If I had had time yesterday to participate in the Tuesday Twister (better go add myself now), I would have shared that I made these gluten-free soaked biscuits. They are moist, light, and tasty – even after three days. This is a gluten-free and soaked version of my cinnamon and honey sprouted spelt biscuits.

For the gluten-free flour blend, I used equal parts of these fresh-ground flours: millet, sweet brown rice, hulled buckwheat, and tapioca.

Makes about 24 biscuits

• 2 cups gluten-free flour blend (cannot be warm from grinding or will melt the coconut oil)
• 6 generous tablespoons unrefined, virgin coconut oil, chilled if liquefied at room temp (like during the summer)
• 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar, kefir, Kombucha, yogurt, or whey
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons raw milk, coconut milk, or nut milk (or even water)
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of additional raw milk

Cut coconut oil into flour with a pastry cutter or fork, until coconut oil is the size of peas or smaller. Lightly stir in the raw apple cider vinegar and milk. Cover and leave on the counter for 8 hours or overnight.

The next day…

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix in the honey, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt – gently. If it is not mixing well and needs a bit more moisture to make a workable biscuit dough, add additional milk as needed.

Transfer the dough to a clean, floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2″ squares.

Transfer squares to a coconut-oiled cookie sheet, leaving space between. Put sheet in oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to drying rack. Eat!

I got a little booklet the other day, Baking with Sourdough by Sara Pitzer (see Resources for sources). This is an inexpensive 32-page booklet with many sourdough recipes. The only disappointment is that few of them are whole-grain. But what I really need to learn is there: the principles and the basic formulas. I used the Old-Fashioned Pancakes recipe for ideas on how to create these pancakes.

Another book I was reading recently – Wilderness Cooking – mentioned that baking soda and sourdough have an amazing reaction that fluffs up batters. I really saw that in action on this recipe. I’ve never seen such a fluffy batter!

The whole wheat pastry flour makes these pancakes white-flour soft and light. Give them a try – your family will love them!

See all Basic Recipes.

Makes 30+ pancakes

• 1 cup fed sourdough starter
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3-1/2 to 4 cups raw milk
• 2 pastured eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

The evening before, or 12 hours before, combine fed starter, flour and milk in a medium or large mixing bowl. Mix until smooth. Cover with a towel and leave out at room temperature for twelve hours, or overnight.

After resting time, pre-heat a seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Whisk eggs, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Add to the flour/starter mixture. Mix until smooth – but don’t beat.

Put butter or coconut oil in the skillet as needed to prevent sticking.

Pour batter by 1/4 to 1/3 cup scoops into the skillet. Turn when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Cook the second side until it is browned also. Adjust heat of burner as necessary. Add more oil as necessary.

Garnish with butter or coconut oil and grade B maple syrup. Yumm!

© Copyright 2009 by Wardeh Harmon.

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Using sprouted flour offers great benefits. First, sprouting the grain neutralizes the naturally-present phytic acid, which ensures maximum mineral absorption. If left alone, the phytic acid would block mineral absorption.

This leads to the second benefit: if using sprouted flour, you don’t have to soak overnight because the phytic acid is already neutralized. These are a make and bake muffin.

Third, sprouting grains increases the nutrition of the grain. For example, when wheat is sprouted, certain B vitamins and vitamin C levels go through the roof.

And finally, sprouted grains digest like vegetables – which is really exciting if you’re trying to watch your carbs!

In case you’re wondering if sprouted flour tastes anything like sprouts, think again – these taste just like any other delicious muffin.

See all basic recipes.

Makes 1 dozen muffins

• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar or Kombucha
• 1 cup raw milk
• 2 local, pastured eggs
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice or Sucanat or other solid natural sweetener (powder in food processor if coarse)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup virgin, unrefined coconut oil (melted if solid at room temperature)
• 2-1/4 cups sprouted spelt flour – here’s how to do it yourself
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

Spices of your choice: (I like…)

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Add-ins of your choice: (I like…)

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped crispy nuts (soaked, then dehydrated ala Nourishing Traditions style)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, apple, or carrot (additional moisture may require additional cooking time)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, apple cider vinegar (or Kombucha), and sweetener. Whisk well. While whisking, add coconut oil.

Combine flour, salt, spices, and baking powder in a separate bowl and fluff with a fork. Add to wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Add add-ins and mix to incorporate.

Fill oiled muffin tin, or paper-lined muffin tin, with the batter to a generous three-quarters full each.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean and muffins are gently browned.

Take out of oven and transfer muffins to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container when fully cooled.

The Gallery of Thanksgiving Sides is coming up on Thursday, November 19 – think about what Thanksgiving side dish you’d like to contribute!

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.

My favorite muffin spice is ginger. In these muffins, it tastes a little bit lemony. So I think adding some poppy seeds to the soaking would be a really nice addition. I’m going to try that next time.

Soaking grains is very important – the step of soaking neutralizes the phytic acid, which, if left unchecked, would block mineral absorption. You might also be interested in the Basic Sprouted Muffin, which uses sprouted flour. Sprouted flour offers the benefit of phytic acid being neutralized, but it also offers additional benefits: it digests like a vegetable, and certain vitamin levels are increased.

See all basic recipes.

Makes 1 dozen muffins

• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar or Kombucha
• 1 cup raw milk
• 2 local, pastured eggs
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice or Sucanat or other solid natural sweetener (powder in food processor if coarse)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup virgin, unrefined coconut oil (melted if solid at room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

Spices of your choice: (I like…)

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Add-ins of your choice: (I like…)

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped crispy nuts (soaked, then dehydrated ala Nourishing Traditions style)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, apple, or carrot (additional moisture may require additional cooking time)

In mixing bowl, combine flour, rolled oats, apple cider vinegar (or Kombucha), and milk. Cover and let soak overnight, up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In separate mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sweetener, and vanilla. While whisking (to avoid cooking the eggs if the coconut oil is on the warm side), add in the coconut oil. Whisk until smooth.

Add salt, baking powder, and spices to the wet ingredients. Whisk fully.

Add wet ingredients to the soaked flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Add add-ins and mix to incorporate.

Fill oiled muffin tin, or paper-lined muffin tin, with the batter to a generous three-quarters full each.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean and muffins are gently browned.

Take out of oven and transfer muffins to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container when fully cooled.

The Gallery of Thanksgiving Sides is coming up on Thursday, November 19 – think about what Thanksgiving side dish you’d like to contribute!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, this week hosted by Cheeseslave.

In my Tuesday Twister this week, I shared that I made Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Bread. It was a big hit with all of us! This technique can be done with savory flavorings, too, such as herbs and/or cheese. I have a hankering to do a feta, olive and oregano loaf.

Making a swirl bread is very easy to do, and it is a frugal, healthy, homemade option to purchasing gourmet breads.

1. Take about a loaf’s worth of dough that has already had a first rise. In fact, it is good to use a little less than a loaf’s worth, so as to make room for all your toppings. I use my sourdough spelt dough.
2. Roll it out to a long rectangle, about 1/2″ thick, keeping its width a little less than the length of the bread pan. For instance, if your bread pan is 9 inches long, keep the width of the dough rectangle about 8 inches.
3. Brush with your choice of virgin coconut oil, melted butter, or olive oil. Then top with your choice of toppings. For cinnamon-raisin swirl bread –> soaked raisins (in water for about 10 minutes to get plump), chopped nuts, cinnamon, and drizzle of honey (or sprinkle of unrefined sugar). For a savory loaf –> herbs, cheeses, olives, sundried tomatoes, etc. I’m dying to try some new things!
4. Roll up the loaf from the short end to the short end. When you get to the end, press it into the loaf.
5. Transfer the loaf/roll into a oil- or butter-rubbed bread pan, keeping the pressed-in end on the bottom of the pan. Cut diagonal slices (about 3 or 4) in the top of the loaf with a serrated knife.
6. Bake according to your bread recipe’s directions. In case of my spelt sourdough bread, I bake for 350 or 375 degrees for about an hour. It is done when nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped.
7. Transfer to a cooling rack. Brush the top with oil or butter, if desired.

Easy-peasy and oh, so delicious! This post is shared in this week’s Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Because this calls for soaking the kamut flour (in order to neutralize phytic acid), plan on making the dough up to 8 hours ahead of time. Even though I balked at soaking a few months’ back, now I find that when it comes time to cook, I’m happy that most of the work is already done!

You may add salt to this dough, but sprinkle it on and work it in after the rest time is over. I prefer to use salty water for boiling and/or to salt the noodles after cooking, which seems easier to me.

• 3 cups kamut or whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 to 1-1/4 cups pure water
• 3 quarts pure water
• 1 tablespoon unrefined sea salt
• 2 tablespoons unrefined virgin coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for tossing noodles
• herbed seasoning salt (optional)

Mix together the flour, apple cider vinegar, and water to form a stiff dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest for 8 hours or overnight.

After time has elapsed and using additional flour, dust a clean countertop. Separate dough into three parts.

With rolling pin, roll out one section of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Using knife or pizza cutter to cut the pasta into 1/2 inch wide strips.

Transfer to a baking sheet and lay out to rest while you repeat the rolling and cutting with the other two sections of dough.

Fill a 6 quart pot half full of pure water. Add the salt and oil to the water.

Bring to a boil.

Carefully add the noodles to the water. Use tongs or a fork to separate the noodles.

Bring back to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, until cooked. Toss the noodles every minute or so in the cooking water, to prevent sticking.

Remove from heat. Drain by pouring contents of pot into a stainless steel colander in the sink. Transfer noodles back to the pot. Toss in additional oil to prevent sticking. Season with herbed seasoning salt (optional).

Enjoy!

© Copyright 2009 by Wardeh Harmon.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, this week hosted by Cheeseslave; and Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.

spelt sourdough sandwich bread

As promised, here is the recipe I’m currently following for spelt sourdough bread – for sandwiches or free-form loaves. I really love working with spelt because the resulting baked goods are usually light, fluffy and moist. Once I get the recipe right, that is.

But working with spelt is different than working with wheat. You use less of it, for one thing. The dough will seem wet (compared to wheat flour dough) but if you add more flour, the dough gets hard and the resulting product is usually dense and heavy. So resist the urge to add more flour. I’ll tell you in the recipe what characteristics of dough you want.

Another difference is that the gluten is more fragile, so you should knead it less than you would wheat. In the Bosch mixer, you’d knead for 6 minutes on speed 2 (newer models), or 4-5 minutes on speed 3 (newer models). Older Bosch models only have speeds 1 and 2 – and 2 is more like speed 3 on the newer models, so you’d be kneading on speed 2 for 4-5 minutes.

A few notes about starter. First, I keep my starter at a thinner, pourable consistency. This is partly out of my hands – I think spelt makes a thinner starter. But I believe it is possible that every person’s starter is a different consistency. Therefore you will want to be ready to adjust the recipe (adding more or less flour, or more or less water) depending on the consistency of your starter. (See my Resources page for sources.)

I want to thank everyone who gave me advice in my post asking for sourdough help. Your guidance was invaluable! My recipe is a spin-off of Heather’s, which she shared in the comments. Since I am working with spelt, and since I believe my starter is a different consistency, I have had to adjust amounts of flour and water.

This recipe can easily be doubled in the Bosch, and perhaps even tripled.

Edit: I have been using this recipe with whole wheat – hard red wheat to be precise. It is lucious bread, too! The differences: wheat makes a thicker starter, so sometimes I use a little less flour because of that. Which is surprising because usually, one needs to use more wheat flour than spelt. This is all about the dough – you want smooth, elastic, not sticky, and not dry. Also, kneading time for whole wheat is 8 to 10 minutes in the Bosch.

See all basic recipes.

Spelt Sourdough Bread

Makes 2 loaves

• 3 cups sourdough starter
• 1 cup pure water
• 1 generous tablespoon sea salt (adjust to taste)
• 5 to 6 cups organic spelt flour, preferably fresh ground, but allowed to cool to room temperature
• more whole spelt flour and pure water for feeding the starter
• extra virgin coconut oil – for oiling bowls, pans, and/or tops of loaves (or grass-fed butter)

Get the starter out of the refrigerator. Feed it with equal parts spelt flour and pure water, so that you can take out 3 cups and still leave starter behind, preferably as much as you took out. Let it come to room temperature, about an hour.

Combine the starter, water and salt in the mixing bowl. Mix on speed 1. Add 4 cups spelt flour. Mix in, still on speed 1. Add 1/4 cup more flour at a time, until the dough is springy and pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. You are looking for the dough to be a bit gloppy and sticky, but still be warm and smooth. Sometimes when you test the dough it really wants to stick to your finger – you want it only mildly sticky and more wanting to stick to itself than you. Make sense? Resist wanting to add more flour; it will not behave like wheat.

If using mixer, increase mixer speed to dough setting (Speed 2 on newer Bosch Universal) and knead for 6 minutes. If using an older Bosch, the speed 2 is like the newer speed 3 – so knead for 4-5 minutes and then check dough for good elasticity. Otherwise, knead by hand for 8 to 12 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.

Transfer dough to a well-oiled large bowl. Rotate dough around so it gets coated on all sides, top and bottom, with the oil in the bowl. Cover bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight, until doubled in size. Or place in a warm location in your home (no more than 80 degrees) for five to six hours, until doubled in size.

spelt sourdough free-form loaf

Separate dough into two portions. Shape loaves and place in oiled loaf pans, or arrange free form on an oiled baking sheet. For loaf pans: cut into top of each loaf 3 times diagonally with a sharp knife. For free-form loaves: cut an X into the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Put pans in a warm place draft-free place to rise, such as near (but not on) the burner that vents the oven’s heat. The rising time here is up to you. I let my loaves double in size and it takes about an hour or two, depending on room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Transfer the pans to the preheated oven. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Turn loaves out onto cooling racks. Brush with oil or butter, or cover with a towel to keep crust soft.

© Copyright 2009 by Wardeh Harmon

Organic spelt (Vita-Spelt company) is available to me for $2.33 per pound. Each loaf uses 1-1/2 pounds of the grain, making each loaf’s cost about $3.49. The sourdough bakery in my area charges $4 to $5 for each loaf, and they are not whole-grain. Even with today’s higher prices for organic grains, my homemade spelt sourdough bread is a frugal and nourishing option. Do you have quality whole-grain sourdough breads available in your area? At what price?

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.

This is a super exciting recipe conversion and I want to thank Mindy, a gnowfglins.com reader and sweet friend! She worked with my whole wheat tortilla recipe and converted it to be a soaked whole wheat tortilla recipe. She shared what she did in the comments of that recipe. I’ll repeat her comment here, and then you can click through to the actual recipe.

I did it! I just removed a tablespoon of water per cup and replaced it with 1 T. raw apple cider vinegar. (I actually halved the recipe this time around.) It worked beautifully. The tortillas tasted just the same! Probably I *did* let it soak a little long – there were a few spots that dried out a little. But they worked back into the dough easily. I actually soaked for a little over what NT recommends – I just didn’t get back to it as soon as I’d have liked. I think optimum would be 12-24 hours. And maybe next time I’ll experiment with letting the dough soak all together in a bowl, and shape it into balls as I make the tortillas. Thanks for providing such a great recipe, Wardeh! My family loves it.

The full recipe is here. The tortillas have always been good. In fact, the recipe could be one of the most popular recipes here. But since realizing that we should be sprouting and/or soaking all grains, I have wanted to provide a tortilla recipe that is 100% healthy. My solution – for our family – has been to make sprouted flour tortillas. But that’s not possible for everyone, because it requires sprouting, dehydrating and grinding equipment. But now thanks to Mindy, we can offer a soaked tortilla dough recipe. If you try the recipe, be sure to comment and let us know what you think.

I’m submitting this post to Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet – because making your own homemade whole wheat tortillas is always less expensive (and definitely more healthy) than store-bought.

The kids just loved these! I made a batch for the kids to take on a road trip, along with ready-to-go mixes of all the dry ingredients, so they can make them up while out of town.

These biscuits are a variation of the Sprouted Spelt Biscuits, which were originally inspired by a recipe for fluffly whole wheat biscuts at The Nourishing Gourmet.

These are just slightly sweet. If you want to sweeten them up more, feel free! (Reduce the milk accordingly.) I’m going to share two versions – a soaked version using spelt flour or an UNsoaked version calling for SPROUTED spelt flour. If you want to use whole wheat pastry flour or sprouted whole wheat flour, choose the appropriate version and use an additional 1/4 cup of flour.

Soaked Version using Whole Spelt Flour

• 2-1/4 cups spelt flour (cannot be warm from grinding or will melt the coconut oil)
• 6 generous tablespoons unrefined, virgin coconut oil, chilled if liquefied at room temp (like during the summer)

Cut coconut oil into flour with a pastry cutter or fork, until coconut oil is the size of peas or smaller. Lightly stir in the following, then cover and leave on the counter for 8 hours or overnight:

• 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar, kefir, Kombucha, yogurt, or whey
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons raw milk, coconut milk, or nut milk (or even water)

The next day, mix in (gently!):

• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Finally, gently work in:

• a handful of raisins, about 1/3 cup is good

Transfer the dough to a clean, floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2″ squares.

Transfer squares to a coconut-oiled cookie sheet, leaving space between. Put sheet in oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack. Eat! You can also turn them into yummy scones!

UNsoaked Version using SPROUTED Spelt Flour

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine:

• 2-1/4 cups sprouted spelt flour (cannot be warm from grinding or will melt the coconut oil)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Cut the following amount of coconut oil into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or fork, until coconut oil is the size of peas or smaller.

• 6 generous tablespoons unrefined, virgin coconut oil, chilled if liquefied at room temp (like during the summer)

In a measuring cup, combine:

• 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar, kefir, Kombucha, yogurt, or whey
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons raw milk, coconut milk, or nut milk (or even water)
• 2 tablespoons raw honey

Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (gently!) Finally, gently work in:

• a handful of raisins, about 1/3 cup is good

Transfer the dough to a clean, floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2″ squares.

Transfer squares to a coconut-oiled cookie sheet, leaving space between. Put sheet in oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack. Eat! You can also turn them into yummy scones!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, this week hosted by Cheeseslave!

I made over an old, favorite recipe yesterday: Carrot Cake/Bars. As part of our Beyond Sugar challenge during the month of May, my family is not consuming sweeteners, natural or refined.

But I decided to fix a treat once a week or less using whole fruits as sweetening. Whole fruits come with nutrients, fiber and water. The recipe now calls for sprouted spelt flour and coconut oil. The carrot bars hit the spot! I hope you enjoy them. Go to the Carrot Cake/Bars Recipe to see the updated changes.