The Sourdough School

BALM – Proven as one of the healthiest approaches to bread in the world.

Based in the walled gardens of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell's beautiful Victorian home in rural Northamptonshire, UK, we tutor individuals and train bakers and healthcare professionals in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM). Personalising bread to your lifestyle, gut microbiome, and unique genetics for optimal health—tailoring fermentation, fibre, and diversity so that your daily bread becomes the foundation of your health.

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Sugar in sourdough

Learning Objective

From this article, you will discover how different kinds of sugar can transform your sweet baking. You will learn about why we use sugar in baking, and how to decide which sweeteners to use.

Learning Outcome

You will be able to ascertain which sugars will work in your sweet baking and how you might use them. You will understand how to layer sweetness and what the relative health benefits are of different sugars.

When making sweet sourdough recipes, it is useful to get to grips with the role of sugar in your bakes. As with any sourdough recipe, lactic acid bacteria transform sugars within the flour into acid. However, if you use additional sugar in your recipes, there are other factors to take into account. This article will teach you about different sugars, the concept of layering sweetness and the relative health benefits of different sweetners.

To access to the most comprehensive online sourdough course and our library of video tutorials, sourdough recipes, expert interviews and tips, subscribe now for to join the club.  

Learn to make Sourdough – we can even send you a starter to get you going.  Start your journey today and find out more about how sourdough is the healthiest bread, and how apply our 7 core principles to your baking to help your digestion and benefit your overall health and wellbeing. 

There is a world of information and core knowledge inside the club, and you will be supported by a whole community of bakers as you learn.

The club is alive with baking and conversations: discover the latest research, tips, enjoy regular inspiring recipes and brilliant webinars, explore our interactive forum, join our new book club, and get access to member discounts.  You will also get updates with news to be in the know before anyone else about the latest books by Vanessa Kimbell and the courses on offer at the Sourdough School.

To join the Sourdough Club, click here.

If you are not able to join at the moment, then please subscribe to our Sourdough Club magazine and keep up to date.

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All reasonable care is taken when advising about health aspects of bread, but the information that we share is not intended to take the place of treatment by a qualified medical practitioner. You must seek professional advice if you are in any doubt about any medical condition. Any application of the ideas and information contained on this website is at the reader's sole discretion and risk.

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