This sourdough einkorn banana bread is made with a blend of einkorn all-purpose and whole grain flours and fermented with sourdough.
In a previous post, I blogged about how to make basic Sourdough Banana Bread.
In this post, I’ll reveal the method I used to transition from a sourdough banana quick bread made completely with white flour to a sourdough quick bread made completely with Einkorn flour.
I started this experiment because I wanted to create a banana bread I could call my own using only Einkorn flour. Fortunately, I had a bunch of overripe bananas so I was able to do a good bit of experimenting to get this bread the way I wanted it.
I used my Emile Henry ceramic loaf baker to bake this Sourdough Einkorn Banana Bread. I enjoy baking in this ceramic loaf baker. It’s my favorite color.
1st Attempt: White Starter/White Flour/Coconut Oil with Nuts
Sometimes, I just start substituting and hope for the best. This time, I decided to take a more thoughtful approach. I began with this Sourdough Banana Bread recipe from Cultures for Health.
The first time I tried this bread, I made it exactly by the recipe. I used a white flour sourdough starter, white all-purpose flour, and coconut oil and added 1/2 cup walnuts. I didn’t ferment the dough. I added 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and baked it right away.
This is the version featured in From Sourdough to Banana Bread and Beyond. It’s a good bread but I didn’t want to stop there.
2nd Attempt: White Starter/White & Whole Grain Einkorn Flour/Coconut Oil without Nuts
The second time I made this banana bread, I continued with the white flour sourdough starter and coconut oil, but this time I only used 1 cup of white all-purpose flour, and to that, I added 1 cup of home-milled whole grain Einkorn flour.
I omitted the nuts because I didn’t have any. I let the batter ferment for 8 hours and when it was time to bake, I didn’t add any baking soda. This bread tasted really good, but the coconut oil and fermented sourdough overpowered the banana flavor so it didn’t taste like banana bread to me.
3rd Attempt: White Starter/80% Extraction Einkorn Flour/Whole Grain Einkorn Flour/Coconut Oil without Nuts
By the time I got to this version, I was a little overzealous. I used the white starter again, but I didn’t use any white flour. I used 1 cup of 80% extraction Einkorn flour and 1 cup of home-milled wholegrain Einkorn flour. I also used coconut oil and omitted the nuts.
To bring out the banana flavor, I used a trick I learned when I was making Ultimate Banana Bread. In this method, you microwave the bananas on high until the liquid is released and the bananas are soft about 3-5 minutes.
In that recipe, they recommend using bananas that are just ripe. My bananas were very ripe so I only microwaved them for a minute to bring out the flavor. I didn’t liquefy them because I didn’t want to change the texture of the bread too much.
I let the batter ferment for 8 hours again and used 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to neutralize the sourdough flavor. However, in my eagerness, I didn’t bake the loaf long enough so it wasn’t completely baked through. The flavor was really good. It reminded me of Amish Friendship Bread. After I cut a couple of slices, I realized it wasn’t baked through so I had to throw the rest of it out.
Subsequent Bakes: Einkorn Sourdough Starter/80% Extraction Einkorn Flour/Whole Grain Einkorn Flour/Butter with Nuts
Even though the 3rd bread wasn’t a complete success, I felt pretty confident that if I had baked it long enough, it would’ve been fine. So, I continued to the last phase of my experiment. Fortunately, I still had some bananas left to experiment with.
For this version, I used my Einkorn Sourdough Starter, Einkorn flour, butter, and nuts.
They say the third time is the charm, but in this case, the fourth and fifth times were the charm. The fourth time to get the recipe down and the fifth time to get the photos right.
I love it when I have overripe bananas because it provides the perfect excuse to make banana bread. It took me several weeks, but I finally created a Sourdough Einkorn Banana Bread to call my own. I hope you enjoy it.
From Sourdough to Einkorn Banana Bread –- Part 2
- Yield: 1 Loaf 1x
Description
This sourdough einkorn banana bread is made with a blend of einkorn all-purpose and whole grain flours and fermented with sourdough.
Ingredients
- 2 medium bananas (~ 1 cup), mashed
- 1 cup Einkorn sourdough starter (discard or recently fed starter, from fridge)
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups 80% extraction (all-purpose) Einkorn flour (I used Jovial Foods)
- 1 cup whole grain Einkorn flour (I used home milled)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup pecans (or walnuts)
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda (to neutralize the sourdough flavor)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
- Nuke the bananas in the microwave for 1 minute, then mash them.
- Mix the sourdough starter and mashed bananas into the creamed mixture.
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, and salt. Add the flour mixture to banana mixture and mix just until combined. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Let the batter ferment for at least 7 hours. Then mix in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease or line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.
- Remove the loaf from the pan to a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing. Try to wait until the next day if you can to let it develop it’s full flavor.
- Category: Banana Bread
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Happy Baking!
Cathy
I have this loaf in the oven right now. I made the banana bread with 50/50 Einkorn and Red Fyfe freshly ground flour so we’ll see how it goes! I also wanted to mention you are missing in your recipe how many bananas and also how much salt. I have made many banana loaves in my day so I just ‘wung’ it! Will follow up with how it turns out!
Hi Dawn, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I edited the recipe to include the missing ingredients. You can’t have banana bread without bananas or salt. I hope your bread turns out okay.
You can let the eggs sit over night? I’m looking for a fermented banana bread recipe!
When I made this bread, I fermented the batter at room temperature and it turned out fine. However, if you prefer, you could put the batter in the refrigerator to cold ferment. It might need a little longer than 7 hours though. Or, you could just ferment the flour and sourdough together and add the rest of the ingredients after the ferment.
This recipe turned out great for me! There aren’t many out there for sourdough einkorn quick breads so this has been super helpful in getting some basic ratios down. I’ve tweaked it for other flavors like cranberry orange and it was lovely.
Thank you for sharing your experience with this banana bread. I’m so glad it turned out well for you.
Cranberry Orange is one of my favorite combinations. I bet your bread tastes great!
I made this the other day and it turned out great! I’m about to make another banana bread to give it away to some friends. Thank you!
I’m so glad your banana bread turned out great! I need to make some more myself.
Happy Baking!
Cathy
I use the Jovial all-purpose and their ground whole wheat Einkorn. Is the 80% extraction the same as the all-purpose?
I appreciate this recipe, it’s hard to find fermented baked goods using Einkorn. Thank you!
Hi Andrea,
Yes, the 80% extraction flour is the same as the all-purpose flour. That’s what they used to call it. It can be confusing. I hope you enjoy the banana bread recipe.
Happy Baking,
Cathy
It says for step 1 to preheat the oven and then in a later step says to ferment 7 hours… can this recipe be done without the fermentation process?
Thanks for catching that. The preheating is listed in the wrong place. I edited the post. I hope you enjoy the bread.
Hi. Your recipe calls for ‘Einkorn starter’. I havent made your banana bread yet, because I’m not sure if the starter you use in the recipe is the starter ‘base’ or the ‘levain’ as it’s called in Jovial’s book. The ‘levain’ being 30g stiff starter (the ‘base’ as I call it), 130g water and 120g Einkorn flour. Then let it set for 6-8 hr.
Hello, if I’m understanding correctly, your term for the mother starter is the “base.”
You don’t need to create a levain for this bread. I originally created this recipe to utilize sourdough discard. It works with discard, especially if you use the baking soda to neutralize the acidity, but you can use recently fed starter instead.
By fed starter, I mean the sourdough starter (aka mother starter) you store in the refrigerator and feed on a regular basis. You can feed it right before you make this bread, and take 1 cup to use in this recipe. Or, you can take 1 cup of discard and then feed the starter using your normal process.
Hope this helps.
Happy Baking!
Cathy
Since bananas vary in size what would 2 bananas, mashed be in cups?
For this recipe, use 2 medium bananas which will yield appproximately 1 cup mashed.