This is my favorite flour!
I make a soaked wheat Irish Soda Bread - mainly because my family loves it but also because it's so easy. I use this flour in an effort to avoid modern hybridized-to-death wheat and get back to basics. [Next step - grinding my own grain! Yup, Amazon has grain mills...]
I agree with others here that it uses less liquid than modern wheat, that has been my experience as well. I mix my flour and the liquid and a bit of lemon juice for acid content and let it sit, covered with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out, on the counter for 24 hours. After that soak, I mix in my salt and baking soda and any dried fruit I feel like adding. Then I pour it into buttered and floured loaf pans and bake. That's all there is to it. With this flour it is a cross between a batter and a dough, but the bread is the best I've ever made - all without yeast, too.
Einkorn, unlike modern wheat, is a diploid grain meaning it has 2 genes that code for normal proteins. Modern wheat is hexaploid and some of it's 23,600 proteins are not normal or natural at all - possibly contributing to the issues people have today with wheat.
Soaking flour in an acidic medium (10%) is a great way to eliminate those mineral-binding phytates. Soaking activates phytase which almost completely neutralizes phytic acid in wheats, rye, barley and buckwheat. It also makes the gluten proteins more digestible by activating other enzymes and nutrients. Use very warm liquid, the same temperature as hot tap water, and either lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for the acid. Soak your bread dough or batters for 12-24 hours and then finish and bake. It's easy to do and makes everything baked more nutritious. For me, it's easier to do this than not, because it splits the work over two days rather than all in the same day. Here's my recipe, mine is always a batter-dough cross, never a true dough so I always use loaf pans. Eat Well!
Molly's Irish Soda Bread
Makes 2 loaves
4 1/2 Cups organic einkorn flour
3 Tablespoons pasture butter
2 Cups raw milk with 3T removed and 3T organic raw apple cider vinegar added just before adding to flour
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2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
The day or the night before, put the flour into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with fingers until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of a pea. Warm the milk slightly in a pan on the stove but do not simmer - that's too warm. About the temperature of hot tap water is fine. The vinegar (or lemon juice) will sour the milk, but it will also clabber the milk proteins, so dump it into the warmed milk and mix quick! Then pour all into the flour-butter mixture and fold in fast, and let sit to soak.
This will be a cross between a dough and a batter, as long as all the flour is moistened, just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for 12-24 hours. Depending on the flour used [emmer, kamut, modern wheat], it may form an actual dough; if so knead carefully with your hands in the bowl until it just comes together to form a moist, slightly sticky dough (if it is really wet, you can add a little more flour, but don’t make it too dry! Also, don’t over knead!)
Leave out on the counter top or in a warm place overnight. Whenever you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the baking soda and salt in a small separate bowl. Butter and flour 2 glass or ceramic loaf pans.
The doughy batter should be light and fluffy now. If it's still a cross between a dough and a batter, sprinkle 1/3 of the soda-salt mixture on top and fold in about 3-4 times. Repeat two more times. Divide between the loaf pans and bake at 350'F for 35 minutes, then reduce oven to 300'F and bake for 10-20 minutes more or until done. The tops will be dark golden brown and they will be solid but hollow sounding if tapped on top.
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If this is a dough, take it out of the bowl and press into a thick circle on a breadboard (use flour to prevent sticking). Pour about half of the soda-salt mixture on the dough And then fold in half, Flatten out a bit again, and then pour the rest on it and fold again. Now gently fold and knead the dough about 8 to 10 times. You will almost feel like it won’t come together and then all of a sudden it will.
Cut the dough in half, and gently form into 6 inch domed circle loaves, place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, and cut an X on the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Use parchment, fresh soaked breads will oxidize an aluminum baking sheet, and who needs Al in their bread? If you prefer loaf pans, use them instead.
Pop them in the middle of the oven for about 40-55 minutes, until golden brown on top and bottom, and they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, middle of the loaf. Cool on cooling racks and enjoy with lots of pasture butter or clotted cream, and jam or curd!
Note:
You can add spices with the salt and soda, such as cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice.
You can also add herbs, how about rosemary soda bread? It's wonderful!
Some like to add 1 cup of raisins or dried cranberries or chopped figs or dates.
Updates 5/12/16:
1 - You cannot over-beat a soaked flour recipe - it's the opposite of what works for the usual, non-soaked flour baked goods. Remember we were all told not to over mix our cakes and breads or it would develop too much gluten and become tough? Well, not so with soaked flours, and especially not so with ancient grains! Beat away! I stir/beat until my arm gives out, and my breads are nice and light. Please experiment for yourself and find what works for you.
2 - Some days my dough is wetter than usual, even though I use the exact same measurements each time. Humidity, maybe? When it is too wet, it won't cook through so please determine if you need to add a bit more flour to prevent this.
3 - You can cut the acid to 2T especially as it turns raw milk (which I use) into cheese curds almost immediately.
4 - I have not tried using all water, but I have used 1/2 C milk and the rest water - works fine.
5 - I suspect any milk will work fine, possibly even just all water. Try nut milks if you cannot use dairy, and goat milk if that works for you. I have not used nut milks nor goat milk, so I cannot speak from experience here, but start by adding a bit less liquid if using all water or nut milk as dairy has "thickness" to it in the form of proteins and fat (it's not 100% water). Then check your dough and determine if more liquid is needed. For the first time or two, mix up your liquid and acid in the measuring cup and just don't pour it all in until you stir and determine if it's all needed - that way you won't make the dough too wet.
6 - For added nutrition add in 1-2 eggs (they add protein and healthy fats and vitamins as well as working as a binder). I have used duck and chicken eggs, they work fine.
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