Kefir Bread
My journey into Sourdough making has been a slow one. I received my culture package in the mail from Carl’s a while ago, but have been wanting to wait till I have a secure, dependable supply of organic flours to start my own. I know that single cell yeast breads are not the best for my family, so when a friend shared her kefir bread recipe, I jumped right to it. The hardest part of this recipe, has been keeping up with my family’s demand!
We make kefir daily, out of our own cows and goats milk. I prefer the cow’s milk kefir for saving whey to ferment with, and for mixing with the flour in this recipe. I prefer the goat kefir for drinking, though. It is so smooth and flavourful.
Kefir Bread
3 cups flour
3 cups kefir
Mix these together well, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm area. After twenty-four hours the dough should be liquidy and bubbly.
At this point beat the dough well and add:
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp melted coconut oil or butter
3 cups of flour
Beat this together well and knead in enough flour by hand to make a soft dough. When it will hold the shape of a loaf, divide the dough into two piles. Shape the loaves and place them into two well-greased loaf pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and place in a warm place to rise. When the bread rises to the top of the pans, pop it into a preheated 350F oven for about 30 minutes. The crust will be quite brown, and if you knock on the bottom, the loaves will sound hollow.
That bread looks so good! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for posting this recipe!
— Sharon · May 16, 04:45 PM · #
That really looks great! I’m on my way too. I am trying dark organic rye flour. It looks a little strange but – I’m giving it my best. Thanks for the support and all the little pep talks.
Karen
— Karen · May 16, 07:30 PM · #
Tried this recipe-bloody amazing!
— Monica · Feb 21, 09:38 PM · #
Thanks so much for the recipe! I just made it yesterday and it turned out great! I was surprised how tasty it was without any salt. It really doesn’t need it. :)
My dough wasn’t liquidy and bubbly after I made it. I was a little worried that maybe something went wrong, but since the bread was so delicious I guess there was nothing to worry about. :) Thanks again! sheila
— sheila · Apr 17, 11:44 PM · #
Hi,
just came across your site. I see you added another 3 cups of flour to your starter mix to make it less liquidy. From my understanding of soaking flours, you only need enough kefir (or any acidic medium) to combine all the flour together into a ball.
Yesterday I started soaking 3 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 1/4 cup of kefir and today it has risen beautifully. And there is no need to add extra flour, so I get all the benefits of eating a soaked and nutritionally better bread than with unsoaked flour.
Lots of info on the web about why soaking allows the flour to be more nutritionally complete than unsoaked flours/grains.
Good luck n keep on baking! :)
— Lily · Jan 11, 04:52 PM · #
Can water kefir be used in place of the milk kefir in this recipe?
— Tina · Jun 2, 05:17 PM · #
Thanks so much for this recipe!
I have often wished I had a use for my extra homemade kefir (besides the dog) and this is a great “soaked” flour recipe!
Also, thanks to Lily for the suggestion of using only the risen dough without extra flour. The butter in the recipe makes it so you don’t really need the extra flour as it keeps the dough from sticking.
I have it rising in pans now and it smells dreamy!
— Sally Jo · Sep 5, 01:56 PM · #
This is wonderful – I’ve been so intimidated by sour dough that it perpetually stays on my “to do” list — but this looks like something I could do! :)
I like Lily’s idea of having all the flour soaked – my question is do I half all of the other ingredients or leave them at their current quantity?
Thanks!
— elaine · Sep 12, 10:32 AM · #
Do you soak sprouted flour? Or are you just soaking? And where are you getting your flour from? I would love to start making more bread but in in the same delima about flour.
— Amy · Sep 12, 02:54 PM · #
Love this recipe! I was expecting the loaf I made with wholewheat to be a bit heavy but it turned out perfect. My family love it and it’s a great way to use up my extra kefir. Thank you!
— Eileen · Oct 12, 09:34 AM · #
I’m with Elaine regarding Lily’s idea, however we need Lily’s complete recipe please help us Lily !!!!!!!!!!
— sylvia · Nov 30, 08:14 PM · #
Just some updates.
-no you cannot use water kefir
-you don’t have to soak sprouted grains
-if you soak all the ingredients it does work.
Thanks for all the support!!!!
— debbie · Dec 29, 12:24 PM · #