Can I just tell you how much I love this cake? It’s a lot! Ever since we last made it, I’ve wanted to make it again. I just need a good excuse. I remember a time when, for some reason, my brother was really into making chocolate cake. He had gotten this recipe down for really dense, moist chocolate cake. He made it almost every night for a while, and I do not exaggerate. Well, just a few weeks ago I was thinking how much I missed that and how long it had been since I had a really good chocolate cake. So when we started developing this recipe, I was excited to find a healthy alternative to the rich chocolate cake my brother used to make. And let me tell you, I certainly didn’t feel like I was eating health food.
You’ll notice the richness and moisture of this cake. We adapted the Green Smoothie Girl’s method for adding steamed beets to chocolate cake. Continue reading →
Let’s continue our discussion about methods for making healthy bread by talking about how to make your own sourdough start. A handy thing to know if you want to make your own healthy einkorn bread.
As you may know, sourdough bread rises without the use of packaged yeast. The bread dough undergoes a fermentation that causes it to rise.
But about how does one get a sourdough start to begin with?
You can either get one from someone you know or make one yourself. Even if you are making einkorn sourdough bread, you can get a small sourdough start from a friend – it does not have to be einkorn – and use that to begin your einkorn sourdough start by simply feeding it einkorn flour.
But today, I want to share how to create your own sourdough or natural leavening start. Continue reading →
“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”
– Barbara Jordan
I don’t know that I’ve quite learned how to include a nap into my busy schedule every day, but, cookies is a language I speak fluently. From movie nights to dessert after Sunday dinner to an after-school snack for the kids, cookies find their way into our lives. If we’re going to eat them anyway, we might as well make them healthy. That’s why I love this recipe that uses no refined sugar and einkorn flour instead of wheat or white flour.
Einkorn has many great health benefits and is easier on our digestive system. So, I believe that desserts don’t need to be an exception. If we can make a delicious, healthy cookie, then why not? Well that’s exactly what this is.
I was actually blown away by how great this cookie tasted. Let’s be real, sometimes we make sacrifices to be healthy. Because of how much we want to take care of our bodies, we eat things that are tolerable but, in all actuality, just aren’t as tasty as that bacon cheeseburger from Wendy’s. So we opt for whole wheat pancakes in stead of fluffy white pancakes that probably taste better. Well, judge for yourself, but I do not believe that to be the case with these cookies. I didn’t feel like I was sacrificing at all. I’d make this my go-to cookie. Try it yourself, and see!
Who doesn’t love a good cheesecake? Well, you might not love it if you can’t eat it because you want to keep your body heathy. I wanted to make a delicious-sounding lemon dessert for a function I was going to. But I couldn’t feel good about making the crust as it was in the recipe. So, I invented my own! This recipe has been a huge success on this end. It can be used for any kind of dessert which is good news for all the die-hard cheesecake lovers in my vicinity.
Say goodbye to sketchy graham cracker crusts and hello to this healthy option made with all natural ingredients. Now, just a couple of notes:
1. The butter can be substituted for coconut oil if desired.
2. It’s ok if it sticks to your fingers a little bit as long as it’s all in one clump.
3. Don’t overbake. It should be golden brown. It will get really hard if overdone. Kinda ruins a cheescake.
4. For cold desserts, let it cool completely before adding the other ingredients.
So, it’s bread day again. That full day of mixing, shaping, and waiting that you squeeze into an already-hectic week. But then you go to your cupboard and discover that you’re out of oil.
Simple 3-Ingredient “Pioneer” Bread. Click the picture to go to the recipe.
Before you lean your head against the cupboard in despair and frustration, try this simple recipe for einkorn bread with only 3 ingredients! Or even if you’re not out of anything, you can make a nice bread without honey or oil. As you might imagine, this bread will be a little different, but believe it or not, it is possible!
Without honey or oil, this bread will be a little denser than other bread but it will still rise. Here are some things to keep in mind.
1. Try to catch your start right when it’s ready. This bread took us a couple attempts. One of the problems the first time was the start had gone a little far. So catch it right at this stage:
2. As with the other bread recipe, this bread works best if you add only half the flour at first and let it sit for a couple of hours. This is especially important for this recipe. There is no sugar in this recipe to feed the natural yeast, so it needs all the help it can get to rise properly.
3. Getting the exact amount of flour can be a little tricky. Forget everything you used to know about bread dough. Einkorn is really sticky especially in a recipe with no oil. So, it tends to clump in the middle and leave some dough sticking to the sides. That’s ok! Also, it will probably stick to your fingers even after you’ve added enough flour. Don’t over knead it. It’s hard enough to work with as it is. So, it’s ok if you want to hit something as you try to get it out of the bowl.
4. Let it rise in a bowl for as long as it needs. It should rise but probably not as much as normal bread.
With these tips in mind, you are ready to make this 3-ingredient pioneer bread! Enjoy!
I’m going to call these muffins a delicious accident. It wasn’t a complete accident. I wanted to make some banana muffins that I often do but I didn’t have any bananas. So, I decided on pumpkin chocolate chip. I just started kind of throwing in things from there. They turned out great! And I can tell you, they didn’t last long.
Check out this recipe! It’s perfect for breakfast or really anything you want.
For those of you who miss muffins in the morning, here is a great option that won’t be hard on your digestion. They’re made with einkorn which we know is easier on the digestive system than regular wheat (Go here for details). Even besides that, though, these yummy muffins are naturally leavened using a sourdough start. That’s what you call a win-win. The fermentation process begins breaking down the grains before we ever consume them. But don’t worry, if the start is used right when it’s ready, there won’t be any sourness in these muffins. Enjoy!
Ok, first of all, don’t give up! I had quite the adventure figuring out how to make this recipe work for me. Einkorn is a little different. I get it. It’s SO worth it! There’s a learning curve. Second, time and measurments are more about consistency than exactness. The truth is, I can’t tell you exactly how long this bread takes. It could be six hours; it could be twelve. It depends on a lot of variables.
If you feel like your dough is taking a lifetime to rise, you’re probably not alone. So before you swear off natural leavening forever, please watch Continue reading →
Last night, I made pizza with Einkorn Flour. I literally pulled it out of the oven to let it cool, went upstairs and came back down to the ENTIRE pizza gone. My family consumed it in the minutes I was gone!
Luckily I had frozen the other half of the dough so I made another pizza.
Last week, I shared my tips for baking with einkorn but I failed to include my Einkorn Dinner Rolls recipe.
These are simple old-fashioned rolls with the wonderful taste of Einkorn. I bake them in cake pans but you can also bake them in small loaf pans for tiny loafs of bread!
Give it a try yourself! For the recipe… Click here
Since I started baking with Einkorn Flour, I’ve learned a thing or two, and I’ve decided to share my tips. For many of you, this is the post you have been waiting for so I hope you enjoy!
Baking with einkorn flour requires some tweaks but the health benefits of einkorn are worth it, and my persistence is paying off!
I’ll show you how I mill einkorn flour, adapt recipes for einkorn, make white einkorn flour, and add a lovely artisan crust to my einkorn breads.
This slow rise einkorn bread is really quite a treat. Is there anything quite like an artisan bread that has slowly developed flavors, with a hard crust and chewy middle? No, no there really isn’t. The key to the beautiful crust is a dutch oven. The heavy pot with the tight lid that seals on top simulates a professional bread oven circulating the stem back upon itself. It’s as close as we will get to the real thing here at home.
1. Proof 1/2 tsp of yeast in the warm water. I tend to go a little on the hotter side, as long as you don’t go over 110 degrees you are ok.
2. Sift 5 Cups of Einkorn flour, 1/2 tsp sea salt, and 1/3 c powdered milk together.
3. Add the water/yeast mixture into your dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. The dough will be fairly sticky.
4. Scrape the sides of your bowl down to incorporate then cover with plastic wrap.
5. Let it rise for 14 hours in a dark place. The slow rise develops volume and flavor at the same time.
6. After 14 hours preheat your oven to 500 with the dutch oven AND lid in the middle of your oven. This dutch oven is the key to the artisan type of bread.
7. Turn your dough out onto a floured surface. Don’t work the dough too much. I fold each side of the dough inward like an envelope to create some more pockets of air.
8. Once your oven is preheated, place your loaf into the dutch oven, place the lid on it and close your oven. Do this as quick as possible so you do not lose your heat.
9. Bake for 35 minutes, take the lid off and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
10. Cool on a rack until completely cool.
11. Enjoy!
(For a more detailed version of this recipe go, HERE)
Who doesn’t like biscuits? These Einkorn biscuits are flaky and light. The Einkorn flour softness contributes to the softness of the biscuits and make them an ideal Breakfast!
Actually these are so good they are great for anytime of the day. I loved how well they turned out so much that I took them to a dinner party that night and they were a huge hit!
My first attempt at making einkorn carrot cake did not go well at all. To add to the blunder, it was supposed to be for a birthday so I was quite disappointed because it turned out to be more like einkorn pudding in a cake pan :/
As you can imagine, the “pudding birthday cake” only made me more determined to get this right. And that’s just what I did!
My second try turned out so well! 🙂 You can get my recipe here
Einkorn Carrot Cake
The cake was spongy, moist, and had a delicious flavor. My family loved it so much that they nearly finished off the entire pan. It’s very healthy (as cakes go) so it was a score in every way.
Baking with einkorn takes some practice because it absorbs less water, and it looks like it is baked long before it’s ready to take out of the oven. I’ve been told that I should use 25% less water when baking with einkorn. That seems to be true.
Share your experiences with einkorn baking in the comments below.
If you’re like me, you often prefer a wrap over a piece of bread. That’s why I searched and tested until I had this simple, yet most delicious, recipe for einkorn farro tortillas.
Fresh Einkorn Tortillas Ready to Cook
We use tortillas to make wraps filled with all the usual suspects – quinoa, beans, lettuce, salsa, avocado, and cheese. And here’s a secret for which you may (or may not) thank me: these tortillas make for especially tasty quesadillas.
This tortilla recipe is fast and easy to make. You can see my simple instructions and ingredients list under our recipes page here: Einkorn Tortillas Recipe. If you do have questions, feel free to contact us because getting them just right is a bit of an art.