer who you know has what you are seeking 🙂
I’m not sure what you mean by raw kefir. Are you just speaking of homemade, or does it have to be make with raw milk?
I made this yesterday and we love it. Will become a standard recipe. Thank you so much for it. My question is: Do the probiotic benefits of the raw dairy keifer make it through the baking temperature?
Where do I purchase raw kefir?
thanks
Thanks so much for this recipe. I had everything on hand and it turned out wonderful. Just a slight sour taste and so much better than other times in the past when I made bread using sourdough starter with varied results. I did add one teaspoon of sea salt to mine but felt it could be more. Is there a reason you didn’t list salt in the ingredients?
Ok, really frustrated. I just wasted my Einkorn trying to make this recipe. I followed directions closely.
Used my own raw milk kefir from our cow. After 20 hrs soaking and 3 more cups flour added to the original 3 cups and 3 cups of kefir, I had gruel. I know you said not to add flour but it was pudding!
I added at least 2 more cups, gradually and it’s still unmanageable, just beginning to pull away from sides of bowl.
After trying to get it out of Bostch and into pans, my bowl, myself, and my counters are covered in very sticky non handleable dough.
I have no idea what went wrong but it is so very wrong. I have made bread for yrs and never seen this.
What happened?
Thanks, Sue
It works perfectly for both myself and my friend Cathi who uses spelt (I use einkorn). Please note I mentioned not to add any additional flour. 2 more cups added is a big change to the recipe which likely is the reason it failed. Sorry about that 🙁
Sarah, why does it take 20 minutes longer to bake a single loaf vs. two?
When you divide the batter into 2 pans, it cooks more quickly than the larger amount all together in a single larger pan.
How would this recipe compare to a sourdough recipe as far as digestibility, etc?
Hello Sarah, I have a question about how to properly re-heat sourdough bread. I purchase my sourdough and freeze the bread to preserve for the week. Would you please share what the accurate time and temp are for re-heating in the oven and whether I should bake or broil. I typically broil pieces of bread on 355 for 5 minutes flipin it over for another 2 min.s b/c I like the way the bread is warm but, a bit crispy. But, this particular bread is denser (whole wheat & Semolina). And I will use it for homemade pizza.
Thank you!