I practically begged for a yeast starter from one of my students last semester and carefully fed it over the break while I researched wheat types. After deciding to sprout and grind my own wheat into flour (more on that later), I found this recipe on The Bread Geek’s blog to start my journey.

The following recipe is a half version of The Bread Geek’s “Naturally Leavened Honey Whole Wheat Bread” with my own tweaks (but the original ingredients and directions belong to her). This recipe makes one medium size loaf. If you have a mixer, great! Follow the Bread Geek’s recipe. If not, my recipe uses  the old-fashioned hands-on method.

Sprouted Honey Whole Wheat Bread
(estimated prep time 15 minutes; rise time 6-14 hours; bake time 25 minutes)

Ingredients
1/4 cup natural yeast start
1 1/4 cup lukewarm purified water
1 tsp Real Salt
1/2 tablespoon organic coconut or olive oil
1/8 cup raw honey
2 1/2 cup sprouted whole wheat flour

Mix yeast, water, salt, oil, and honey. Incorporate flour slowly, ensuring that it mixes in evenly. Once you have a ball (a little sticky; formed but fluid) knead it gently around the bowl for about 3 minutes.

Cover your dough in greased plastic wrap or a warm, damp cloth. Set bowl in a warm place for about 6-14 hours and let rise. I did 6 1/2 hours, but I think I would have had a better rise if I had done 14.

After your dough has risen, run a wet rag over a clean counter top space and then pull your dough out of the bowl and place it on the damp counter. Grease a bread pan and let your dough “relax” on the counter for final shaping. Shape your dough and then place in bread pan covering with the damp cloth once again. Let rise for 2-3 hours then bake in preheated oven at 375 Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. This tastes great with raw honey or as sandwich bread!

Good luck! I can’t wait to make this one again!