In case you missed the Facebook announcement, I’m enjoying a babymoon blogging break after Prairie Boy’s arrival on October 26th. I’ll still be hanging out on Facebook and answering emails/comments, but I’ve lined up some spectacular guest posts for you in the meantime.
Also, I wanted to make sure that you knew about the incredible Healthy Living eBook bundle sale happening right now. You can get over 30 of the best natural-themed eBooks for just 87 cents each! Plus you’ll get some great bonus gifts AND be entered to win prizes like an Excalibur dehydrator and Berkey water filter. Click here for more info– sale ends November 3rd!
Today’s post by Lexie of Lexie Naturals.
Ezekiel bread derives its name from Ezekiel 4:9 when God instructed Ezekiel to fast by only eating bread made from wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet.
Ezekiel bread is very filling and perfect for fasting, losing weight, snacking, or breakfast. If you have a young (or old) picky eater in the house, this is an excellent bread to have around. It truly is delicious, and it’s packed with protein and nutrients. It is also a batter bread, which means there is no kneading, so it’s very easy to make.
I mill my own wheat and beans (for these reasons), and I highly suggest you do the same. Several local farmer’s markets have booths that will mill wheat for you. I borrowed a friend’s mill until I purchased my own. If you simply can’t find a mill to use, you can purchase the flour here (you’ll skip the first step of the recipe if you buy pre-milled flour).
The following recipe has been altered from the Bread Beckers Recipe Collection and from my friend, Mrs. Cathy. Enjoy!
Homemade Ezekiel Bread
- 2 1/2 cups wheat grains (I use either hard red or hard white)
- 1 1/2 cups spelt
- 1/2 cup hulled barley
- 1/4 cup millet
- 1/4 cup dry green lentils
- 2 Tbs. dry northern beans
- 2 Tbs. dry kidney beans
- 2 Tbs. dry pinto beans
- 4 cups lukewarm whey (or water, the whey just adds more flavor and nutrients)
- 1 1/8 cups raw, local honey
- 1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil or coconut oil)
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbs. active dry yeast (2 packages)
- 1/2 cup milled flax seed (optional)
- 2 Tbs. dough enhancer (optional)
- 1 Tbs. gluten (optional)
- 1 egg plus 2 Tbs. water (optional, for egg wash on top)
- sunflower or sesame seeds (optional, for garnish on top)
- dried fruit (optional, for added flavor and nutrition)
1. Mix the first 8 ingredients in a bowl and grind in a flour mill. You may be required to mill the wheat separately from the beans depending on your mill’s instructions. This will make approximately 9 cups of flour.
2. In a large glass bowl mix whey (or water), honey, oil, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl mix the milled flour, yeast, milled flax seed, dough enhancer, and gluten until well combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir or knead for about 10 minutes. This can be done by hand (I use a dough hook) or in the mixer. You do not need to knead this to death like you do normal dough bread. Remember this is a batter bread, and it will NOT form into a nice smooth ball.
5. Pour dough into greased pans (I like to grease my pans with a little bit of coconut oil or olive oil). This recipe makes 2 large loaf pans (10x5x3), 3 medium loaf pans, or 4 small loaf pans (I usually do 4 small pans). It can also be put into 2 9×13 pans.
6. Optional step: “Paint” an egg wash over the top and sprinkle sunflower or sesame seeds over the egg wash. You can also push dried fruit into the batter.
7. Cover with a towel and let rise in pans for one hour or until dough is about 1/4 inch from the top of the pan. It will overflow in the oven if you let it rise too long.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-50 minutes. I use the smaller pans so it only takes 30 minutes; however, if you are using the larger pans it will take closer to 45 minutes. You can stick a thermometer in the side to check for doneness. You want it to reach 190F or for a toothpick to come out clean.
9. Remove pans from oven and place on a cooling rack. Run a knife around the edges and remove loaves from pans immediately. Let them rest on their sides (this will allow more air to circulate around them). Resist the urge to cut into the loaves. They need to cool at least 30 minutes before you cut them. They will continue to bake and make yummy magic during this time. I usually let mine cool all day.
Kitchen Notes:
- If you have a sensitivity to wheat or gluten, just omit them and add more spelt, millet, lentils, or beans (garbanzo beans would work too).
- I often cut this recipe in half, it works just as well.
- You need to eat this bread within about 72 hours. This bread does not have any preservatives so it will not stay fresh as long as store bought bread. Do not refrigerate this bread. If you will not consume the loaves within 72 hours you need to slice the bread, wrap it in bakers paper, and freeze it. This way you can take out slices at a time. Let it sit out in room temperature to thaw. Do not place it in the microwave or it will lose nutrients.
- You can buy the grains and beans premixed from several trusted places online; however, I prefer to buy my own bags of dry beans and mix them myself. This is much more frugal, and it allows me the freedom to add exactly how much I want.
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Lexie is a follower of Jesus, the wife of the very talented Stephen McNeill, and a stay-at-home mother of two exquisite girls (ages 4 and 19 months). Her passions include spending time with friends and family, reading, traveling, and teaching. In an effort to live more naturally and frugally, she began making and selling her own lotion, lip balm, deodorant, and diaper cream. She loves sharing these passions with others and helping other families catch the vision of living more natural lifestyle. Lexie can be found on her blog, facebook, twittter, and email.
About Jill Winger
I didn’t know! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome, Prairie Boy! WOOT!!!
Congratulations on baby arriving safe and sound.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I have a recipe for Ezekiel bread that requires kneading and forms 4 round loaves. It is one of our favorite breads and is so amazingly healthy for you. I might give this one a try to compare the two.
Blessings,
Nadine
Thank you for the info regarding your absence. Not all of us are on facebook or twitter so it’s nice to be kept in the loop. Enjoy this special time.
Rhonda
Thanks Rhonda!
Congratulations on the baby. I hate to say it, but this is not true Ezekial bread. Ezekial bread is made from sprouts of these grains and beans, not the grains and beans themselves. This is why I can eat Ezekial bread but cannot have wheat or wheat gluten.
You are right, the BRAND Ezekiel 4:9 Bread (from Food for Life) is made with sprouted grains. However, it doesn’t have to be sprouted to be considered Ezekiel bread. The idea comes from the verses in the Bible and uses the grains/beans mentioned there. You can also make this bread completely wheat and gluten free!
Just leave them out and add other grains or beans.
Okay, I see. Thank you for that info. I just may have to try it leaving out the wheat. I have two questions. What exactly is whey? and Will the recipe still work without the honey. My husband cannot have any kind of sugar, including honey. I know it is not a big amount, but he won’t eat it if there is any sugar or honey in it.
Sorry I’m just now seeing this. Whey, in short, is the liquid left after making yogurt. If you strain the yogurt for Greek yogurt you are left with a lot of whey. I try to always use all of the whey and that’s difficult since I don’t like to drink it. So, I started adding it to the bread. You can just use water. If you leave out the honey it will not be sweet, but that’s not a terrible thing. I would try to substitute with some sort of sweetener or sweet veggie or applesauce even.
I would think it would make a big difference in the digestibility of the grains/pulses for them to be either sprouted/fermented, which often happened as the grains sat in the fields waiting to be harvested (think of Ruth harvesting what was left lying in the field) or in the slow sourdough-like rise that would take place with the wild caught yeasts used. The quick rise yeast we have available today is a recent development and takes away from the pre-digesting process of soaking during the long rise period that occurs with slower natural yeasts.
Prairie Boy was born while I was at Allume and I’m just now finding out! CONGRATS!! I can’t wait to read your story, Jill!!
Lexie, this recipe looks wonderful! I will have to try it by omitting the gluten. Where do you buy your millet?
I buy all my grains from a local lady who buys them in bulk (I mean HUGE bulk). So that’s not much help to you.
testing
Congratulations!
I just found your blog and am trying to subscribe with Google Reader, but it keeps telling me it can’t find a feed. It seems to be working fine with other blogs. I thought I’d mention it in case you might know something that can help.
Thanks!
Natalia
Hmmm… Sorry for the trouble Natalia! I’ll look into it and try to figure out what is going on.
Thanks for the recipe, it looks fantastic. Trying to make this tonight
Let us know how it went for you! Hope you enjoyed it!
Puzzled by your comment that the bread only needs to be kneaded for ten minutes, unlike other bread that needs to be kneaded to death. Bread, the rule says and from my own experience, only needs to be kneaded for 5 minutes – it is very easy to over-knead it. I am also puzzled by the ingredient of kidney beans untreated. I was of the impression that many beans are poisonous to use if not first soaked for a minimum number of hours.
Hi, Carol! I didn’t actually mean that you have to knead bread to death, it was just a figure of speech so to say. Before I had a mixer and I was kneading bread by hand it would take me a very very long time to get it to pass the window test (where you stretch it out and can see through it like a stained glass window-or until it’s a smooth, elastic ball). This bread is a batter bread so it’s basically poured into the pans. If you are using a mixer for this it would probably only take 1-2 minutes to mix.
As for the kidney beans – if you don’t feel comfortable putting 2 tbsp of them in this (or any) dish simply substitute them with something else.
Hope this helps! Sorry for the delayed response.
Great recipe! and thanks for posting it. I have just a few comments. 1) You can get hulled barley from Great River Milling (available on Amazon). 2) Sprouting grain is extremely easy and only requires a little planning ahead. The benefits are seriously higher nutritional value for the grains and much easier digestibility. I am not aware of having any gluten issues myself; many natural nutritionists believe this allays the reaction issues for those eating gluten-free. 3) One other thing for any serious homesteader/homemaker to consider is using “wild yeast.” Again, much healthier, better for nutrition and digestion. I suggest you google the info for this. Happy Baking!