HEB now carries sprouted whole wheat bread. It is really good! From their website you can read about how they process the bread -- below is a description of the sprouting process.
This really is the most commonly asked question from customers from coast to coast. Our sprouted grain breads, bagels, buns, pizzas, and tortillas are truly unique in that they are made with "Sprouted Whole Wheat" as opposed to flour. Most bakeries get up in the morning, open up a bag of flour and make something. At Alvarado Street Bakery, our process is quite a bit different. We take whole, organic wheat berries and soak them in filtered water until they "sprout", until they actually begin to grow. When the excess water has been drained, we grind the "living sprouts" into dough. What comes out of our grinder is not a dry powder, but a wet and mushy dough that becomes the basis for all of our recipes. Add a little fresh yeast, some sea salt and a bit of sweetness (natural honey, organic raisins, organic dates, pure barley malt) and there you have it, the ultimate whole grain bread! The concept of baking bread with sprouted grains is not a new idea. In fact, it dates back to biblical times when sprouted spelt (what we now know as wheat) was combined with sprouted lentil beans and sprouted soybeans. The sprouting process naturally converts starchy grains into easily digested maltose and other complex sugars. There is enzyme activity created during germination that begins to "pre-digest" the grains, thereby making the grains and their nutrients and vitamins more readily assimilated by the body. The addition of the sprouted legumes (soybeans/lentil beans) provided the essential amino acids necessary for acomplete protein. This mixture was then crushed, formed into ovals and slow-baked. Centuries later, our recipe is basically the same.
