A Bread With Sprouts? That’s the question I asked myself when I came across the announcement of Bread Baking Day 1st Anniversary edition. Zorra is hosting Bread Baking Day herself, this time. She chose “Bread With Sprouts” as this month’s theme. Sprouts in bread increases protein and fibre content in it. That is provided the bread is made the traditional way and not enriched with butter, eggs and sugar.
The whole concept of adding sprouts in bread is new to me. I looked up some links Zorra had given us to help us along. Generally speaking, there are two main types of sprouts bread. One type, also called Essene bread, has its origins in biblical times. Here wheat sprouts are ground, made into flat unleavened loaves and baked at low temperatures. This sweetish tasting bread is mentioned in Ezekiel Verse 4:9 in the Old Testament of the Bible. Typically, no oil, salt, flour or leavening agents are added to this bread. There are variations with fruits, nuts and seeds, though.
The other type of bread is made with different types of flours and sprouts. The choice of flours and sprouts seems to be with the baker. For Bread Baking Day, Zorra wanted us to bake bread with sprouts made at home. The Essene bread didn’t sound too appetizing though reviews seem good. I played safe, stuck to the brief and baked a bread of the second type.
Of the dried beans I had in the pantry, the two that would sprout the fastest were mung/ moong beans and black eyed beans. I chose to sprout the mung/ moong beans. I soaked them in water and left the overnight. Next morning, I drained the beans, put them in a flat plastic container and sprayed them with a little water. I turned them around in the container every few hours and by night they had started sprouting. The next morning, they had sprouted well, with long “tails”. I was ready to make my Bread With Sprouts.
The sprouts should have “tails” at least the length of the bean for an optimal result when used in this bread. If the sprouts are too short then the full nutritional benefit is not obtained.
I couldn’t find too many recipes for this type of bread on the net. The ones that were there needed ingredients I didn’t have. So I came up with my own bread recipe. The use of whole wheat flour and malted millet flour makes this a slightly dense bread. I expected this loaf to be very dense, but it wasn’t. It was quite soft and slightly crusty with a nice crunch on the crust wherever there were sprouts. This bread makes really toast.
You can substitute the malted millet flour with equal amounts of whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour. Please note that is important to knead this bread dough really well to develop the gluten. Otherwise, you might end up with a crumbly bread. You may also use store bought sprouts or a different variety of it. If you like a sweeter bread you may increase the honey to about 2 tbsp. You can also double the recipe to make two smaller loaves or one large loaf.
My sprouts bread is joining Zorra’s BBD #11 Bread with sprouts.
Bread With Sprouts
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 tsp honey
- 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup sprouts
- 11/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup malted millet flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp oil
Instructions
- Dissolve the honey in the half cup of warm water. Add the yeast, mix well and allow to prove. Put the flours, salt, and oil into the processor bowl. Run a couple of times to mix well. Now add the yeast mixture and enough water to form a soft dough. You may do this by hand, if preferred.
- Once the dough has been kneaded well flatten it out a little into a round. Sprinkle the sprouts over this and roll up the rough from one end. Bring together the two ends and knead the dough slightly. This should ensure the sprouts are well distributed in the dough.
- Form the dough into a ball, put into a greased bowl and turn well to coat. Loosely cover and keep aside till double in volume. This should take about an hour and half. Gently deflate the dough and shape it into a loaf. Place in a well oiled 6" x 4" loaf tin. Cover loosely and let it rise above the edges of the tin (about 40 minutes).
- Bake at 190C (375F) for about 40 minutes. When done, the loaf will be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Cool completely on a rack.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
Loved your sprouts bread. The bread has got a nice crust. Looks moist and light. Nice entry for the event.
I love your own creation of sprouted bread. Well done!
you are very creative. its healthy too.
Oh, you made it!! Texture is very good, good job!:)I looked for some too but gave up the idea. I don’t think kids will eat even though it’s very nutritious.
Wow that loaf of bread looks so good.Not to mention adding sprouts to it
the bread looks awesome! and indeed healthyt oo!:)sorry to know about your mother-in-law!:(
Hi Aparna…That bread looks so gorgeous. YUM!. Turned out so perfect for u. Nice and different recipe….
Wow! That’s fantastic, Aparna. I just love the texture of that loaf.
Nice idea Aparna. It looks good. Viji
Bread looks delicious!! Nice one. 🙂
That delicious and fluffy looking bread came out of those sprouts? 🙂 WOW!
This is so creative! The texture of your bread looks amazing. This is my type of bread.
that’s such a lovely idea! the bread looks nice and fluffy 🙂
What a beautiful healthy loaf!
Thats a good idea Aparna. THe bread looks so soft!
That looks like a delicious bread. Never knew that you could make bread with sprouts but I can see you did a great job.
Healthy bread..
great texture and crust, and such a good idea o use sprouts! Finally.. a low GI bread!
Aparna,Delicious and nutrient rich bread , I will try this
I’m just satisfied that my experiment worked out!To see what the others “sprout” take a look at the round-up early next month.Asha,My daughter didn’t even give it a try! We liked it.Thanks, all. Didn’t think I would get a good texture, either.
Aparna, your bread looks delicious! I’m so impressed by how it turned out, and your own recipe, too!
Delicious looking bread! Ulrike from Küchenlatein
Nice pictures and bread. The crust looks really good.
Aparna, I’m really floored by your creations. Today I had a chance to go through your blog and I was really wowed by your baking and also other culinary expeditions.
Hey Aparna,This is a FANTASTIC SITE…. u are incredibly creative & talented… each of your recipes is a winner & I would hate to miss out on an opportunity to try out a single one… can you PLEASE PLEASE activate an e-mail subscription option – like feedburner etc..? many thanks in advanceRanjana
Thank you Ranjana for your very kind words.There is a subscription feature from FeedBiltz at the top left hand side of my blog. You just have to enter your email id in it to activate it.