Einkorn Banana Bread with Natural Streusel Topping

Still experimenting with einkorn flour.  I really like the taste of it.  It has a slightly sweet taste and doesn't seem quite as heavy to me as whole wheat or white whole wheat.

This bread turned out really well.... nice and moist with a cinnamon goodness.

EINKORN BANANA BREAD WITH CINNAMON-SUGAR TOPPING

adapted from The Einkorn Cookbook

1 3/4 c. (218 g) Einkorn all  purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into 6 pats/segments
3/4 c. (120 g) coconut sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
1/2 c. whole milk Greek yogurt (I use homemade)
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/4 c.  (40 g) coconut sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.  In a food processor, place the butter and sugar and blend well until combined. The mixture should pull away from the sides and form large mass of dough.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend each until absorbed.  Then add the mashed bananas, Greek yogurt and vanilla and process again until combined.  Add the flour mixture and blend just until combined. Do not over-process once the flour is added.  Pour into the prepared loaf pan.

The batter ready to bake - covered in coconut sugar and cinnamon

In a small bowl, mix the coconut sugar and cinnamon and pour over the top of the batter.

Fresh out of the oven

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center is clean when removed.

Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then remove from pan and let finish cooling on a wire rack. This is delicious!

Sooooooo good!!

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Chicken and Dumplings with Einkorn Flour

This is a real comfort food for me.  I don't remember eating a lot of this growing up, in fact I may not even have tried it until I was an adult.  I just am not sure.  But I do know that it quickly became a comfort food for me - much like chicken soup or chicken and noodles.  It's warm and satisfying and gets better with every bite.

The einkorn flour makes this dumpling a little softer and lighter but not a bit of the taste is compromised.  I can hardly wait to make it again.  And if you don't have einkorn flour, feel free to substitute with any flour you have on hand.  The original recipe was actually designed for regular flour.

Stove top cooking at its best - ready to serve! (yes - the top is COVERED in dumplings!) YUM!

Chicken and Dumplings with Einkorn Flour

adapted from How Sweet Eats

1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 shallots, diced
1/2 c. sliced baby carrots
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 c. Einkorn or regular flour
4 c. low-sodium chicken stock or broth
1 c. white wine
1 c. water
1/3 c. heavy cream or half and half

Dumpling Batter
 2 1/2 cups Einkorn or regular flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter. When hot, add the chicken to the skillet and cook it on both sides until dark golden brown and cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set aside in a bowl;shred when cool.Reduce the heat to medium and add the other 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shallots, carrots, celery garlic, rosemary and thyme. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, stirring well. Cook until the vegetables are soft - about 5 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, mix the dumplings. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine the milk and eggs, and stir into the flour until just mixed. Set aside for a few minutes. (mine sat for 15 minutes or more and the batter rose and made very light dumplings.

Stir the 1/4 cup flour into the veggies with a wooden spoon until it coats the vegetables, then continues to stir until the flour cooks and turns golden brown, about 5-10 more minutes, depending on the stove. Slowly add the chicken stock a cup at a time, stirring well the entire time so the mixture thickens. Add the shredded chicken to the pot. Increase the heat a bit and bring the mixture to a simmer, then continue to cook while it bubbles for about 10 minutes. The liquid should have a thick consistency. Slowly add the heavy cream or half and half and stir well. Drop large spoonfuls of dough all around the top of the pot. The dumplings may cover the top of the mixture. The mixture should be bubbling for 10 to 15 minutes so it cooks the

Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley over the top of the dumplings. Serve immediately!
IF you have leftovers, add a little milk when reheating.

Unbelievably good!

This was SO good I ate it almost every night for a week.  Sometimes when I have leftovers I have to force myself to eat them, but there was no forcing with this one!  I was quite content to have a small bowl of this every night!  I hope you love it too!

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Einkorn No Knead Bread

So your first question may be "What in the world is Einkorn?  Right?"  I thought the same thing when I began the process of researching flours and learning about all the varieties that existed. Einkorn is one of the many flours considered an "ancient grain" along with others like barley, kamut, teff, spelt, buckwheat and more.       Many of these are also gluten free and rich in mineral content.  Some are quite high in protein and rich in fiber.  Einkorn is one of the oldest and purest forms of wheat.

Einkorn is very high in protein, vitamin B6, potassium and other minerals and even though it is wheat, it is very low in gluten.  Some people who are gluten intolerant are able to eat einkorn flour.  You can read more about it here.

No Knead Einkorn Bread

From the Jovial website

5 c. (600 gr) all purpose einkorn flour
1 3/4 c. (410 gr) warm water
1/4 tsp. (1 gr.) yeast (this is not a misprint - REALLY just 1/4 tsp!)
1 tsp. salt (I used bread salt from King Arthur)

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.

Add the warm water and mix well. This is an interesting dough in that it is VERY soft and sticky and hard to mix.  The easiest way to mix it, per the website, is with your hands. But I will warn you that it's messy and you will have to be in the mood to get your hands STICKY!!  This is perfectly normal with this kind of flour - just a warning.  You do not need to add more flour at this stage - just hang in there and mix it as thoroughly as you can, however you can.  (yes I love a challenge so I hung in there as I had heard wonderful things about  this flour and figured it was worth it. And by the way, I was right!  Totally worth it!)

Take a spatula or wooden spoon or something sturdy and scrape down the sides of the bowl and flatten the top so you have a relatively flat top.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a dark place for 12-14 hours.  I used a ceramic bowl and put a plate over the top  of the plastic to block the dough from being exposed to the light.  Again, per the website instructions, the dough will darken when exposed to light (it won't hurt the dough at all, you will just get a darker product because of the carotenoids in the dough that will darken when exposed to light).

When the dough is ready (I let mine rise for the full 14 hours), place a ceramic or cast iron pot in the oven and heat for 30 minutes to 500 degrees and then lower to 450.

In the meantime, take the bowl of dough and turn it out onto a well floured surface.  I used a large pastry cloth as it keeps the mess contained and is easy to shake off when I am done.  Pat the dough flat with well floured hands or a dough scraper, and then fold each of the four sides toward the center, using additional flour to make a round shape.  The dough will be super soft and will not be like a "normal" ball of dough..

 Handle it minimally.  The shape does not have to be perfect as it will rise and fill out as it bakes in the oven. quickly shaped mine and placed it on a parchment square and put the whole thing in the hot ceramic pot as soon as it had heated for 30 minutes.  Once you have the dough in the hot ceramic dish, cover it and make for 40 minutes, keeping the lid on the entire time.  If you prefer a darker crust, remove the lid and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes uncovered.

Lift the loaf out of the dish (leaving it on the parchment paper makes that much easier) and cool on a wire rack. Let cool at least an hour before slicing.

I really LOVE the look of this loaf and the taste was delicious - not quite as "wheat" tasting as white whole wheat, but not as "bland" as white flour.  Hard to describe, but trust me, it is delicious.

This is not an inexpensive flour as 2 lbs is roughly $8 ($4/lb), but it is so healthy and delicious, it is worth using whenever you feel like spoiling yourself with a very nutritious grain.

And I weighed all of my ingredients to get the measurements as accurate as possible. I love my kitchen scale. It takes all of the guesswork out of baking!

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