Essene Bread (Raw Sprouted Bread)

Chef Joey Z.'s Note:

I really enjoy essene bread. Its sprouted, not cooked like a regular loaf of bread. You can add dried organic fruits or organic herbs to this bread as you like. The possibilities are endless. This is a bread that still has all its enzymes working, this means it's basically a live food. You have to soak whatever berries you choose for your bread. These are found in most health food stores. The bread is dehydrated, not baked. I came up with this recipe for my DH and myself. We are eating more raw foods and this makes a satisfying meal. I made some pine nut cheese and will put this on the bread. It should be a delicious change from the usually baked products. NOTE: I didn't include the 2 day sprouting time in this recipe and the cooking time is actually the dehydrating time. If you do use wheat berries don't use the hard wheat berries, its not recommended. You can use other types of seeds in this. I used a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin that I soaked over night. Enzymes start to die at 106'F so avoid going above 100'F when drying this bread.

• Total Time: 8 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 cup kamut berries (sprouted-you can use soft wheat berries if you wish)
• 1 cup spelt berries (sprouted-you can use oat groats or rye berries if you wish)
• 1 teaspoon rock sea salt (you can also use kelp flakes or Bragss Liquid Aminos)
• 1/4 cup flax seed (soak 15 minutes)

Directions:

1. SOAKING THE BERRIES:.
2. Soak whatever berries you choose for about 2 days in "filtered water".
3. **Please don't use tap water, it has too many chemicals in it and will spoil the water!**.
4. To soak the berries, get yourself a large mouth 6 cup glass mason jar with a mesh lid.
5. You need the mesh lid so the berries can breathe while they are soaking and the water won't go rancid.
6. Put the two cups of berries in the mason jar and cover with water, rinse to remove any dust.
7. Then put more filtered water into the jar with the berries and soak until evening. Pour the water off the berries through the mesh lid. Remove the lid and fill the jar back up with filtered water covering the berries completely.
8. Put the jar on a 45 degree angle making sure that the berries are still covered with the filtered water, but don't let the water or berries touch the lid of the jar.
9. Let them soak over night. In the morning, repeat the rinsing process.
10. Do this until you see little white tails appear at the end of the berries. This means they have sprouted. Usually the second day is when they appear.
11. Pour the water off your seeds you've soaked and set aside.
12. Using a powerful food processor, grind the berries until you get a thick doughy type of mixture. Add the seeds, seasoning or whatever you plan to put into the bread and pulse slowly just to mix.
13. You don't want these things to get chopped up too fine. If you add dried fruit it might be good to put them in the mixer fairly big before pulsing, that way they will chop a little smaller but still be recognizable.
14. Form the essene into a loaf, no more then 1 1/2 inches high. Put the essene on a flat plate on a piece of oiled parchment paper and dehydrate. Then, for the last few hours, flip the bread over and dry the other side.
15. The bread should be soft inside, but not mushy.
16. DEHYDRATING THE SPROUTED BREAD:.
17. "Do not cook the bread, keep the heat setting at about 80'F" The idea is to just form a crust around the bread, not to cook it. The Essene should be soft on the inside, but not mushy".
18. Now there are a few ways to dehydrate this bread. You can set it in your dehydrator on a dehydrator sheet for 10 hours at 80'F.
19. If you have a small convection toaster oven you can use that on a low setting.
20. You can set it in your oven on low as well. Make sure you leave the oven door ajar for about 8-10 hours.
21. This bread can be put out in the sun for 12 hours as well. Just make sure you put it under a mesh cover so the bugs won't eat it before you can.
22. You can use a crock pot as well. Unfortunately, mine is too hot and won't work, so make sure you know what temperature the low setting is if you decide to use this method.
23. Once the bread is done leave it out on the counter in a brown bag. Do not refrigerate. However, this is perishable, so eat it up as it can get moldy. If you don't plan on eating it right away freeze it.
24. Serve with your favourite spread or Raw Pine Nut Cheese.
25. Bon Appetit.

Reviews

[free-free]

Thanks so much for posting this recipe...I do a very similar version of this but never had the patience or the smarts to be able to jot down a description of it and how to go about...I also never am able to do it the same way twice...I really admire the shape of your loaf ((GREAT PHOTO)...I tend to form mine much thinner(about 1/4" thick) ...I dehydrate it usually for about 10 hours...but that varies batch to batch as well...over the summer I sun baked it on slate in the garden to finish it off...this last batch I tagged for the Healthy Choices Tag and added pumpkin seeds, raisins and a bit of honey, cinnamon,nutmeg & ginger to some to celebrate Autumn flavors :)... I do several batches at once in my little round "SnackMaster"...about 5 sheets at a time...I almost always throw in different seeds/spices- sunflower, sesame, caraway, poppy,peppers,garlic to some -(I got that inspiration from the idea of bagels on display {{lol}}} kinda going for the "everything effect" sometimes :) :) {{lol}}... but love this most simplistic version just as much or even more, so do a version of that as well. This is perfection as far as a guide to do it _ LOVE IT! always have a bread box full of it in the house,and it is eaten for or with any meal ...I read somewhere on line that essene bread is the very essence of simplicity...:) I have also heard it called angel bread -lovely thought...(containing the graces of water,air and sun and earth)...a wonderful live recipe THANKS Chef Joey Z.!!! This is fantastic!!