Sprouted whole grain flour is a healthy alternative to white flour and conventional refined grain flours. Why? The sprouting process breaks down the starches in the grain, allowing the body to digest and metabolize them like vegetables. It also increases some of the nutrients, like B vitamins, vitamin C, fiber and minerals. Now you can enjoy great tasting pretzels that are also nutritious!

Sprouted Whole Grain Flour

Unique Pretzel Bakery’s Sprouted “Splits” and Sprouted Shells are made with a revolutionary new sprouted whole wheat flour from Essential Eating® Sprouted Foods. It has excellent baking characteristics, great flavor, is kosher certified and certified organic, and the body can digest it like a vegetable instead of as a starch.

What Are Sprouted Grains?

Grains are the seeds of edible grasses, such as wheat, barley, spelt, rice and corn. Each seed includes all parts of the whole grain – the germ, bran and endosperm.

When given appropriate amounts of moisture and warmth, the seeds sprout, or germinate, and begin to turn into living plants. Of course, this has always happened in nature! What’s new is that companies are manufacturing flour from these sprouted grains so that they can be incorporated into healthier baked products.

In the past, most sprouted products were made with a wet-milling or “mash” process, which resulted in a paste, not flour. The grains were soaked and ground into a paste, but there was no guarantee that they actually sprouted. Products made from mash are coarser in texture, have a bitter taste (which means sweeteners must be added), and may contain foreign matter because they were not rinsed and sifted.

Essential Eating’s process is a newer “dry” process, involving rinsing, drying, sifting and milling the sprouted grain into 100% whole grain flour. When turned into flour instead of mash, the grains are:

  • rinsed to remove bacteria
  • tested to guarantee that they sprouted
  • dried to stabilize them and extend their shelf life
  • sifted to remove foreign matter and debris
  • milled to produce smooth-textured, great tasting 100% whole grain flour

Whole Wheat Flour vs. Sprouted Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour is made by grinding wheat grains into flour. Whole wheat provides fiber and naturally-occurring vitamins and proteins.

Sprouted wheat flour is also ground into flour after the wheat grains have been sprouted.  Because the grains are first sprouted, the flour retains more of the natural nutrients.

Of course, white flour also starts out as a whole wheat grain. However, the flour is made by removing the grain’s germ and bran (where the nutrients are), and grinding up only the endosperm.

The Benefits of Sprouted Grain Flour 

According to analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sprouted grains contain about 25% fewer carbohydrates than unsprouted grains, about 60% less the fat, and more protein.

Because the sprouting process breaks the starches in the grain down into simple sugars, they can now be easily digested and metabolized by the body as vegetables, with vegetable enzymes instead of pancreatic enzymes. For this reason, products made with properly sprouted whole grains are diabetic-friendly in addition to their other benefits.

Because they’re baked with sprouted whole grain flour, each serving of Unique Pretzels’ Sprouted “Splits” and Sprouted Shells gives you healthy whole grain in every bite and the important nutrients you would miss out on in products made with refined flour. Try our healthier pretzels today; you will find them at your local Wegmans, Fresh Market, Whole Foods or Giant stores or buy them in our online store.