Irish Soda Bread Recipe Prepared with Einkorn Flour (2024)

FAQs

Is Einkorn flour good for baking bread? ›

Einkorn is about as different from modern wheat as you can get (and still be wheat). It has low gluten strength, is not very absorbent, and makes a sticky dough; but bread made from it can still be quite aerated, even when it's the only flour used in the dough, such as in this naturally leavened einkorn bread.

If your bread dough mixes up at a normal texture because you add more flour to lessen its sticky texture, your dough will end up drying up and baking dense later because einkorn absorbs liquids much slower than regular wheat.

Containing just four ingredients — all-purpose wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk — this Irish soda bread recipe is very much in line with what's eaten in Ireland. In addition to this version made with white flour, the Irish do make a whole wheat (aka wholemeal) variety as well.

Since einkorn has a very weak gluten, it is better to underproof and only allow the dough to rise by 40-50%. If you allow the dough to double, it will deflate in the oven. When baking with yeast, watch your dough carefully and do not allow the dough to over-proof.

Virgin Wheat flour uses the grain einkorn rather than regular refined wheat grains. It is non-processed, non-hybridized, non-GMO and has a low glycemic load, meaning it won't spike your blood sugar level.

Yeasted einkorn dough doesn't rise like modern wheat dough.

This is particularly true with einkorn bread. Don't expect big, fluffy dough during the initial rise. Yeasted einkorn dough does not double in size like modern wheat yeasted dough. This can also be expected when baking the dough.

Einkorn Flour absorbs less water and at a much slower pace than all purpose flour. Because of this, a great conversion rate in recipes is to use an extra 1/4 cup of einkorn for every 1 cup of all purpose.

Soaking them for at least seven hours allows the enzymes to break down and neutralize the phytic acid. Then, more of the good nutrients in the grain are released and all the good stuff is more readily absorbed in our systems and the grain is digested much more easily.

While einkorn is high in protein, its gluten properties aren't the same as modern wheat. This results in a dough that can be overly sticky and wet by the end of bulk fermentation.

If your Irish soda bread is too crumbly, it may be because you overmixed the dough. Another possibility is that your baking soda was expired and should be replaced. Make sure you are using the correct amount of baking soda in the recipe. Too much or too little can result in a crumbly loaf.

What is special about Irish soda bread? ›

Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that does not require any yeast. Instead, all of its leavening comes from baking soda and buttermilk. This Irish soda bread recipe is my grandmother's and has been cherished in my family for years. It's dense, yet soft and has the most incredible crusty exterior.

Tips from our Bakers. Our Irish-style flour will result in a soda bread with superior flavor and texture. Substituting premium whole wheat or white whole wheat flour is fine, but you'll want to reduce the amount of whole wheat to 2 1/4 cups and substitute the bread flour with all-purpose flour.

Sifting makes the einkorn flour much easier to mix into the other ingredients without lumps forming. This is especially important for einkorn flour because it is slower to absorb the liquids in the recipe than regular all-purpose flour and you can end up with dry flour clumps if not careful.

Properly stored, einkorn berries (unmilled) last for years, making it more affordable to stock up. Flour oxidizes and loses its nutrients over time. If not kept properly, flour will go rancid. Milling einkorn flour at home is easier than ever, thanks to modern electric countertop mills.

A: Yes. For things like roux, Einkorn (along with fat) will thicken juices. Breads and the like take a bit more practice as this wheat (not being hybridized and processed within an inch of it's life) is not the light and fluffy stuff we're used to in processed high gluten US wheat.

As mentioned earlier, Einkorn definitely acts differently than other types of flour. It's really important to remember this and keep it in mind. You cannot (usually) take a regular wheat flour bread recipe and replace the wheat flour with einkorn without making some adjustments.

There are two ways to make a sourdough starter with einkorn. You can start from scratch with our sourdough starter recipe using einkorn flour OR you can convert the sourdough starter that you already have.

And while einkorn does contain gluten, it is a different type of gluten and allows for easier digestion and nutrient absorption. Einkorn has 50% less phytic acid than regular wheat which also wreaks havoc on people's guts. When you use a sourdough starter to make a loaf of bread, you deactivate phytic acid.

While bread flour is the best option, it can sometimes be used if you don't have bread flour. “Check the protein content,” advises Chef Jürgen, since it can vary from brand to brand, and an all-purpose flour that contains protein on the higher end of the range, 12 to 13 percent, will produce a better outcome.