Soaked Whole Wheat Bread

For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on adapting my foolproof whole wheat bread recipe to be a “soaked” recipe.  If you’re not familiar with this concept, soaking involves combining the flour with an acid (like yogurt, whey, cultured buttermilk, or vinegar) for a 12-24 hour soak in order to reduce the phytic acid in the grain.

Up to this point, I have not soaked my grains on a regular basis, nor to I intend to do so all the time.  But I wanted to adapt my recipe so that others who do soak their grains could use it, and I wanted to start introducing grains to our son (we waited until he turned one).  I am starting to feed him soaked grains because the soaking makes them more digestible (grains are one of the hardest things for the body to digest, and little tummies need some extra help at the beginning!).

I have made this recipe this way at least eight times, and it’s always turned out well (except for the one time I was in a hurry and forgot to add the salt!).  Your bread will be affected flavor-wise by the kind of yogurt you use.  I’ve used three different kinds of yogurt (homemade, crockpot version; homemade, counter-top version; and storebought plain Greek) and each one imparts a slightly different flavor to the finished loaf (though you may not even notice it).

Soaked bread tastes a little more like sourdough bread than my regular recipe.  If you’re not having any issues with digesting grains, you may want to stick with that recipe.  But if you find that your body does better when your grains are soaked, sprouted, or soured, you might enjoy this recipe!

Soaked Whole Wheat Bread Recipe     (Printable recipe here.)

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. yogurt

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. sucanat
2 Tbsp. wheat gluten
2 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

The night before you want to bake bread, grind your wheat in the WonderMill.

In a glass or ceramic bowl, combine flour, water, and yogurt.  Cover, and let soak at room temperature overnight (12 hours).

In the morning, uncover the bowl and put the soaked dough into your stand mixer.  Add yeast, salt, sucanat, gluten, and olive oil.  Using the dough hook, mix for a few minutes until well-incorporated.

Cover bowl and let rest for 45-60 minutes.

Grease a loaf pan.

After rest, oil the countertop and your hands and dump the dough onto the surface.  Knead the dough a couple of times, then roll it up into a loaf shape.

Place the dough into the greased bread pan.  Slash the top of the loaf and cover with plastic wrap.

Place pan in the fridge for 2 hours.

Towards the end of the refrigerator rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the loaf from the fridge, take off the plastic wrap, and allow it to sit on top of the preheating oven.

Bake for 34-35 minutes.  Let loaf sit in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

*If you’re wondering what the actual “schedule” looks like when soaking bread, here is what mine is usually like:
8:00 PM Grind wheat and start soak
8:00 AM Add other ingredients
8:15 AM Rest
9:00 AM Shape loaf
10:50 AM Preheat oven
11:00 AM Bake loaf
11:35 AM Remove loaf from oven
11:40 AM Remove loaf from pan and cool
This schedule allows me to use the bread for lunch that day, if needed.  It slices best when completely cool, but it’s doable after 45 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

About Feathers in Our Nest

Aliesha is a wife to a handsome husband and a mother to three sweet children (age 3 and under!).  When she is not chasing her busy kiddos, she enjoys cooking, baking, reading, decorating, crafting, and blogging.  Her blog home is Feathers in Our Nest, where she writes about family, faith, food, and more.  Aliesha is passionate about healthy eating, natural parenting, and ministering to others around her.

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2 Responses to Soaked Whole Wheat Bread

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  2. Roseanna says:

    THIS BREAD IS SO GOOD I ALMOST CRIED!! I’ve searched for a year for a whole wheat bread that rivals the texture of store bought soft wheat, one brick after another or the bread was OK but still lacking. BUT NOT THIS TIME !! I followed to a t the original recipe, I was worried about 2 T. Raw sugar , but it was just right ( I’ll still cut it to 1+1/2T. For my personal preference) I also used my food processor to kneed I just didn’t feel like lugging out the kitchen aid for one loaf of bread! Next time I’ll lug it out cause next time I’ll double the recipe, it’s that good. Soft , fluffy, raised for a stellar presentation and healthy! What more could one want…thank you!!

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