Milk Kefir Sourdough and Buckwheat Blinis

above mug with MK, flour used to make the starter. Then dough for kneading.

I was recently given some milk kefir grains and have made several batches of milk kefir to put on breakfast fruit, muesli. porridge etc.

I used one batch to make buckwheat blinis, delicious!

So next I thought I would experiment with making sourdough bread. I used to make it using a sourdough starter but found the dough very sticky and unmanagable . The results were variable.

I looked online and found that you can make a starter using milk kefir (MK)

So I experimented. I mixed a cup of MK whith a cup of strong wholewheat flour and left it at room temperature till it bubbled up. (1-2 days) 

I found this recipe and based mine on it but with some changes. I used sugar instead of honey and after 12 hours put the dough in a container in the fridge to ferment for another 24 hours.

The dough was a bit sticky to start with but easier to handle and much easier to get off hands and worktop and bowl than my previous sourdough. (see photo at the end of the post!)

After fermantation it was elastic and not sticky.

my MK sourdough starter as above

4 1/2 cups strong white breadflour

1 1/2 cups water

2tsp sugar

2tsp salt

2 tbs olive oil

I took off enough dough for 4 rolls and put them on an oiled Le Creuset in a warm place to prove for about 30 min. I put the rest back in the fridge for another day.

They were cooked at Gas 6 for about 15 min. There was a container with some water at the bottom of the oven to make steam for a crispy crust.

The rolls were delicious, slightly sweet rather than sour with a nice crisp crust and a good flavour.

They were rather flat looking but the texture inside was good. Next time I will try to make them taller and maybe give a little longer to prove.

 here are the results.

Would be lovely for a pizza base.

It is suitable for the FODMAP diet as the fructose/oligosccarides are fermented by the micro organisms in the milk kefir.

Update Dec 3rd
I used the rest of the dough for a pizza and it made a nice thin crispy base.
I made another batch of dough substituting I cup of white flour with I cup of rye flour.
The flavour was different. The rolls didn't rise much as before.

 Previous sourdough made with a traditional starter

 Very sticky dough dificult to handle and clear up after. This was one of the better batches!