Cracked Wheat Sourdough
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup cracked wheat
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons unprocessed honey
3/4 cup milk (use non-fat, fullcream or buttermilk which ever you like)
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 1/2 cups sourdough starter (recipe below)
whole wheat flour as much as needed to make the dough nice and elastic
1 egg, beaten
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl place cracked wheat and pour hot water, (does not need be boiling), over wheat. Add melted butter, molasses, honey, milk, flax seed, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds and mix well. Cool to lukewarm and stir in the sourdough starter.
2. With a large wooden spoon start stirring in the flour, 1 cup at a time. When dough is stiff enough to work, turn out onto a floured surface and knead a good 10 to 12 minutes, working in as little of the remaining flour as necessary.
3. When smooth and elastic, shape dough into a ball and put it into a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover with damp cloth, place in a warm, draft-free spot, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours, punch down risen dough and set aside again to rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. When the second rising is complete, punch down the dough and shape into two loaves. Place dough in two well-greased 9x5 inch loaf pans, cover and let rise again until doubled in bulk, or until the dough reaches the tops of the pans, about 1 hour. Brush tops with an egg wash, made by whisking one tablespoon water into one whole egg until well blended.
5. Bake in a preheated 190 degrees C oven, after 15 minutes rotate pans and spray with cold water, continue baking until the loaves test done by the hollow sound made when tapped on the top and bottom about 30 min more. Cool on racks in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto the racks to cool completely.
Sourdough Starter
INGREDIENTS:
.5 ounce dry yeast
4 cups warm water
4 cups flour (can be wheat, spelt or even white if you do not mind having a small amount in your bread)
DIRECTIONS:
In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups flour and cover loosely with damp cloth.
Leave in a warm place to ferment, 1 to 2 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation