There’s something deeply nourishing about baking your own sourdough, slowing down, working with your hands, and transforming simple ingredients into a loaf that feeds both body and soul. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll take sourdough beyond the traditional loaf and explore how incorporating a greater diversity of grains, herbs, seeds, spices, and other plant ingredients can add flavor, variety, and nutritional value to your baking.
Whether you’re an experienced baker or a sourdough beginner, this class will take you through the sourdough process from starter to shaped loaf while exploring wholegrain and heritage flours, fermentation, and the fascinating relationship between sourdough and gut health. We’ll talk about why diversifying the plants we eat matters, and how botanical ingredients can be thoughtfully incorporated into sourdough baking.
You’ll get your hands into the dough as we mix, fold, shape, and explore the possibilities of herbs and botanicals, including ways they can be incorporated directly into the dough or through an herbal infusion. We’ll explore how different ingredients affect flavor, aroma, texture, and fermentation, while learning practical techniques you can continue experimenting with at home.
This class is taught by Helen Shpits and inspired in part by the teachings of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell and The Sourdough School in England, where Helen studied sourdough baking and is currently enrolled in a Bread as Lifestyle Medicine diploma course. You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of not just how to bake sourdough, but how to make each loaf an opportunity for greater variety, creativity, and nourishment.
✨You’ll Go Home With:
- A shaped sourdough loaf ready to bake the next day
- A sourdough starter
- A mixing bowl
- Hands-on experience with botanical sourdough
- Practical guidance on wholegrain and alternative flours, fermentation, plant diversity, and botanical ingredients
- A comprehensive handout with a recipe, resources, and troubleshooting tip
✨ Plus:
- Fresh sourdough tasting with Mayernik Kitchen’s homemade jam because learning should always be delicious
- Inspiration and ideas for continuing to experiment with your sourdough at home
- 10% off any purchase the day of the workshop
⏰ A 72-hour cancellation notice is required for a refund.
*Bread contains Gluten
