Introduction: Sprouted Wheat Berry Bread = 2 Ingredients, 4 Steps
It involves 4 steps
1. sprout 2 cups wheat berries over the course of 3 days while rinsing 2x a day
2. chop up with 2/3 cup dates in a food processor
3. let sit 1 hour
4. bake for 2.5 hours at 300 deg F on an oiled baking sheet - or 200 degrees for 4 hours (less enzyme mortality).
Internet inquiry taught me this is Essene bread, a very old recipe; it was probably baked on rocks in really hot sun! It's so simple, tasty, very transportable (in pockets or bike bags) and packed with nutritious goodness! Try other dried fruits besides dates - I bet it'd be good.
Sprouted grains are "living food" and have way more good stuff than seeds/grains. Here is info on wheat berry good-stuff compared to plain unsprouted wheat grain:
- Vitamin B1 (thiamin) increase of 28%
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) increase of 315%
- Vitamin B3 (niacin) increase of 66%
- Vitamin B5 (pantathenic) increase of 65%
- Biotin increase of 111%
- Folic acid increase of 278%
- Vitamin C increase of 300%
Step 1: Soak!
Cover 2 cups of wheat berries with water and soak overnight (8 hours).
Step 2: Rinse for 2 Days!
Set them in a tray or large bowl in a dark cool place with and rinse 2 times a day (every 12 hours) with a screen colander. Watch and wait for sprouts!
Step 3: See Sprouts!
You'll see the wheat berries sprouting, the sprouts will be about 1/3 the length of the berries day 3!
Step 4: Get Some Dates!
Yum, who doesn't love dates (thought they remind me at first glance of a cockroach). Cut them up in big chunks, 2/3 cup.
Step 5: Grind Up Dates and Wheat Berries!
Put the sprouted wheat berries and date chunks into a food processor, and grind away for a while til you get a dough ball-type mass. See progression of 3 pics here. Notice sticky gluten strings being expressed in 3rd pic! There must be some bread science story in those but I didn't research it.
Step 6: Let Sit!
Put the doughy mass in a bowl. You could add some nuts or experimental ingredients at this point (coconut? chocolate?). Let the dough ball sit in a bowl for 1 hour covered with a cloth.
One recipe recommended some kneading for an optimal loaf... experiment.
Step 7: Bake!
Spray / smear a baking sheet with oil, and spread out the dough to be about an inch thick. One idea is to put sesame seeds or such on the loaf, they'll stick.
Bake at 300 deg F for 2.5 hours... (Another recipe said 200 deg F for 5 hours as baking above 260 degrees kills some living enzymes - I would do 4 hours)... or bake on a hot rock (or the hood of your car?) in the blazing sun for the afternoon. I'll try this in the summer, stay tuned...
Then eat and share the yummy Essene bread - put it in your bike bag or pocket - it is a hearty dense loaf of yumminess that travels well. You can cut and freeze it too, or leave it on the counter a few days.
