How to Make a Sourdough Life-Changing Bread
I am taking the fabulous, healthy life-changing bread recipe to the next level by making a sourdough version and a whey-fermented version.
Some years ago, a friend brought a loaf of the life-changing bread over for brunch. Even though it contains no wheat it had all the characteristics of a good German whole grain bread.
Most of the time, we enjoy baking and eating my European-style sourdough whole grain bread or the perfect seeded sourdough sandwich bread.
Every so often, I like to mix things up, though!
So I thought I would take this life-changing loaf of bread to the next level by making a sourdough version and a whey-fermented version.
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Why make a sourdough or whey-fermented bread?
This life-changing loaf of bread is fabulous as it is.
The recipe creator Sarah Britton lets everything soak for 2-8 hours.
Sally Fallon in “Nourishing Traditions” (one of my favorite cookbooks!!!) says that “Ideally, nuts and seeds should be soaked or partially sprouted before eaten. This is because nuts contain numerous enzyme inhibitors that can put a real strain on the digestive mechanism if consumed in excess. Nuts are easier to digest, and their nutrients more readily available if they are first soaked in salt water overnight […]”.
Therefore, once you add lactic acid fermentation of sourdough or whey to the mix, you can make this life-changing bread even more healthy.
What you need for the sourdough life-changing bread version
For the sourdough life-changing bread version you will need about ¾ cup of an active starter. If you don’t have one yet, you can follow my fool-proof method and create your own. Furthermore, you can learn my super-easy way to keep it without daily feedings or discards. I will talk about the remaining ingredients below.
Many people enjoy the life-changing bread since, if you’re making it with gluten-free rolled oats, it contains no gluten. Interestingly enough, many gluten-sensitive people have no problem digesting truly fermented sourdough bread. In this recipe, we will only add ¾ cup of grain-based sourdough starter.
If you like the idea of fermenting this bread but really want to stay away from gluten, then the next version might be for you:
What you need for the whey fermented life-changing bread version
Now for this variation, we are simply swapping the water in the original recipe for 1 ½ cups of whey.
What’s the simplest way to make whey, you might ask? By turning regular yogurt into Greek yogurt. Simply place it into a cheesecloth and collect the whey underneath.
I often make quark from buttermilk and get a lot of whey from that. This recipe is the perfect use for that.
The ingredients of the sourdough life-changing bread
Psyllium husks: they are the only ingredient you cannot omit from this recipe. They are inexpensive and easily available online.
Nuts and seeds: here you have more flexibility. I like to use a mix of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, and walnuts. However, you can easily tweak the amounts or types of nuts and seeds you use.
Coconut oil: the original recipe calls for this tropical oil and I actually like its taste. I bet you could use any neutral oil (such as avocado oil or ghee) and probably even butter.
Seasonings: I do like to add salt as it really brings out all the flavors. The sweetener on the other hand I like to leave out. If you do like that hint of sweetness you could add maple syrup, honey, agave syrup, or stevia, for instance.
My life-changing bread recipe
For this recipe I am using:
- ¾ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup whole flax seeds
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- 2 TBSP chia seeds
- 4 TBSP psyllium husks
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 3 TBSP melted coconut oil
- for the sourdough version: ¾ cup of ripe sourdough starter and ½ to 1 cup of water OR
- for the whey version: 1 ½ cups of whey
Simply mix all the ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. At this point, you can either let the dough sit covered for a bit or transfer it to the loaf pan right away. Some people like using a silicone loaf pan (which I don’t have) so I line my glass or stainless-steel loaf pans with parchment paper.
Ideally, you want to let your bread sit for at least 2 hours but longer (up to 8 hours) is better.
When ready, place the bread into a 350˚F hot oven for 20 minutes. Then, I take the bread out of the loaf pan by the parchment paper and with the parchment paper return it to the oven for another 20 minutes. You can check it for readiness now: if you gently tap the bottom with your knuckle, it should make a hollow sound. Most often, it is not quite ready so I’ll take it off the parchment paper and return it to the oven for another 10-20 minutes.
When fully baked, let it cool on a cooling rack. It is so delicious that you’ll probably want to eat it all in one sitting … However, you can slice the entire bread and freeze it, only taking out a slice at a time and thaw it in the toaster. Even though I am not a fan of plastic, I usually put it into a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator. Enjoy!!
Sourdough Life Changing Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup whole flax seeds
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- 2 TBSP chia seeds
- 4 TBSP psyllium husks
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 TBSP coconut oil, melted
- ¾ cup sourdough starter PLUS ½ – 1 cup of water (for the sourdough version) OR
- 1 ½ cups whey (for the whey version, if not using sourdough)
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients together (with either sourdough OR whey).
- Let sit for up to 2 hours. If the dough is really stiff, gradually add a bit more water or whey.
- Line a small loaf pan with parchment paper and add all the dough, gently pressing it into the loaf pan and smoothing out the top. Let sit for another 2 – 6 hours.
- Bake the bread in a 350˚F hot oven for 20 mins.
- Remove the bread from the oven and by the parchment paper, lift the bread out of the loaf pan. Return the bread to the oven with the parchment paper and bake for 20 mins.
- Remove bread from oven. Return to the oven without the parchment paper for another 10-20 mins or until the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.
- When fully baked, let the bread cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- you can make this either with sourdough or fermented with whey
- feel free to adjust the amount of water you add to get the right consistency
Video
Nutrition
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Parchment paper: https://amzn.to/3eJafqA
Have you tried the life-changing bread? Let me know in the comments below!
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Guten tag, Anja! I’m strictly gluten free, and made a batch of your sourdough using my flour. Anyway, it turned out great…for the first week. It really spoiled within a month. So –I tried just using the cultured buttermilk. It’s absolutely excellent! I use 2 cups buttermilk and maybe 1/4 cup water. I also toss in 1/2 cup raisins.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Love, Judy
Nice, I am so happy to hear that! Enjoy your GF sourdough ~ Anja
Hi Anja thank you for such an informative website.
I tried your life changing bread, but somehow it is very wobbly, & I could hardly handle it to take the paper off & bake it without it so I kept it on & put it back in the oven with 2 wooden pegs each end to keep the shape!
I dnt know what I did wrong.
I also started on my Whole grain sourdough loaf & it’s on the 2 ND rise so I love to put it in the car as it’s nice & warm as the sun warm the car. Now I just remembered my hubby went off shopping with the bread covered with damp cloth & plastic cover to prevent from drying out. Forgot to remove it before he left. Ha ha.
So once it’s nicely risesn, I’ll bake that one again. . meanwhile I returned again the Life changing bread to the oven to dry it out a bit.
I hope it work this time.
Next I’m going to try do the pretzels, the quark the apron & try other recipes.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes etc. with us.
As for the life-changing bread, I am not sure what might have happened. You can always try adding a bit more psyllium. I am so glad to hear you’re enjoying my recipes ~ Anja
You said that the Whole Psyllium Husks can’t be substituted. I have Psyllium Husk Powder from a previous project. Will this substitute harm this recipe?
Psyllium husk powder won’t hurt it but from my own experience I will say that it might be harder to work with. You can always give it a try and see what happens ~ Anja
I’ve tried to make this twice now and it is delicious but I can’t make it stick together as a bread without adding a lot more water? can you tell me the range of water and/or should I try adding a different binder, like egg? Maybe my house is just really dry?? PS I also added dried mulberries, which gave it just of touch of sweetness. My husband and I have been using at as granola with our plain yogurt. He loves it and is a granola snob! I really appreciate your site and it was my introduction to making sourdough. I’m an experienced baker, but new to sourdough. I learned a lot. thank you!
Yay, I am so glad to hear you’re getting more comfortable with sourdough. As for the life-changing bread, you might want to add a little bit more water and flax seeds. See if that helps. You can use some egg but you shouldn’t have to. Keep me posted ~ Anja
Good Day Anja,
I just found your site and so excited to try many of your recipes. I was wondering if you by chance would know how to substitute IDY in place of sourdough starter?
Thanks in advance,
I am so glad to hear that! For this particular recipe, you actually don’t need SD starter, you can just use water. Happy baking ~ Anja
Is this similar to EZEKIEL bread?
Somewhat in taste but the ingredients (only oats in this bread) and methods (no sprouting) are different ~ Anja
I have recently learned of the health risks to eating psyllium. I wonder if there’s something else I can use to keep it together.
You can probably use egg whites in the bread to keep it together ~ Anja
What an interesting bread. So many whole grains… I’m heard of fermenting but have not understood the concept.
Hi Barbra-Sue, this bread is basically gluten-free but has the taste and feel of the typical German whole grain breads. Sourdough makes evertything more digestible and decreases the phytic acid (also called “anti-nutrient”) of grains, nuts, and seeds ~ Anja
I was excited to try this bread, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out for me. There was no bread-like consistency, it just crumbles. I used all the same ingredients, and a little maple syrup. Maybe I needed to add even more water, like you did in the video. I’ll try again.
Hi Judy, I am so sorry for that experience. From all I can tell, you might need to add more water. Your “dough” should actually stick before you bake it (think jello). Hope this helps ~ Anja
I came across the recipe on Sarah’s blog but I wasn’t sure if I liked it. Your addition of sourdough convinced me to try it. But by watching the video again after I mixed everything together I realized that I forgot the flax seeds. Looking at your recipe it’s not in there. Earlier it is but not in the actual recipe. My first try will now be without the flax seeds because I really don’t want to get everything out of the loaf pan.
Yes, you are right, thank you so much for pointing that out! Even though I love flax seeds and wouldn’t want to miss them in this bread, I hope your bread still came out great ~ Anja
I waited a day to try the bread and it is fantastic. It reminds me of the German Schwarzbrot, I made myself with whole wheat and rye kernel when I lived in Germany. I will definitely bake it again, this time with flax seeds.
This looks amazing. I had no idea you could
Make a bread like this.
I am so glad you like this recipe! You’ll love how easy and delicious it is 😊 ~ Anja
I love the look of this bread!
Thank you! It tastes as good as it looks 🙂
I love Nourishing Traditions! And I love the spin you put on this bread. I can’t wait to try it.. and your no discard/no feeding sourdough method! Thank you!
Thank you so much – I am so glad you enjoy my bread recipe and my sourdough method 😊!!!
This looks ultra-healthy! I recently bought Nourishing Traditions but haven’t been able to dive in yet! I think I better get into it!!
I love hearty, dense breads like this, and I love sourdough. Looking forward to baking!
Looks so delicious!