Book Review: Einkorn: Recipes for Nature's Original Wheat by CarlaBartolucci

Einkorn ginger cookies from the Einkorn cookbook

The Einkorn cookbook is written by Carla Bartolucci, the founder of Jovial Foods. I am one of those people who cannot eat regular wheat and have had the sensitivity for years. . .before wheat sensitivity was being talked about. A couple of years ago, I found Jovial Foods cookies and pasta. They are some of my favorite cookies, especially the checkerboard and the ginger varieties. With that in mind, I had to give it a try to bake my own goodies at home.

Bartolucci starts out explaining just what Einkorn flour is and how it is a much different form of wheat than is used most often in the US today. She also shares how her gluten-sensitive daughter fared so much better on this flour than our modern-day wheat. Einkorn isn't a gluten free flour but it is often well tolerated by gluten sensitive people. I found this to be interesting and helpful in understanding this ancient flour. Before starting in on the recipes, Barolucci also shares some tips on how to best bake with this flour as it is different to work with than other flours. I also found this aspect of the book to be especially helpful. My only concern is that I could only find the einkorn all purpose flour at my local coop so if I wish to make some of the recipes using the whole grain flour, then I will probably need to order on-line or have my coop special order for me. I can easily do that but I can see that I will need to plan ahead for making recipes using both flours or the whole grain berries.

Einkorn is a also beautiful book. The illustrations just make my mouth water looking at them. I have a whole list of recipes that I want to try. If you look at the photo by the cookbook, I tried the ginger cookies. My family thought they were good. They were happy with both the flavor and the texture. I had to adjust the baking time a bit for my oven. . .a little less time. .. but otherwise, I followed the recipe as written with no problem. I also want to try several bread recipes, the pizza dough, dark chocolate brownies, and the list goes on. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in trying einkorn flour recipes.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.