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A handy bread machine recipe for a delicious, conveniently made loaf using soaked flour for much improved nutrition and digestibility.
Homemade bread is making a comeback! The convenience of using a bread machine recipe is part of the reason why as more and more people opt to make their own with quality ingredients they source themselves.
Quality over convenience is an idea whose time has come in the bread department. The general public is awakening to the dangers of white flour, one of the “displacing foods of modern commerce” as described by Dr. Weston A. Price in his nutritional classic Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
This is a radical change from even just a few decades ago.
My Grandmother, like many of her generation, always chose white bread over “brown bread” as she called it. She considered whole wheat bread a sign of poverty because she observed growing up that those who ate white bread were more affluent and educated.
Fortunately, this notion is no longer a popular mindset.
Whole Grain Homemade Bread is Best
Not only is bread made with white flour basically devoid of nutrition, but it also adds to the body’s toxic load with a plethora of additives, chemicals, and unhealthy vegetable oils.
Worse, unlike the white bread even just 10 years ago, store bread frequently contains soy flour. This modern food threatens hormonal health and can trigger digestive problems for those who are sensitive.
Even commercially made sprouted bread masquerading as healthy frequently contains seitan or vital wheat gluten. This additive is nearly impossible to digest when isolated for use by food manufacturers.
Consumers choosing to bake their own bread usually forgo white flour in favor of whole wheat or other whole grains. Popular examples include teff or millet.
While whole grain flour may be fresher when you grind it at home and the bread more nutritious, other problems can emerge.
Modern breadmaking using a bread machine recipe typically employs the use of yeast and high heat. This quickly raises the dough and bakes the bread in a short amount of time.
This contrasts with the slow, natural rise that occurs with fermented dough baked at a lower temperature.
Why Use Soaked Flour?
Science has demonstrated the wisdom of the careful preparation methods of our ancestors. All grains and legumes contain phytic acid, an organic acid that blocks mineral absorption in the intestinal tract.
Powerful anti-nutrients in grain flour are neutralized in as little as 7 hours of soaking in water with small amounts of an acidic medium.
Examples include yogurt, kefir, lemon juice or cider vinegar. Soaking also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in the hulls of all grains and adds beneficial enzymes that increase the amount of nutrients present – especially the B vitamins.
For those with gluten intolerance, soaking or fermenting gluten-based grains breaks down this difficult-to-digest plant protein; studies carried out in Italy have found that people with celiac disease can consume genuine sourdough bread without digestive distress or auto-immune symptoms.
I frequently get asked how to make fresh bread at home using the traditional method of soaking flour first combined with the modern convenience of a bread machine.
If you have a breadmaker and would like to transition to a traditional method for making bread while continuing to use this appliance, here’s a bread machine recipe to try.
It is adapted from Healthy4Life by the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Enjoy your fresh-baked loaf courtesy of a blend of modern convenience and Traditional Wisdom!
Bread Machine Recipe using Soaked Flour
A handy bread machine recipe for a delicious conveniently made loaf using the traditional preparation method of soaking flour for much-improved nutrition and digestibility.
Ingredients
- 10 Tbl whole yogurt
- 3/4 cup filtered water
- 4 cups whole grain flour less 3 Tbl, preferably freshly ground
- 2 Tbl butter softened
- 1 Tbl molasses
- 3 Tbl arrowroot powder
- 1 3/4 tsp dried yeast
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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Mix yogurt with water and mix with the flour to form a dough. Cover and leave in a warm spot on the kitchen counter for 18-24 hours.
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When it is partway through the kneading section, check that all the ingredients have mixed together and observe the consistency of the dough.
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If it is slimy, add some more arrowroot powder. If it’s too dry, add a few more drops of water, drop by drop.
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Proceed as directed for your particular bread machine model to finish baking your traditional loaf!
Once you’ve made your soaked loaf, be sure to save the crusts because they are perfect for making breadcrumbs!
More Traditional Bread Recipes
Interested in traditional breadmaking? Try these other recipes inspired by ancestral wisdom.
Hi Sarah,
I live in Hawaii, and aside from being nutrient devoid, the bread prices here are getting insane; $5-6/loaf for just a barely decent whole wheat! I’m getting into grinding and making my own bread, and had a question with regards to the overnight soak.
While we do have yogurt available, it’s very hard to find the good stuff with lots of microbial activity (I don’t trust the name brands) and it is still illegal here to obtain raw milk, which means no soured raw milk. If I go the Yogurt or Kefir route, it will be far too cost ineffective/inefficient, so how would I go about doing the ACV soak you mentioned?
Love the blog, love the YT channel; keep up the good work.
I also wanted to know that if I wanted to make a gluten free bread would you have any recipe for that too?
Thank you in advance.
Can I substitute the gluten free flour blend that you have suggested in any white bread recipe?
I’ve not tried it with a bread machine. It should work ok though.
Hi Sarah,
I am from India and here we make chapatis out of whole wheat flour everyday. I grind my own flour but once a month. THe dough is the same consistency as you would make for a tortilla. I wanted to know how I could soak the flour to make the dough?
Thank you.
Yes you can. You will likely have to adjust your recipe a bit though since you will be adding moisture to the dough.
Hi,
BUt I will have to add yogurt to the flour and leave outside for 18-24 hours, correct? Should I make it dryer than I normally do or the same consistency?
I really don’t know … you will have to experiment to adjust your recipe accordingly.
Ok.. Shall do that.. Thank you.
sarah….i’m a little nervous about the storage of my rice and i’ve heard that rice can have a fungus if not stored properly. is it possible to soak and sprout rice to deal with the aflatoxins? (as i was reading in Nourishing Traditions re: grains. does that include rice?
Sarah, I buy genuine sourdough bread from our local bread shop. It is made fresh everyday, they use a sourdough starter, and let it rise the appropriate amount. However, I believe it is made with white flour (non organic). Does this qualify for healthy sourdough bread you talk about eating?
What bread machine is this? Thanks in advance. We have been making all our bread with the Kitchen Aid and would love a little more convenience. I have a birthday coming up and may convince the hubby (actually the primary bread maker) to spring for it! 🙂
I thought you said a while back that rami said that milk products whether fermented or not don’t break down grains as much as an acid like lemon, or vinegar does?
Thanks so much for this recipe. I’ve had a go at Sue Gregg’s but had to halve it as I only wanted one loaf. I used spelt and it was okay. I don’t use a bread machine, but do knead dough in a Thermomix.
I’m really looking forward to trying this with our own wheat when my grain mill arrives!
I’m wondering what everyone else’s machine cycle is like for a whole wheat bread. My bread did not rise enough before it baked. 🙁 I have a cuisinart.
sarah…….i’m enjoying your blog so much. i have a question about grain. if i were not to soak and sprout my grain first, does soaking the flour take care of whatever the soaking and sprouting of grain was to do? i’m so new at all this and it’s overwhelming to think of soaking and sprouting grain, then soaking the flour. this would be so much easier in the bread machine. thank you for the great information.
Yes, you can soak instead of sprout if you like .. or do both 🙂