If you’re interested in sourdough baking but don’t have a sourdough starter, you may not have realized there’s lots of ways to come up with a “starter” – which is really just a natural yeast source rather than commercial packaged yeast. These are typically just as easy to make as a sourdough starter and may be something you already have on hand. One example is a ginger bug, of which the liquid can be used as a leavening agent. I’ve leavened a bread before using sweet potato fly, which is just a liquid culture created by steeping organic sweet potato in sugar water.
And yet another example is milk kefir grains, which are loaded with natural yeasts and healthy bacteria and are used to culture milk. Similar to ginger-bug leavened bread, the liquid “milk kefir” is mixed into the dough as the method to make the dough rise. That is, the kefir grains themselves never go into the bread. If you’re familiar with the kefir grains or have them already, you are probably aware that they’re added to milk to ferment the milk, making the milk more digestible and even more nutritious. Before drinking or using this fermented milk, the grains are removed and stored (in fresh milk) for future use; this can remain stored in the fridge. What you may not have realized is that instead of drinking the fermented milk, you can add it to your dough as the leavening agent.
Since sourdough starter is normally a thick but wet mixture of water and flour (teeming with yeast and healthy bacteria). I normally use around 200g of starter for most of my bread recipes, so for this kefir bread recipe I instead rely on more liquid (in this case, active milk kefir) and flour than you may be used to in a sourdough recipe. (There’s no yeast or sourdough starter to add to this recipe, of course.)
Using milk kefir adds not only more flavor to this bread, but more nutrition. Even though it is baked and the probiotics technically die in the cooking process, it has been shown in peer-reviewed studies that even dead probiotics have a benefit to gut health.
With all this said, hopefully you’re excited about trying something new, delicious, and nutritious. If you prefer, you can substitute up to half the bread flour with whole wheat flour or another healthy, low-gluten flour such as whole rye. Or you can just experiment like this at a later time as you feel more confident.
So let’s do this!
This recipe will yield one loaf and will stay good for up to a week at room temperature.
You will need:
- Kefir fermenting items: quart jar with breathable lid (or paper towel), milk kefir grains (at least 1 TBSP)
- Gram scale
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Large mixing bowl
- Flour dredge shaker (suggested)
- Bench scraper (for boule style)
- Large Dutch Oven (for boule / round style) or 9″ loaf pan (for loaf)
- Also needed for boule: 9″ banneton proofing basket
Ingredients:
To make the milk kefir:
- 2 cups whole milk (~490g)
- 1-2 TBSP milk kefir grains
For the bread dough:
- 400g milk kefir (fermented around 24 hours or until curds and whey fully separate)
- 500g all-purpose or bread flour
- 50g whole wheat flour
- 14g salt
- Up to an extra 1 TBSP milk kefir added to dough as needed at the end to incorporate all the flour
- Optional: 1TBSP diastatic malt powder (10g)
Directions:
Fermenting the milk kefir:
1.) A day before beginning the bread-making process, combine the two cups of fresh whole milk and kefir grains in the jar and allow to stand at room temperature (or a mildly warm location, such as an oven with the light turned on). During this time the milk will ferment. Before using the fermented milk (i.e. milk kefir) in the dough, it should be visibly separated (between the curds and whey). Once the milk kefir is fully fermented and separated, it can be stirred back into a uniform liquid and then should be promptly incorporated into a bread dough, using the steps below.
(Note: If the kefir grains were stored in the fridge for a long period beforehand, the milk kefir may be slow to ferment / separate as the grains were in semi-dormancy. If the milk kefir seems barely fermented or didn’t separate, it is advisable to change out the milk and add a fresh new two cups of milk to the grains. Allow an additional 18-24 hours for this second batch to ferment. The original batch can still be drunk or used in a smoothie, etc., for its healthful properties, but may not have accumulated enough probiotic yeasts and bacteria to leaven the bread well).
Making the dough & bread:
1.) After fully combining all the dough ingredients in the mixing bowl and mixing them well with wet hands, complete a series of 3-4 stretch and folds over the first couple hours. (Note: the dough feels more dense and taught than regular sourdough, which won’t be a problem.)
2.) After the stretch and folds are done, keep the dough sitting out in a warm location with a damp cloth covering the bowl for around 4-6 hours (total time from forming the dough: 6-8 hours).
3.) Pour the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Allow around ten minutes to rest. Shape and place the dough into heavily-floured 9″ banneton, cover with a dry cloth. Alternately, gently shape the dough into a rectangle and place into a 9″ loaf pan. If using a loaf pan, you may optionally coat it in about 1 tsp of sunflower oil (or other similar neutral oil). Cover with a dry cloth. Refrigerate for around 15 hours.
4.) Pull out the proofing basket or loaf pan from the fridge. Allow the top of the dough to reach (or nearly reach) the tip of the proofing basket or loaf pan. It may already be such, or may require a few more hours to rise (which can be expedited by placing on a heat mat set for 85-90F). Around an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 500F. Suggested: Add a cast iron pan on the bottom rack to place ice later for steam.
5.) Boule: Pour out the dough from the proofing basket onto a sheet of round-cut parchment paper. (The top of the bread is pointed down towards the bottom of the basket, so it will need to be flipped over.) Complete the final shaping and scoring, then place the dough and parchment paper together into the Dutch oven. Place the ice in the hot steam pan at the same time as when the Dutch oven is placed in the oven. Bake in a middle rack in covered Dutch oven at 485F for 22 minutes. After the 22 minutes, remove steam pan, remove lid to Dutch oven, and bake another 20 minutes at 465. Using a thermometer, ensure internal temperature is 205 – 210F.
Loaf: Bake at 425F for 20 minutes. Place the ice in the hot steam pan at the same time the loaf pan is put in the oven. After the 20 minutes, remove the (suggested) steam pan. Continue baking at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Using a thermometer, ensure internal temperature is 205-210F.
6.) Pull out the loaf or Dutch oven and allow to cool for around ten minutes. Then remove the dough and allow to cool on a raised wire rack (you want plenty of air to circulate underneath) overnight or for at least 10-12 hours before cutting. Store in a cool, dry, location in an airtight container (such as ziptop container).
