The Best Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe

Hi! My name is Amira, I am the Licensed Nutritionist here at the Sourdough Source as well as the Founder’s daughter. This recipe is how I love to enjoy Einkorn sourdough in my home! I recommend this recipe if you’re either experienced in sourdough or have had experience with Einkorn already. If you’re up for the challenge of taking on this recipe, then I highly recommend starting with the lowest range of water in the bread recipe and working your way up as you get comfortable making this recipe more and more. I don’t recommend going beyond 345g of water due to the delicate nature of Einkorn! Over-hydration can make a flat bread which isn’t very enjoyable. 

For my sourdough experts that have never worked with Einkorn before, I need you to come to the kitchen with a new open-minded perspective. Einkorn can be sticky to work with and it doesn’t feel the same as modern wheat flour does. If it’s sticky, it is OKAY! Many think that they did something wrong and give up only due to unfamiliarity with the grain! Just work with the dough and wash your hands between folds and you will be fine! Make it to the finish line and enjoy your beautiful 100% Einkorn Sourdough bread!!

Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe

See the small air pockets? This loaf came out so delicious and soft, with the perfect crust!

Stiff Levain:

This recipe begins with our signature stiff sourdough starter, handcrafted with organic Einkorn flour and spring water. The levain is the heart of your dough—it gives your bread its rise, flavor, and character. Follow these steps to make it come alive.

🥣 Ingredients for the Stiff Levain:

• 30g fresh stiff Einkorn sourdough starter

• 100g spring water (not filtered, RO, or distilled)

• 120g all-purpose Einkorn flour

What You’ll Need:

• A clean glass jar or container (wide-mouth mason jar works great)

• A wooden spatula or fork

• A kitchen thermometer (optional but helpful)

• A fitted or airtight lid

• A warm, draft-free cabinet or space

📋 Instructions:

1. Add Your Starter
Place 30 grams of your fresh stiff starter into a clean jar.

2. Add Warm Spring Water
Pour in 100 grams of spring water at around 100°F.
Use your spatula or fork to break the starter into the water as much as possible. Do not worry about small chunks; they will break down during fermentation.

3. Mix in Einkorn Flour
Add 120 grams of all-purpose Einkorn flour. Stir well until fully combined.

4. Seal and Rest
Close with an airtight lid. Place in a warm cabinet and allow to rest for 3 to 7 hours depending on your kitchen temperature. *be cautious not to over-ferment. If levain is watery, it has over fermented.

Warm kitchen (73°F-78°F) = 5–7 hrs   Cooler kitchen (72°F and Below)= 8–10 hrs

5. Signs It is Ready
Bubbles on the surface and sides, and a light, airy feel. (more than doubles in size.)

Overnight Levain Tip: If you’re starting your levain at 10:00 PM to be ready by 7:00 AM, use room temperature water instead of heating it to 100°F. If your kitchen is already warm, skipping the heat prevents the levain from peaking too early while you sleep, ensuring it is at its prime when you wake up.

100% Einkorn Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:

• 500g all-purpose Einkorn flour

• 320-340g spring water (this will depend on the humidity of your environment)

• 95g stiff Einkorn levain

• 25-50 g Raw local Honey (I prefer an orange/sage honey, the sugar feeds the yeast in the starter to help give it more strength and a delicious crumb))

  • OR 100% Authentic Maple syrup

  • OR 10-15 g of Panela (Sucanat) Sugar

    • You could also do Coconut sugar, date sugar, maple sugar

• 12g sea salt

Instructions:

1. Autolyse the Flour
In a bowl, combine 500g of flour with 290g of warm water (~100°F), set aside the rest of water in a cup. Mix until shaggy with a Danish dough hook. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. The rest of the water is meant to be added throughout the process as I’ll mention through the recipe. You should finish the water by the end of it.

2. Add the Levain & Honey
Add 95g of stiff levain, 30-50g of honey, and a splash of leftover (~3 tbsp) of warm/room temp water (~80-90F). Mix gently with a Danish dough hook until combined. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.

3. Add Salt + Stretch & Fold
Add 12g salt and another splash of leftover water (~3 tbsp). Use your hands to stretch and fold for 3-5 minutes. Then we start “the 5 Rests”: For the first rest, Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.

4. Stretch and Fold Series
Continue this series. Splash your hands with water over the dough and perform 1 round of stretch and folds (around 5-8 of them, this will be dependent on the size of your bowl and your hands). Splash your hands again with water, then allow to rest for 15 minutes (2nd rest). Repeat with the water on your hands, Do the stretch and folds again, then allow to rest for 30 minutes now (3rd rest). Perform again with water and stretch and folds, then allow to rest for 30 minutes (4th rest). Perform again, then allow to rest for 30 minutes.

“The 5 rest” are complete. Now we are going in for the “the finale rest”: Do 1 last stretch and fold round Dipping hands in the left over water (you should have 1-2 tbsp of water left), then we are going to allow it to rest for 30-90 minutes for the Finale rest.

Tip: Wet your hands with leftover water when stretching. Einkorn is sticky by nature, so expect this! Wetting your hands helps handle the dough a lot better!
The cooler your kitchen is, the longer it will take/need to ferment. If house is around 70 degrees or under could add an extra 30-45 minutes to ferment for the finale rest.

5. Shaping the Dough
Lightly flour a clean surface. Pour onto floured surface, gently stretch all edges toward the center. Flip the dough over with bench scraper. Tighten it by dragging and spinning it with floured hands. *Please watch video for proper method!

6. Banneton Transfer
Place shaped dough round-side-down into a floured banneton. Cover with a bowel cover and place a plate over it. You could also use plastic wrap under the bowl cover.

7. Cold Proof
Then after transferring dough to banneton, refrigerate dough for 8–72 hours (or overnight).

Baking Day:

1. Preheat Oven
Preheat oven to 500°F with your Dutch oven inside for 1 hour.

2. Score and Bake
Place dough onto parchment. Score dough surface lightly with a curved line at 45 degrees. Place bread with Parchment paper into Dutch oven, Cover, and put into oven. Turn temperature down to 450°F - 455°F. Place a baking sheet on the rack below to prevent bottom crust from over-thickening, hardening and burning.

3. Bake Options:

• Thicker Crust: 25 min covered + 20–25 min uncovered

• Thinner Crust: 40 min covered + 2-4 min uncovered

4. Cooling
Let bread cool on a wire rack for 1.5 hours before slicing. Last step, enjoy your delicious 100% Einkorn Sourdough bread! * I know it is tempting to slice it sooner, but your bread will not have the proper internal steam and it will dry out very quickly and not turn out. Resist the temptation!

Enjoy Your Bread!

There are so many delicious einkorn recipes online to broaden your sourdough einkorn baking experience! We are hoping to continue to add more recipes to our page! We also plan to add in some videos to help those who prefer visual instruction. Thank you so much for supporting our small family business!