How Many Calories in Sourdough Bread?
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Ever wondered how many calories in sourdough bread?
Did you know that you can calculate the calories in homemade sourdough bread very easily using a few tips and tricks.
Knowing the calories in sourdough bread may be useful in many situations. Whether you are trying to lose weight, have diabetes or other specific medical conditions.
Or maybe you're just interested in the calorific make up of your homemade bread.
This article will help you understand the calories in sourdough bread and how to calculate them for your specific loaf ingredients and weight.
Calories in Sourdough Bread
Have you ever considered the calories in your homemade sourdough bread? Maybe you don't need to (or want to). Like me, you eat several slices with reckless abandon.
But, if you do need to watch your calorie intake, understanding the calories in your homemade bread can be handy.
Now there are many apps and articles which approximate the calories in sourdough bread.
Most recipes have a nutrition panel which can be really handy - however it's only accurate if you have used the exact measurements.
And even then, it won't be indicative of the correct cooked weight of your sourdough bread or the unique ingredients used in your dough.
The USDA approximates that 100g of sourdough has approximately 289 calories.
And this is ok if you need a "round about" figure. But if you need something more accurate that takes into account your specific ingredients, you'll need to understand how to make the calorie calculation manually.
You see, each website you visit will give you different calorie calculations.
Nutrionix suggests that there is 174 calories in one slice of sourdough bread, which is 64g. You can find the low down on high protein sourdough bread here.
So you can see that you really should calculate it yourself if you need an accurate measure.
Calculating Calories in Homemade Sourdough Bread
So, how do you calculate the calories in homemade sourdough bread?
It's not as difficult as it sounds.
First, you need to know exactly what you have put into your sourdough bread dough.
This calculation can be handy if you're making flavored sourdough bread too as you can accurately calculate the calories for all the ingredients, not just the flour.
Now the trick to calculating the calories in sourdough bread is that you need to know the weight of the dough before baking and after.
This is because sourdough will lose some of its weight during the baking process as the water is baked out.
In fact, you need to wait until the sourdough has cooled to room temp before weighing as it will continue to lose weight until cooled. Sourdough really is amazing!
Here are the steps to follow to calculate the calories in sourdough bread (I am using my honey oat sourdough bread as an example):
- List the weights of all ingredients in your sourdough.
- Put this information into a calorie calculator (I recommend this one).
- Find out the total calories for the whole loaf (pre cooked weight).
- Once the dough has been baked and cooled, weigh the cooked bread and enter the weight into the "number of servings".
- The calories per serving will now show you how many calories in each gram of your bread.
- When you cut a slice, weigh the slice and then multiply the number of calories per gram by the weight of your slice. Voila! Accurate calorie calculation!
In the calculation above, I've entered the final weight of my cooled sourdough at 823g. You can see that in the top right circled in red.
This has calculated that this honey oat sourdough bread has 3 calories per gram of sourdough.
So when I cut a slice that weighs 65g, that slice has 195 calories.
3 calories x 65g = 195 calories
Is Sourdough Bread Fattening?
Sourdough bread is generally labelled as being "healthier" than regular, store bought sandwich bread.
The reason sourdough is often labelled as healthier is because of the fermentation process that the dough goes through before baking.
Sourdough bread has lower phytate levels which make the bread easier to digest and more nutritionally available.
Sourdough bread is also less likely to spike blood sugar levels.
Using whole grains in your homemade sourdough bread may also make your bread less fattening. Whole grains will help you feel fuller for longer.
Despite being a fermented product, sourdough bread still contains carbohydrates. If you don't use the energy from these carbs, then that will ultimately turn into fat.
My Mum used to say, it's not the bread that's fattening, it's what you put on it.
And this can be true for sourdough bread ... if you're like me and enjoy generous amounts of butter with it!
How Many Carbs in a Slice of Sourdough Bread?
While calories are important, sometimes you need to know the carbohydrates contained in a slice of sourdough bread.
Sourdough is not lower in carbohydrates, despite the fact that as a fermented product, it makes digesting the bread much easier.
On average, a 64g slice of sourdough bread will contain 33g of carbohydrate.
This will be increased if you make flavored sourdough bread.
Burning The Calories In Sourdough Bread
If you're like me and you're quite partial to eating half of loaf of sourdough at a time (please don't tell me the calories in that) - then you might need some suggestions of how to burn off all those calories.
Here are some fun facts about what activities you can do to burn off the calories in your sourdough bread.
These are based on average calculations and based on 1 slice of sourdough bread (64g and 174 calories).
You will need to visit a specific calorie calculator for results more specific to your circumstances.
To burn off 1 slice of sourdough bread, you'll need to:
Run for 17 minutes
Walk for 47 minutes
Ride a bike for 24 minutes
Jump rope for 20 minutes
Play golf for 30 minutes
Average calculations from Nutrionix.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sourdough bread can be a healthier choice when you are trying to lose weight. While it still contains similar calories and carbohydrates to other breads, it is lower GI, easier to digest and can be made with less salt. It will also keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Sourdough bread does contain less calories and carbohydrates than regular, store bought yeasted bread due to the lengthy fermentation process that it goes through. However, it is still considered high in calories and carbohydrates when compared to other foods like vegetables.
You would need to do specific detailed calculations for an accurate measure, however, on average 2 slices of sourdough bread weighing 64g each will contain around 348 calories.
An average slice of sourdough bread weighing 64g will have 174 calories. If you add around 14g of butter (1 tablespoon), you'll add 100 calories. So a slice of sourdough bread with butter will have on average 274 calories.
100g of sourdough starter is equivalent to 50g of water and 50g of flour. Based on the flour alone, 100g of starter would contain 182 calories.
Further Reading
If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy these ideas:
- This will help you to bake a lower sodium sourdough bread.
- These tips will help you bake sourdough bread with a thin, crispy crust.
- Looking for the perfect simple sourdough recipe?
