This is the easiest—and best—bread I’ve EVER made. Seriously. I mean seriously, I’m so excited about this recipe!

If only you could smell this!

I’ve been experimenting with sourdough (no added yeast) bread for about a year now. I tried the “no-knead covered casserole” method before, without terribly exciting results. In my previous post, I wrote about the two day method I’ve been using to make two loaves of bread-pan sandwich style bread. I’ve been happy with the results but it takes a bit of work and planning.

A few weeks ago I found out about Jovial einkorn wheat and flour from the leader of our new local chapter of The Weston Price Foundation. Having a little bit of gluten sensitivity and intrigued by the heritage of this ancient wheat, I tried my recipe using this less complex, easier-to-digest wheat. It didn’t rise as much as what I’m used to and although the bread tasted great, the loaf was kind of small.

I re-worked my old no-knead recipe using einkorn rather than regular organic flour and it had great texture and flavor, but it still produced a smallish loaf. I have this great, economical, Ikea 3 quart cast iron covered casserole, which I bought at IKEA for about $40 (take THAT Le Creuset $300 casserole!). The next time around I added about 50% more of the ingredients and it turned out even better! The NEXT time I even simplified the process more by skipping TWO steps and was blown away at how perfectly easy this recipe had become. And, this bread is to die for! So, here we go:

Print Recipe

Easy Einkorn No-knead Sourdough Bread

This recipe is especially great for people who work full time -- it takes 10 minutes in the morning to throw this together and then it's ready to bake 8 or more hours later. I use Ikea's 3 quart covered casserole for baking. Here's more information about sourdough starter.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time9 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 1 3-1/2 lb loaf

Ingredients

• 1 cup proofed/bubbling sourdough starter
• 6 cups Einkorn flour
• 2-3 cups room temp filtered water
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp citric acid totally optional!

Instructions

• In a large bowl (preferably with a lid), add the flour, sourdough starter, water and salt and mix until blended. It should be a gluey thick batter, a little thicker than brownie batter.
• Cover and let it rise in a warm spot for about eight hours, or until bubbly and doubled in size. In the winter, I prefer to turn my oven light on and keep the bowl in there.
• Once the dough has risen sufficiently (8+ hours, depending on ambient temps), remove it from the oven. Place your empty covered casserole in the oven and set the oven temp 450° F.
• Once temp is achieved, remove your casserole from the oven. CAUTION: HOT HOT HOT! Remove the lid and gently pour the dough into the casserole, being careful to not disturb too many bubbles. Cover and bake for 60 minutes. PLEASE NOTE: You may have to experiment with bake time due to altitude differences.
• Remove the bread from the oven and remove lid. After 10-15 minutes: dump the bread out of the casserole, place on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before slicing and serving. I usually leave it on the counter over night (in a plastic bag, to soften the crust) and cut it in the morning with a meat slicer.

Notes

This recipes makes a 3.5# artisan loaf that will knock your socks off! This bread is beautiful, crusty, fragrant and due to using einkorn flour, has a rich nutty flavor. Don’t forget the Kerrygold!