Light Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread | Beginner-Friendly Recipe
This light einkorn sourdough sandwich bread is the perfect place to start if you’re curious about ancient grains or freshly milled flour but not sure where to begin. The dough is strong and easy to handle — more forgiving than you’d expect from a loaf with whole grains — and the result is a soft, sliceable sandwich bread with a subtle nutty flavour that adults appreciate and kids will actually eat.
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I love working with einkorn. For such an ancient grain it is surprisingly versatile, genuinely delicious, and incredibly nutritious — learn more about einkorn here.
What I love most about baking with whole grains is finding that balance between highlighting something unique and making a loaf that everyone at the table will actually eat. Not everyone wants a dense, hearty, mostly whole grain bread — and that’s fine. But most people can appreciate a subtle undertone of something special when it comes wrapped in a soft, sliceable sandwich loaf. That’s exactly what this is.
This light einkorn sourdough sandwich bread is for the freshly milled flour beginner. The one who wants to do better than all-white bread, whose family has opinions, and who wants a loaf with some history, fibre, and care behind it — without scaring anyone off at the dinner table.
I’m building out a series of light whole grain sandwich loaves for exactly this — starting approachable and working up to the heartier, more wheaty breads that take a little more skill and a more adventurous household. These beginner loaves just require you to know how to make sourdough. That’s really it.
If you’re into this, check out my light rye and caraway sourdough sandwich bread for another great place to start.
Why You’ll Love This Light Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Bronwyn’s Sourdough Notes
This is your loaf! I’m here to share my tips, experience, and what’s worked for me — but sourdough is wonderfully flexible. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, feel free to experiment and make this recipe your own. There are a bajillion ways to make a great loaf of sourdough, and my goal is simply to help you find the methods and rhythms that suit you best.
Water: If you can drink it, you can bake with it. I’ve used city, tap, well, and filtered water — all with great results. Don’t overthink it.
Salt: Use whatever fine salt you have. Unrefined salts like Himalayan or Redmond Real Salt support fermentation beautifully, but table salt works fine too.
Sourdough Starter: Start bread with an active, bubbly starter for best results. Learn more about your starter here.
Temperature: Dough rises best around 23–26°C (73–79°F) dough temperature.
Colder = Slower fermentation (6-12 hours)
Warmer = Faster fermentation (3-6 hours)
Adjust with warm or cool water depending on the season.
Flour: For this loaf, we will be using a blend of white flour and whole grain einkorn flour, either freshly milled or store-bought.
Hydration: In summer, I use cooler water and slightly less. In winter, warmer water and a touch more can help balance fermentation speed.
Autolyse: This step involves holding back salt and sourdough starter at the mixing stage. I prefer a simpler variation — I mix in the starter right away but hold back the salt for 30–60 minutes. This short rest gives the dough time to hydrate and relax, especially important when using whole grain flour, which takes longer to absorb moisture.
Sourdough Starter
If you’re here, I’m assuming you have a sourdough starter and generally know how to use it. It is beyond the scope of this post to teach you how to create and maintain a sourdough starter.
If you haven’t made one already, read my post on how to make a sourdough starter from scratch.
Once you have an established sourdough starter and you know how to identify when it’s active or needs a fresh feeding, you’re pretty much good to go. It doesn’t matter much whether its thin, batter-like, or stiff, a healthy starter will make healthy bread.
If you have a sourdough starter but are having trouble understanding it, learn more with the ultimate guide to understanding your sourdough starter.
Freshly Milled Flour
The einkorn flour in this recipe is made with freshly milled whole grain einkorn. While store-bought whole wheat works just fine in terms of texture and flavour, the nutritional value of freshly milled flour is far superior — it’s full of the natural oils, vitamins, and minerals that are lost once flour sits on a shelf.
If you live in the city, you might be able to find fresh-milled flour at local bakeries or specialty grocery stores.
If you’re in the country or have access to whole grains, consider milling your own. You can start small with what you already have — a powerful coffee grinder or blender can get you going. A great next step is a KitchenAid grain mill attachment, perfect for small batches.
If you fall in love with fresh milling (like I did), investing in a Harvest NutriMill is absolutely worth it. I use mine almost daily — it’s both beautiful and practical.
When you’re ready to invest, get your Harvest NutriMill using this link and use my code BRONSBREAD20 at checkout for $20 off your order!
Bronwyn’s Sourdough Schedule
night before
morning
late morning
late afternoon
evening
next day
Ingredients
- White flour: Just simple all-purpose is what I use.
- Einkorn flour: Freshly milled whole grain einkorn flour but store-bought works too. I’m sure your local fancy health food store has it.
- Water: Good ol’ drinking water.
- Active Sourdough starter: Essential for a fluffy loaf. If you don’t know when your sourdough starter is active, learn more here.
- Salt: The best quality salt you have because sourdough bread deserves the best.
Materials
- Medium-Sized Mixing Bowl: A heavy set ceramic mixing bowl would work best.
- Bowl Cover: Anything that covers and seals the bowl and covers your loaf for final proofing. I use these reusable elastic bowl covers.
- Dough Whisk (optional): It is cleaner to get things started with a dough whisk but it’s definitely not necessary. A wooden spoon works great too.
- Plastic Bench Scraper: I find this tool very handy for cleaning and scraping the dough out of the bowl. It can also be used for dividing dough and pre-shaping.
- Metal Bench Scraper: I use this tool for dividing dough, pre-shaping, and cleaning the table. Not essential though, as the plastic bench scraper can serve similar purposes, but I like using both.
- Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups and Spoons: I prefer using a kitchen scale but if measuring cups and spoons is all you have then that’s all you need to get started.
- Loaf Pan: I prefer an 8″x 4″ loaf pan to achieve a more narrow and tall loaf but you can use whatever loaf pan you have and go from there. Lined with parchment or greased and floured for easy removal.
- Razor Blade, Bread Lame or Sharp Knife: I haven’t found a bread lame I really like so I just use razor blades as is.
- Deep Metal Baking Tray or Muffin Tin (optional): This vessel is placed at the bottom of your oven to hold water to produce steam.
- Cooling Rack: For cooling down your loaf.
Light Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread FAQ
Step-By-Step Instructions
Mix – Add water + starter to your bowl, mix until dissolved. Add white flour and einkorn flour. Mix until no dry bits. Rest 30–60 min (autolyse).
Add Salt – Add salt with a splash of water, squeeze in until fully integrated and dissolved. Rest 30 minutes.
Strengthen – Perform a series of stretch and folds. Let rest for another 30 minutes.
Strengthen (pt.2) – Perform another series of stretch and folds.
Bulk Ferment – Let the dough rest until doubled in size, jiggles, and has a domed surface. (Warm 4–6 h; cool 8–12 h.)
Shape – Pre-shape into a ball and let it bench rest for 20–30 minutes. Final shape into an oval log shape. Grease and flour your loaf pan (or line with parchment paper) and place your loaf into it, seam side down.
Proof Options
Same-day bake: Cover and let rest on the counter at room temperature until risen and puffy (1-3 hours).
Next-day bake: Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Einkorn is prone to over-fermenting.
Score & Bake
Loaf Pan (with added steam): Preheat the oven to 500°F. Once hot, add a tray with water (around 1 cup) to the bottom rack. Once that water starts to bubble and boil, lightly flour the surface of your loaf, score as you wish and place your loaf in the oven. Drop temperature to 375°F. Bake for 35–45 minutes, until a dark golden crust is achieved.
Cool – 1 hour minimum before slicing to ensure the crumb has fully set and then enjoy with a generous amount of butter!
How to Store
Once it has cooled down completely: Store cut-side down on cutting board 1–2 days; then cloth or plastic bag 3–4 days. Freeze in plastic for longer storage, sliced or unsliced.
Recipe
Light Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 230g water about 1 cup
- 150g sourdough starter about 1 cup
- 250g white flour about 2 cups
- 125g einkorn flour about 1 cup
- 10g salt about 2 tsp
Instructions
- Mix – Add water + starter to your bowl, mix until dissolved. Add white flour and einkorn flour. Mix until no dry bits. Rest 30–60 min (autolyse).
- Add Salt – Add salt with a splash of water, squeeze in until fully integrated and dissolved. Rest 30 minutes.
- Strengthen – Perform a series of stretch and folds. Let rest for another 30 minutes.
- Strengthen (pt.2) – Perform another series of stretch and folds.
- Bulk Ferment – Let the dough rest until doubled in size, jiggles, and has a domed surface. (Warm 4–6 h; cool 8–12 h.)
- Shape – Pre-shape into a ball and let it bench rest for 20–30 minutes. Final shape into an oval log shape. Grease and flour your loaf pan (or line with parchment paper) and place your loaf into it, seam side down.
- Bake – Preheat the oven to 500°F. Once hot, add a tray with water (around 1 cup) to the bottom rack. Once that water starts to bubble and boil, lightly flour the surface of your loaf, score as you wish and place your loaf in the oven. Drop temperature to 375°F. Bake for 35–45 minutes, until a dark golden crust is achieved.
- Cool – 1 hour minimum before slicing to ensure the crumb has fully set and then enjoy with a generous amount of butter!
