December 8, 2016 - 7:14am
I call this Faux Sourdough
Hey all,
I worked on this recipe during Thanksgiving this year when family was around. I taught my sister in law how to make it and she helped me make a batch too. It's really a snap to put together and produces a super tender, slightly tangy, crusty loaf. Depending on how much yogurt you use, it could be just a little tangy or the tang could be much more pronounced.
The recipe is here and it comes together in no time.
This is the gist:
The "faux" comes from the use of yogurt in the dough that gives the bread a nice sour flavor profile!
- AP Flour: 500g
- Water: 320mL
- Greek Yogurt: 1 large tablespoon, about 30g
- Salt: 12.5g (roughly 1 tbs)
- Sugar: 12.5g (roughly 1 tbs)
- Yeast: a scant 1tbs
- Mix all ingredients (minus the salt) and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Add the salt and mix again. Let sit for about an hour.
- Stretch & Fold, let sit for another hour.
- Shape and place in proofing basket
- Pre-heat the oven
- Bake and enjoy!
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if, like kefir, one can make a starter out of greek yoghurt providing it has live culture in it. If not you can easily purchase kefir and make a levain by simply mixing some kefir and flour then waiting for it to bubble up and mature. You then proceed just like a sourdough.
Nice recipe and bread looks delicious.
Yogurt will add acidity to the beginning of a starter's life in the same way that pineapple juice does (see Debra Wink's instructions on making a starter). However, the lactobacilli in yogurt are not the same as those cultured in sourdough. They are meant to be with dairy, not wheat. So using greek yogurt for the first couple of days in making a starter is fine, but lends no benefit after those first couple of days. I imagine the same can be said for kefir.
To the OP, that sounds good and makes me wonder how this would play out using sourdough starter in place of the yeast. I imagine enriching a sourdough bread with yogurt would have good results. I know that is not your intent, but it got me thinking. I personally would use less yeast, but with dairy involved there is nothing wrong with getting things done faster.
One last thought... looking at your instructions I would suggest you try adding the yeast with the salt (after the autolyse) rather than at the beginning. Your end product looks great! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Maverick,
I have made kefir bread before. just mix a levain and wait for it to mature and use like sourdough.
Makes a lovely soft crumb with great oven spring.
As I understand it, kefir does contain some yeast in addition to the bacteria. Yogurt would not have this advantage. But what I was getting at is that, while a build used within a day or two will still contain the culture from the yogurt or kefir, after a couple of days these would not be able to survive the sourdough environment. Plus, the bacteria (and yeast) are not going to be the same as that found in a sourdough starter. I can see using it as an enrichment.
I do wonder how much of the kefir bread is raised by yeast vs bacteria though. The acid of strained yogurt does help prevent against leuconostoc, but a more diluted form such as kefir might not be the same. Makes me think of salt rising bread.
It might be worth posting the question about kefir since I am no expert when it comes to that.
It's a fair question since many bacteria used in dairy production can only use lactose (and probably glucose and fructose) as a food source.
Kefir has yeast in it too. Many of the bacteria and yeast found in kefir can be found in sourdough starter. The culture is quite similar. I know that most yoghurts don't have yeast in it because it's treated to kill them off. I may be wrong on that but sure I've read it somewhere so please correct me. Kefir is a cultured milk but not a yoghurt. I don't think it's like salt rising bread as it's only good bacteria and yeast. Salt rising bread is leuconostoc giving it a "cheesy" flavour with a stinky starter. Kefir Starter smells good and produces a soft yeast like bread which is flavoursome but less tangy then a sourdough.
I found this article. If nothing else, it makes me think that kefir (or the grains at least) should give a strong flavored bread:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814613010273
But kefir and yogurt are very different. I still hold that what I said about yogurt holds true. Again, there is a big difference between a starter that is perpetuated over time (mother) and a build that is much younger. The yogurt bacteria will be out competed and not survive in a mother starter. I am curious how the kefir grain sourdough would change over time.
Makes me want to get some grains. I just wish I knew someone local that had them.
I remember it being very flavoursome but whether tangy I'd have to make it again. The crumb was lovely and soft with great oven spring.
At the time my breads weren't too tangy, even my sourdoughs, so perhaps I didn't get the tang so much due to how I used it. But I do remember thinking this tastes really nice and what great oven spring.
Yes, kefir is not yoghurt. Don't know what made me think Greek yoghurt could be treated the same way. I didn't keep the kefir starter going. It was simple and quick to make so as long as you keep your kefir going I don't see any need. You already have the ingredients for the starter and its not like you have to cultivate it from scratch with just flour and water over a week or so.
Kefir is readily available here. I do have my own grains which I froze when I went on vacation last and haven't defrosted them yet but I can easily buy a bottle of some ready made.
If you keep your kefir starter going and subsequently feed it flour and water I don't know if it would turn into a sourdough starter. I did read one could keep it going for a while with just flour and water but it might lose strength and if it does then one feed with more kefir will bring it back to health.
Try and get some. Makes a lovely bread and I bet your inner scientist wants to.
Yeah, kefir is easy to buy, but the grains are only mail order (or drive an hour or more and still pay too much). I don't have any neighbors that I know with grains (or that keep sourdough for that matter). Maybe the local facebook page is a place to post to ask. I just can't believe how much people charge for these things.
To try a kefir bread? Just make sure it's genuine, live and made from grains.
While it won't last forever (for this you do need the grains) but you can inoculate a new batch with some kefir. Eventually it'll lose strength but it can last a little while.
I've just bought some for tomorrow's bake.
Hi Maverick,
I was low on bread and made this one again, this time adding the salt at the same time as other ingredients. I didn't notice anything different in the result so I guess I may as well edit the recipe to simplify it.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Actually, what I was saying was that the first step should be to mix the flour and water only. Then rest 15-30 minutes. Then add the salt and yeast and proceed. Even if it is hard to tell the difference, adding the salt (and yeast) early does have an effect.
I just love this site and have learned so much. Can this sourdough recipe be used for the ciabatta? If so, can you please post the directions and or changes? Thank you!
Hi LJay,
I'm a believer that you can adapt pretty much any recipe to make a different type of loaf. While your mileage may vary, I think this applies to this loaf.
A ciabatta usually contains a lot more water (usually 70% or more hydration), so I'd start by adding 30ml water to this recipe as well as 1-2tbs olive oil. I'd also add in a stretch&fold in there to build more "strength" in your dough.
Ciabatta's are usually fairly slack but think you make it work out.
Here's a ciabatta recipe did on my blog a while ago. Still a good loaf but it contains different ingredients from this 'faux' sourdough.
Good luck!
Took up Maverick's comment and did a long autolyse with just flour and water, then added 10g salt, 1 or 2g instant yeast and 30g Greek yogurt. While not sourdough, it did indeed lend a nice flavor, not-bad crumb (I'm new at handling dough, so bear with me, it'll get better). Thought I'd give it a shot while waiting for my starter to start!
Thanks for the great ideas!
i tried making makebreadnet's faux sourdough yesterday using white spelt flour - it was delish! my husband felt it tasted and felt like fresh boudin. i don't know about that, but it was really good. i'd like to try it with more yogurt next time and see what happens.
Fantastic!
I'm glad you had good results. I continue to make this as my "go-to" loaf, especially when I don't have time for sourdough!
your faux sourdough rocks, and it's now officially the best bread i've made.
i used white spelt flour, 30 grams yogurt with a little less water, but my scale had an issue so there may have been 2 or 3 grams too much yeast. dough came out very slack - maybe the spelt? - but worked out perfectly with a crispy crust that was just awesome and a wonderful crumb except in the very center. the odd wrinkling is where i scored it, and there's a story behind that, but it came out happily ever after. a little underdone in the very center, but will make beautiful toast in the morning :)
I woke up to this comment and it's made my day already. I'm glad you tried it and I'm glad you liked it!
Keep up the good work and keep baking!
i just made another one. this time, i used less water, 50% more yogurt, and knowing my white spelt flour better, decided to make it a loaf. i heated the oven to 450f, then lowered it to 425f after putting in the loaf pan. great oven spring, and it smelled so good we were going crazy. i couldn't get a pic of the whole loaf because we couldn't wait to try it! and man, that crispy crust and tangy flavor
next time i'm going to either lower the oven to 400 instead of 425 or put the loaf pan inside a roaster with a little water for extra steam.
Way to go, I love that bread, it's a keeper!