It’s been very quiet on KRÜMELIG over the last few weeks. I moved house and didn’t have time or, at times, an oven to try out new recipes. During this time, I had the idea for this kefir bread with sourdough. I then baked it once at my father’s house to test it out. I put the list of ingredients in my handbag so that it wouldn’t get lost in all the chaos of moving house. I carried the recipe around with me for almost two months until I was finally able to bake it and photograph it in my new kitchen this week. And now I can finally share it with you.
✨ The links with an star* are affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and buy something, I get a small commission and you support my work (thanks for that 🧡). This does not change the price for you. You can find more information on privacy policy here.✨
That’s why you’ll love this simple kefir bread
This recipe makes a fluffy sourdough bread with kefir. It contains whole grain spelt and rye flour, and you can also mix bread spices into the dough according to taste. The recipe works without yeast, and you can conveniently leave the dough to rest overnight in the refrigerator. Kefir, natural sourdough, and a long dough fermentation process make the bread particularly aromatic and digestible.
What exactly is kefir?
Kefir is milk that is fermented using kefir grains. The grains contain lactic acid bacteria and yeast. These microorganisms ferment milk sugar into lactic acid, some carbon dioxide, and small amounts of alcohol, creating the typical slightly sour, slightly tangy taste of kefir. Kefir often contains significantly more bacteria and yeast strains than yogurt, and its microflora is particularly diverse.
You will need the following ingredients for fluffy kefir bread with sourdough
- Wheat bread flour is ideal for baking bread. It is fine and has a high protein content. This ensures an elastic dough and a light crumb.
- Whole grain spelt flour and whole grain rye flour: Whole grain flour contains all parts of the grain (husks, germ, and endosperm) and is therefore particularly rich in nutrients. It gives the dough a slightly nutty flavor. You can use either store-bought or home-ground flour*.
- Water: Cold in summer and lukewarm in winter. Different flours can absorb different amounts of water, so I would start with 300g and add the rest of the water a little at a time if the dough is too firm.
- Kefir provides extra leavening power, moisture, and keeps the dough fresh for a particularly long time. Alternatively, you can use buttermilk or yogurt.
- sourdough starter
- Salt is important for flavor, but it also stabilizes fermentation.
Baking with sourdough – cultivating and caring for sourdough starter
You can use either wheat sourdough or rye starter for this recipe. I use a universal sourdough for all types of flour. I feed my sourdough with equal parts water and flour. If you use a different mixing ratio, you will need to adjust the amount of water in the recipe.
The sourdough does not need to be freshly fed for this recipe, but it should not have been more than a week since it was last refreshed. The longer your sourdough has not been fed, the longer the dough usually needs to rest.
If you don’t have a sourdough yet, I’ve put together some methods for growing your own starter here.
This is how sourdough bread is made with kefir
Day 1 – Prepare the dough and let it rest
Mix kefir, water, flour, sourdough starter, salt, and spices in a bowl to form a smooth dough—either by hand or with a food processor. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then stretch and fold it once: grasp the dough on one side, pull it up slightly, and fold it toward the center. Repeat this on all sides.
Cover the dough and leave to rest until it has significantly increased in volume. Depending on the ambient temperature, this takes around three to six hours. Then place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, shape it into a round and place it seam-side up in a well-floured proofing basket. Cover and leave to rest overnight in the refrigerator (around ten to fourteen hours).
Day 2 – Baking
Preheat the oven to 250°C hot air (+ bottom heat) in good time. Place a baking stone and a steam tray with lava stones in the oven. Carefully turn the dough onto the hot baking stone with the seam facing down and score with a sharp blade. Lower the temperature to 230 °C and bake the bread with steam for 15 minutes. Then release the steam, reduce the temperature to 180 °C, and bake the bread for another 30–40 minutes until it has a thick crust and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.
After baking
Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting. This allows the crumb to settle and remain moist.
Frequently asked questions
What function does kefir serve in bread baking?
Thanks to the yeast it contains, kefir acts as a fermentation aid when baking bread, giving your sourdough a boost. This makes this recipe perfect for sourdough beginners. In addition, the protein and fat contained in kefir ensure that the bread is particularly moist and fluffy. Kefir also improves freshness because the acid inhibits mold growth.
Can you bake kefir bread without yeast?
Absolutely! Theoretically, you could bake kefir bread without industrial yeast or sourdough. Kefir contains yeast and is a leavening agent. However, because you have no idea how active store-bought kefir is, this bread also contains natural sourdough. If you have ever baked kefir bread without additional leavening agents, I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments. So, this recipe works without industrial yeast, but if your sourdough is still very young or not very active, you can add a small crumb of yeast to the dough to be on the safe side. Normally, however, this should not be necessary because the kefir in this recipe acts as an additional fermentation aid.
Can yogurt be used instead of kefir for baking?
Yogurt is a good substitute, but with a few caveats: yogurt mainly contains lactic acid bacteria (less or no yeast) and is thicker. This means you will probably need a little more water to get the dough to the desired consistency. However, the lack of yeast shouldn’t be a problem because the sourdough easily compensates for this.
Can buttermilk be used instead of kefir for this bread?
Buttermilk is also a good substitute for kefir in this recipe. The consistency of the two ingredients is very similar, so you can replace the kefir with it on a 1:1 basis without needing to add more water. However, buttermilk contains far fewer microorganisms, which slows down fermentation slightly and makes the flavor a little less complex, but your sourdough can compensate for this.
What to do if the dough doesn’t rise?
If the dough for kefir bread does not rise properly, there may be several reasons for this. One possible cause is that the dough contains too little liquid. Whole wheat flour absorbs more water than white flour, and if the dough is too dry, it lacks the elasticity to rise properly. All flours are different, so you may need to use more or less water than stated in the recipe.
Another reason may be that the sourdough starter is not active enough. Your starter does not need to be freshly fed for this recipe, but the last feeding should not have been more than five days ago. Don’t worry – if your starter doesn’t have enough power, you can make up for it with more time.
Yet another important factor to consider is the room temperature. If the dough is left to rest in a cold place, the fermentation process slows down considerably. The optimal temperature of the surroundings should be between 24 and 26°C (75 and 78°F). Your dough needs more time at cooler temperatures.
How long does kefir bread stay fresh?
Due to the lactic acid fermentation, these types of bread usually stay moist longer and are somewhat more resistant to mold than simple yeast breads. In practice: approx. 3–5 days fresh at room temperature (airtight or in a bread bin), depending on the recipe (wholemeal dries faster). Storing in a cool place does not necessarily slow down retrogradation (drying out) — freezing (in slices) is the best long-term solution.
You might also like these recipes
- Crispy spelt quark bread with sourdough – without yeast
- Sourdough grain sticks with quark and oat flakes
- Easy Sourdough Spelt Rolls with Cottage Cheese
- Homemade Sourdough Honey Oat Rolls with Yoghurt
- The perfect yogurt bread with sourdough
Helpful tools – My recommendations
✨ The links with an star* are affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and buy something, I get a small commission and you support my work (thanks for that 🧡). This does not change the price for you. You can find more information on privacy policy here.✨
- A grain mill* for freshly ground wholemeal flour.
- A Danish Whisk* – especially if you don’t use a kitchen machine. This allows you to mix your ingredients without the whole dough sticking to the spoon.
- A kitchen scale*.
- With this sharp baker’s knife*, you can make precise cuts in your bread and get creative with intricate scoring patterns.
- You can use a stainless steel dough knife* to cut your dough pieces or shape your loaves.
- You can bake beautiful loaves with proofing baskets. There are round proofing baskets* and oval proofing baskets*. If you want to bake several loaves at the same time, I would recommend oval baskets. They take up less space in the fridge and oven.
- A stainless steel loaf tin*.
- A steam tray consisting of a stainless steel oven mould* and lava stones*. The tray is filled with the stones and placed on the bottom of the oven during preheating. When you put your bread in the oven, pour hot water onto the stones. This creates steam, which ensures that your bread rises well.
- Baking steel* or baking stone to make your bread, rolls and pizza nice and crispy.
- When baking bread in a Dutch oven*, you can do without baking steel and a steam tray because the cast iron pot has the perfect climate.
- A cooling rack* for bread, rolls and waffles.
- A stainless steel kettle* with different temperature settings for soaked ingredients.
- A sharp bread knife*.
- A stainless steel toaster* for slices of bread, toast and rolls.
You can find more product recommendations here.
Mehr Sauerteigbrote ohne Hefe
Rustic Sourdough Walnut Bread
This soft and sweet walnut bread contains no yeast and is ideal for beginners. The base is a wheat bread with brown flour and wholegrain rye flour, which is spiced up with whole walnuts. The nuts are soaked in hot water. This provides additional moisture and ensures…
Easy Multigrain Sourdough Bread
Why choose one type of flour when you can have six? This six-grain bread with sourdough consists of wheat, rye, spelt, barley, oats and einkorn. Malt and sourdough add extra flavor. Soaked rye meal ensures a moist bread with a long shelf life. The dough does not…
Sourdough Cottage Loaf (Rustic Recipe)
I have a new favorite bread! This country bread could also be called all-in-one bread. It is fluffy and soft, like a wheat bread, aromatic, like a spelt crust and moist like a farmhouse bread. It is a pure sourdough bread that does not require any yeast. You can bake…
Einfaches Rezept für Kefir Brot mit Sauerteig
Ingredients
- 310 g Weizenmehl Typ 550
- 150 g Dinkelvollkornmehl frisch gemahlen oder gekauft
- 90 g Roggenvollkornmehl frisch gemahlen oder gekauft
- 200 g Wasser im Sommer kalt & im Winter lauwarm
- 200 g Kefir Alternativ: Buttermilch
- 60 g Sauerteigstarter
- 2 TL Salz
Optional
- 2 TL Brotgewürz grob gemahlen
Instructions
Tag 1 – Teig vorbereiten & ruhen lassen
- Teig mischen: Kefir, Wasser, Mehle, Sauerteig, Salz und Gewürze in eine Schüssel geben und zu einem homogenen Teig verrühren* (per Hand oder mit der Küchenmaschine).
- Dehnen und Falten: Den Teig 30 Minuten abgedeckt ruhen lassen und dann einmal dehnen und falten: Dafür den Teig an einer Seite greifen, vorsichtig in die Höhe ziehen und zur Mitte falten. Das Ganze von allen Seiten wiederholen.
- Teigruhe: Den Teig abgedeckt ruhen lassen, bis sich sein Volumen deutlich vergrößert hat. Das dauert je nach Umgebungstemperatur ca. 3–6 Stunden.
- Rundwirken: Den Teig auf eine leicht bemehlte Arbeitsfläche geben. Die Ränder von außen zur Mitte hin ziehen, bis ein runder, gespannter Teigling entsteht.
- Gare im Gärkörbchen: Den Teigling mit dem Schluss nach oben in ein gut bemehltes Gärkörbchen* legen.
- Abdecken und über Nacht im Kühlschrank ruhen lassen (ca. 10–14 Stunden).
Tag 2 – Backen
- Ofen vorheizen: Backofen mit Backstein* und Dampfschale bestehend aus einer Edelstahl-Ofenform* und Lavasteinen* auf 250 °C Heißluft (+ Unterhitze) vorheizen.
- Brot backen: Den Teigling vorsichtig mit dem Schluss nach unten auf den heißen Backstein stürzen und mit einer scharfen Klinge* einschneiden.
- Backen mit Dampf: Hitze auf 230 °C reduzieren. 15 Minuten mit Dampf backen.
- Backen ohne Dampf: Dampf entweichen lassen, Temperatur auf 180 °C senken und das Brot fertig backen (weitere 30–40 Minuten), bis es eine kräftige Kruste hat und hohl klingt, wenn man auf den Boden klopft.
- Wichtig: Vor dem Anschneiden vollständig auskühlen lassen. Sonst wird die Krume klebrig.
Notes
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Welche Funktion erfüllt Kefir beim Brotbacken?
Dank der enthaltenen Hefen dient der Kefir beim Brotbacken als Fermentationshilfe, also ein Boost für euren Sauerteig. Das macht dieses Rezept auch perfekt für Sauerteig Anfänger. Außerdem sorgt das im Kefir enthaltene Eiweiß und Fett dafür, dass das Brot besonders saftig und fluffig wird. Kefir verbessert auch die Frischhaltung, weil die Säure die Schimmelbildung hemmt.Kann man Kefir Brot ohne Hefe backen?
Auf jeden Fall! Theoretisch könnte man Kefir Brot nicht nur ohne industrielle Hefe, sondern auch ohne Sauerteig backen. Kefir enthält Hefen und ist ein Triebmittel. Weil man bei gekauftem Kefir aber keine Ahnung von der Aktivität hat, enthält dieses Brot zusätzlich Natursauerteig. Falls ihr schon mal ein Kefir Brot ohne zusätzliches Treibmittel gebacken habt, würde ich mich freuen, wenn ihr eure Erfahrungen dazu in den Kommentaren teilt. Also, dieses Rezept gelingt ohne industrielle Hefe, aber wenn euer Sauerteig noch sehr jung oder wenig aktiv ist, könnt ihr auch sicherheitshalber einen kleinen Krümel Hefe in den Teig geben. Normalerweise sollte das aber nicht nötig sein, weil der Kefir in diesem Rezept als zusätzliche Fermentationshilfe fungiert.Kann man zum Backen Joghurt anstelle von Kefir benutzen?
Joghurt ist ein guter Ersatz, aber mit ein paar Einschränkungen: Joghurt enthält hauptsächlich Milchsäurebakterien (weniger oder keine Hefen) und ist dicker. Das bedeutet, ihr braucht vermutlich etwas mehr Wasser, damit der Teig die gewünschte Konsistenz hat. Die fehlenden Hefen sollten aber kein Problem sein, weil der Sauerteig das locker ausgleicht.Kann man für dieses Brot Buttermilch anstelle von Kefir benutzen?
Auch Buttermilch ist ein guter Ersatz für Kefir in diesem Rezept. Die Konsistenz der beiden Zutaten ist sehr ähnlich und deshalb könnt ihr den Kefir damit 1:1 ersetzen, ohne, dass ihr mehr Wasser benötigt. Buttermilch hat allerdings viel weniger Mikroorganismen, was die Fermentation ein bisschen verlangsamt und den Geschmack ein bisschen weniger komplex macht, aber auch das kann euer Sauerteig gut ausgleichen.Was tun, wenn der Teig nicht aufgeht?
Wenn der Teig für das Kefir Brot nicht richtig aufgeht, kann das mehrere Gründe haben. Eine mögliche Ursache ist, dass der Teig zu wenig Flüssigkeit enthält. Vollkornmehl nimmt mehr Wasser auf als helles Mehl, und wenn der Teig zu trocken ist, fehlt ihm die Elastizität, um gut aufzugehen. Alle Mehle sind unterschiedlich, deshalb kann es auch sein, dass ihr mehr oder weniger Wasser verwenden müsst, als im Rezept angegeben. Ein weiterer Grund kann sein, dass der Sauerteigstarter nicht aktiv genug ist. Euer Starter muss für dieses Rezept nicht frisch gefüttert sein, aber die letzte Fütterung sollte nicht länger als fünf Tage her sein. Keine Sorge – wenn euer Starter nicht genug Power hat, könnt ihr das mit mehr Zeit ausgleichen. Ein anderer wichtiger Faktor ist die Temperatur. Wenn der Teig an einem zu kalten Ort steht, verlangsamt sich der Gärprozess deutlich. Optimal ist eine Umgebungstemperatur von 24 bis 26 °C. Bei kühleren Temperaturen braucht euer Teig mehr Zeit.Wie lange hält sich Kefir Brot frisch?
Durch die milchsäurebetonte Fermentation bleiben solche Brote meist länger saftig und sind etwas resistenter gegen Schimmel als einfache Hefebrote. In der Praxis: ca. 3–5 Tage frisch bei Raumtemperatur (luftdicht oder im Brotkasten), je nach Rezept (Vollkorn trocknet schneller). Kühl lagern verkürzt oft die Retrogradation (Austrocknung) nicht unbedingt — Einfrieren (in Scheiben) ist die beste Langzeitlösung. Manche Quellen nennen 5–7 Tage für Kefir/Kefir-ähnliche Milchprodukte als Verbrauchs-Fenster, Brot ist aber etwas kürzer, abhängig von Wasseranteil und Krustenbildung.Have you tried one of my recipes?
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You would help me a lot if you would rate this recipe and write your feedback in a comment. Thank you! 🧡
Feel free to show me how it turned out! Link @kruemelig on your Instagram or Facebook post or use #kruemelig. If you want to remember the recipe for later, feel free to save it on Pinterest!
0 Comments