Sourdough Bread / Buns
I think sourdough is an acquired taste… either you like it or you don’t. There really never seems to be a middle ground. If you are one of those who are unsure about sourdough, allow me to encourage you to give this recipe a try. The beauty is that you can control just how strong you want to the sourdough flavor to come through.
I for one didn’t care much for sourdough as I was growing up. But in my adult years I have come to enjoy its tangy flavor. Probiotics is the key ingredient that helps us achieve the sourdough flavor. I thought to myself, if we can use probiotics to create nut cheeses, why not use it to make a fermented bread! And much like a nut cheese, you can control how intense to make the flavor. The longer you leave it to ferment, the stronger the sourdough taste.
Sourdough is usually made with both yeast and its little helper called Lactobacillus, which produces lactic acid. The lactic acid gives the bread a slighty sour, tangy taste. Since we don’t want to use yeast in our recipes, I turned to probiotics which contains Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Probiotics are bacteria that help maintain the natural balance of organisms (microflora) in our intestines. They play a very important role in our digestive tract. We know that our digestive tract needs a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria, so what gets in the way of this? Poor food choices, emotional stress, lack of sleep, antibiotic overuse, other drugs, and environmental influences can all shift the balance in favor of the bad bacteria. So, now we can enjoy this raw bread knowing that it is “gut healthy” and umm umm good!
Ingredients: yields 16 buns
Ferment Stage:
Dry Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbsp raw honey
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Topping:
- black sesame seeds
- dried onion flakes
- ground flax seeds
Preparation for fermentation stage:
- In a medium-sized bowl combine the almond pulp, almond milk and probiotics. Mix well and cover the bowl.
- Place the covered bowl in the dehydrator set at the lowest temperature, I did 95 degrees and let it sit for 36 hours to ferment. Please taste test throughout this process. Once it reaches the strength of “sourdoughness” you like, move on to the next steps.
Preparation:
- In the food processor make the oat flour by processing the oats until they become a fine powder.
- Add the flax meal, psyllium husks, onion flakes, onion powder, Italian Seasoning and salt. Pulse to combine.
- Transfer the dry batter to a large bowl and hand fold in the fermented almond pulp, water, honey and lemon juice, making sure everything is well combined. I dove in there with my hands. Much more fun to connect with your food!
- Create the buns using a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Scoop up the dough and level it off. Remove the dough from the cup and shape into a bun and sprinkle the top with; ground flax meal (gives it that “browned, baked” look, dried onion flakes and black sesame seeds. Place on the mesh sheet that comes with the dehydrator.
- Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 hour. This is to form a crunchy crust on your bread. Turn the temp down to 115 degrees and continue drying for 8-10 hours or until desired moistness is achieved.
- Shelf life and storage: My personal recommendation would be to store this bread in an air-tight container, in the fridge, for 3-5 days. The more moisture that is left in your bread, the shorter the shelf life. Therefore, shelf life will vary with your drying technique. Whenever I make this bread, it never lasts very long enough to spoil. Keep in mind, the whole purpose of eating a raw diet is to eat foods at their peak of freshness, so don’t expect this bread to have a long expiration date.
- These buns are meant to have some moisture left in the center. If you want them to really dry out, slice them in half and return to the dehydrator until desired dryness is achieved.
Scoop up the dough and level off the measuring cup.
Pop the dough out onto the working surface.
Cup your hands around the top of the bun and shape into a slight dome shape.
Sprinkle with ground flax. This gives added nutrients and that baked appearance.
After sprinkling with flax, gently press it in to stick.
Now sprinkle with dried onion flakes.
Once done, press down on the onion flakes just a tad.
Last step, sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
Gently press in and now you are ready to dehydrate them.
Posted on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013 at 5:22 pm. Filed under: Breads / Wraps Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, sugar-free, Vegan RSS 2.0 feed.
I look forward to trying this.
I hope you do try it Roberta… please let me know how it goes or if you have any questions throughout the process. :) Blessings, amie sue
I absolutely love your recipes and the way you present them…I too like pictures to show me what each step looks like…I do not think you are sending too many recipes… I get excited every time I see an e-mail from you…it’s always a treat to see what you’ve created now…thank you so much for these delicious, healthy recipes…
Good evening Jeanglee,
Thank you… I am such a visual person myself. I learn more from pictures than words I think. Have a wonderful evening, amie sue
This looks like such a great recipe and so nice to have another use for all that almond pulp. I may have missed it in the instructions, but at what stage do you put in the almond milk or is that part of the fermentation stage?
Many thanks for any insight you can give.
Thank you so much for all your great recipes. Such an inspiration!
Hi Kate… Thank you for pointing that out. I use the milk in the fermenting process. I adjusted that to be more clear. Many blessings and have a wonderful evening, amie sue
Amie I marvel at your creativity. Through your website to me and my entire family is flowing beautiful energy of love in the form of your magical meals. We love you and wish you and your whole family God’s blessing :-).
Oh Eva, that was so beautiful, thank you for sharing your love and blessings with me. I so appreciate that. :) amie sue
Looks beautiful my friend!
Oh and regarding keeping up with your recipes, that would be a full time job. ;) lol
Will be writing you a long overdue mail this afternoon.
miss you lots
xoxo
Jana
LOL Jana… it’s a full time job creating and sharing these recipes. A job that I LOVE!! I look forward to your email. Hugs my friend, amie sue
Holy cow! These look SO good! Too bad I am terrified to reintroduce bread (even raw bread) cuz, boy, do these look amazing!
Hi Christine,
May I ask why you are terrified to reintroduce a raw bread into your diet? Are you afraid that it will increase your cravings for gluten filled/baked breads? Let’s talk about this. I don’t want you to be afraid to add in healthier versions into your diet. I look forward to hearing back from you. Blessings, amie sue
Oh my gosh… How much do I love you for this recipe!!!! I’m excited to try these and share with family and friends. Thank you soooooo much! Please keep these exciting recipes coming!!
Hugs~
Hi GypsiSky… feeling the love, feeling the love. hehe Please try them and keep me posted. Many blessings, amie sue
Amie Sue,
Thanks for always thinking outside the box. I loved baking sourdough bread when I was a baker years ago. But have not made it because of the yeast. Can’t wait to taste this version. Don’t worry about too many posts those that it’s too much for will adjust. Do you Amie Sue, you share your gifts. :)
Hello Gabrielle ! So good to hear from you. :) You KNOW I always share! I hope you are enjoying this warm weather. hehe
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them. I was wondering if you could adapt these or another one of your recipes in to hot cross buns for Easter?
Also wondering if another kind of nut pulp and milk could work as I’m allergic to almonds. Thank you for sharing your wonderful creations!
Hi Christine,
You could use cashews which are the next nut in line that offers a neutral flavor with a hint of sweetness. I am sure you could use pecan or walnut pulp and milk too, it will just change the flavor profile, which isn’t a bad thing… just different! Let me know if you try them with another nut. Have a blessed day. amie sue
Amie Sue, You rock! Keep up the posting of these great recipes, and ideas. I love seeing new, and exciting creations weekly. From all of us who want to eat WONDERFUL, HEALTHY food “THANKS.”
Thank you Michelle! I appreciate you and in being here. Have a splendid day! amie sue
Okay, so I know that this is a RAW blog (I eat a partly but not all raw diet) do this may seem like a silly question. I don’t have dehydrator. Is it possible to bake these?
Wow! Is all I can say. Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks for sharing and creating!
Fran
I hope you do Fran and please keep me posted. I love feed-back. :) Have a wonderful Wednesday! amie sue
Quite simply the best raw chef! That’s you. These look astonishing. I’m likely making them this weekend.
Thank you Ben… your very kind :) I hope you have an amazing day! amie sue
Keep them coming, Amie! I’m an anti-aging specialist and nutritionist and I often share (as you know) some of your recipes with my readers on my newsletter, and they love it.
I get 20% of raw food into my diet, and
All your recipes are amazing!
Thank you!
Michele
Forever Fit with Michele
Hello Michele :) I could use some of your wisdom! Thank you for sharing the recipes with others. I think it is so important for each person to find their own personal path in how they need to eat and take care of their body. I appreciate what you do for others! Have a splendid week. amie sue
Quick question: the recipe says 4 cups of almond pulp should be mixed with water & probiotics to ferment. How much water did you use?
You do list half a cup of water in “wet Ingredients,” but that seems to have a different role to play later in the process.
Thanks!
Good evening Ben,
I had made an error on line one of the fermenting stage. I called the almond milk water, but I fixed that. So to recap, I used 2 cups of almond milk with the pulp and probiotics to ferment it. I then added the water later when I put the whole recipe together. The water was needed because my batter was a bit to dry.
Does that help? Just let me know. :) Have a wonderful evening, amie sue
Bravo! Great creation. We’ll be enjoying sourdough sliders this week, thanks to Amie-Sue.
Awe thanks Ben… I always appreciate that you share with me how it turns out. Have a wonderful day, amie sue
Have a yen for this recipe. I’m making it again this weekend. Thanks as always.
Awesome Ben :) Good to hear from you! Have a blessed weekend, amie sue
Thanks. You as well.
Your rolls look amazing! I can’t wait to try them!
Look at the line 3. It should read, “bowl” instead of bowel.
Sometimes mistakes are very funny! :)
Aimee,
These look amazing so I jumped right on it. I have one comment on the fermentation process: you say to use the water and pulp here but I figured you meant the almond milk and pulp. Hope so because it is in the dehydrator that way.
I miss bread the most and your recipes are wonderful so I am sure I will love this one too.
Thanks for doing what you do! We appreciate it!!
Good evening Diana… yes, that was a typo on my end. I fixed it and you assumed correctly :) Either way it would still have turned out. Please let me know what you think and remember, you can control how strong the sour taste is! Many blessings, amie sue
These are AMAZING! Definitely a new favorite in this house! Thanks!
Hi Aimee. Can’t wait to try these! Soooo excited as the one thing I miss the most is a good bread/bun. Also, would oat flour that isn’t gluten free work for this recipe? Thanks :)
Good evening Ruth… yes of course. I use GF because we can’t have gluten in this here household of ours. No worries on spelling my name wrong, I like that spelling too. It’s pretty. :) Have a great evening, Aimee (just trying it on for size hehe) sue
ooops :/ sorry i mispelled your name!
Wow, I love all the recipes you share, everything looks so amazing and delicious! I like the idea of making hot cross buns with these.
Great idea Pat… please let me know how it goes should you try it! Have a wonderful week… gosh it is almost Thursday again. Where do these days go? amie sue
Thanks for the recipe…made some pizza crusts too! In the dehydrator, can’t wait :)
Awesome Sathya! I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you. I have thought of the pizza dough too. YAY! Have a blessed day, amie sue
The Pizza dough was so–great that i just kept breaking off pieces (like pita chips) and it never made it to pizza!! :)
haha I love it! I am so going to make one into a pizza… sounds yummy. Thank you for sharing Sathya! amie sue
These look fabulous and I will definitely try this recipe as well! I’m fairly new to your fabulous blog (started with the cold brew coffee) and have made several of your delicious recipes (so far :) and love EVERY single one of them. Also, I get a little excited when I see your name in my in-box because I know I’ll be making something yummy real soon!
Thank you Rocki… such kind words. :) I hope that you are having a great weekend! amie sue
Hello Amie Sue,
I was astounded when I received this recipe. I felt its timing was perfect and wanted to try it as an accompaniment to a meal for our Hebrew new month/new moon celebration.
I am not sure what went wrong, but after dehydrating for the recommended time, it was still doughy inside (almost mushy) and hard on the outside. I used one-fourth cup measurement to make a smaller bun that I hoped would dry faster, so I was surprised when this happened. Also, I was about a third of a cup shy of having four cups of almond pulp, so I reduced the almond milk to about 1 1/2 cups. I did not allow the sour dough mixture to sit for the recommended time as I was short on time. As I type this, I now realize that I was taking a risk and should have known the recipe may have not turned out right. Your recipes are always very “stable” and forgiving, so I felt in spite of the modifications it would be okay: Certainly not as perfect as your but acceptable.
However, I do intend to try it again when I am able to save enough almond pulp. Any thoughts on my “blubber” would be appreciated. I feel my eagerness, excitement and the need of the moment took over and I did not take the time to properly plan for the recipe. Do you think the modifications made with the stater was to blame? I did everything else as specified in the recipe.
Now as I am recalling, the mixture was a bit sticky and less doughy as yours appear in the photo steps. Oh well, I feel I am closer to success and will try again.
Again, thank your for sharing your talent and I look forward to hearing from you.
Hello Rhondy,
I am sorry that this didn’t come as expected for you celebration. It can be difficult to trouble shoot without seeing your complete process but it is possible that since you made them smaller and I assume you did the 1 hour 145 degrees and then turned it down that it made the outside to hard much quicker, hmmm I hope that makes sense. Now keep in mind, these buns won’t be dry dry all the way through, but they shouldn’t be mushy wet like in the center either. You can always cut them in half and dehydrate them a bit longer if you need to.
I appreciate that you want to try the recipe again. Follow it as stated and lets see how it goes for you. One thought that came to mind is… I wonder how wet your almond pulp was? I know that is hard to gauge. Because we are using fresh, “man-made” components (referring to the pulp) we won’t ever have two of the except same batches so it can be tricky. You mentioned that you didn’t let it ferment as long… how long did you do it for and did it give you the flavor you liked?
Many blessings Rhondy and keep in touch! amie sue
Hi Amie Sue: I am so very impressed with not only your recipes, but the inspiration that comes from your photography and the clarity of each picture. It’s so helpful, giving me hope to be more creative with my own website.
Just a note of interest to you, I got a giggle out of the first line of your description for the bread. Did you really mean that sourdough is a “required” taste or an ‘acquired’ taste? Tee hee! Blessings to you as I have acquired a taste for your recipes and website! Nancy
Hi Nancy… thank you very much. :) Well it ought to be “required” that you like sourdough but you are right, haha, I meant acquired. Oy.. ty, I will fix that. :) Have a great evening, amie sue
Hi Amie-Sue, it’s wonderful that this is raw. I’m at fermentation stage with a few hours left. The dough seems dry and there are no bubbles. I placed in a glass dish with a glass cover in the dehydrator. How do I know it is ready for use? Do you have any pictures? thanks!
Good morning Celina, you won’t notice a change in the dough, no bubbles form. Truthfully, you can go by smell… it will start to get that soured smell. You can control how strong you want that soured flavor. Nibble on the dough and smell it to see what level you want it at. Have a happy day, amie sue
Thank you, Amie Sue! It’s looking good and the buns are in the dehydrator. Am so happy! Can’t wait to eat them. You’re brilliant! Have a lovely day!
Well let me know Celina what you think of them before you call me brilliant. hehe I hope that you enjoy them and I look forward to hearing back from you. Happy Friday! amie sue
Hi Amie Sue, The buns turned out really well and sour! I fermented it for almost 36 hrs. I had it with dehydrated mushrooms, avocados, sprouts, lettuce and tomatoes. Yummy! You’re brilliant! Have a great week! Look forward to making more of your recipes.
Hi Celina… well it sounds like you are enjoying them. :) Remember you can always make them less sour by decreasing the fermentation period. Thank you for letting me know what you think. :) Have a great day, amie sue