All Happy Monk bread is made with wild-yeast sourdough and left to ferment for hours to develop flavour and strength. Commercial yeast is added to bolster the rising power in some rye loaves. Breads are available by order, which you can do at the Shop page.
Each week, the Happy Monk Baking Company bakes a sourdough loaf we call the Salish Sourdough, and a seed loaf that we call the Seed Feast. We also make a “Baker’s Choice” each week, which is whatever inspires Brother Geoffrey. A weekly listing of breads is posted here or emailed to our customers.
Here is a list of some of the Happy Monk’s favourite loaves that you will see at the market or in your subscription:
Salish Sourdough Country Loaf – A lofty country loaf with a gentle sour taste, shattery golden crust and tender creamy crumb. Made with freshly milled Red Fife and bread flour.
Ancient Grain – Long before the GMO varieties of wheat we consume today, there were luscious grains that were beautiful to taste: einkorn, spelt, Kamut®, emmer, durum. Every week Happy Monk will feature one of these wheats as they are available. Mixed with Red Fife and bread flour for further nutrition and strength.
Porridge – Similar dough to Salish Sourdough, but with the addition of a porridge to bring different flavours to the loaf. Fermented steel cut-oats, toasted millet or nixtamal corn.
Seed Feast – Our Red Fife and bread flour loaf bolstered with handfuls of toasted seeds that are soaked overnight. Handfuls of flavour, too, with sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and flax seeds.
Seedy Rye – A substantial loaf with the tangy flavour of rye and sourdough. This is a dense bread loaded with seeds and made to be sliced thinly and savoured as an open-faced sandwich. Long-lasting, the flavour comes into its own after one week.
Rugbrøt – A Danish bread, the one the Danes choose above all others. Made with coarsely milled rye grain, flour and sourdough This is rye, unadorned, celebrating the grain’s old world flavour and character. Best enjoyed as smørrebrød, Danish open-faced sandwiches.
Desem – One of our favourites, this simple loaf is made with nothing more than Red Fife flour, salt and water and tastes creamy and wholesome. Belgian in origin, it makes superb toast and can handle any topping you love.
Baker’s Choice – When a sack of spelt grain comes our way, we’ll make something delicious. Or Kamut or Emmer grain. Occasionally, we will venture into the gluten-free realm. Sign up for the weekly newsletter below.
Seasonal – The Happy Monk likes to stay close to home. Pender Island is full of promise with its locally grown produce and artisanal creations. Brother Geoffrey loves experimenting. Look for Pender Island Apple Bread in the fall, Panetone in December, fruit breads in the summer.
![First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread](https://i0.wp.com/happymonkbaking.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png?w=980&ssl=1)
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
Happy Monk Tidings - April 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt + Honey Loaf; Plus the mighty Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: Nina's Pain Sauvage - [ See link in profile ]
Nice bake yesterday! The Salish Sourdough turned out great. So did the Fig and Fennel Loaf, but wish I’d added more fennel!
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#bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #baker #bakery #breadporn #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbread #figbread #fig #fennel #figandfennelbread #breadlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Loaf or Your Old Stand by: the Salish Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: Is the Baguette on the Verge of Renaissance? - [ See link in profile ]
UPDATE: Sorry folks! No Bread This Week 😢. We'll be back soon! [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 24, 2021 🍞 - Blog: The Milk Maid, Love and Bread Pudding; Bread this week: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Hot Cross Buns are out the door and we have a few extras. The deep spice, fruit and texture of these buns evoke faded memories for me. Maybe Aunty Betty made them? Maybe they’re the stuff of dreams?
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#hotcrossbuns #sourdough #sourdoughbread #baker #bakery #easter #easterbread #easterfood #woodfired #woodfiredoven #naturallyleavened #michaeljames #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - March 17, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: One a Penny, Two a Penny! | Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns [ See link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 10, 2021 🍞 - Bread this week: Your favourites: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: The Ocean Within Us [ See link in profile ]
Was windy down here this morning, but nothing like a winter storm! And look what what Mildrith made this morning just as the wind was kicking up! Polenta and Rosemary Loaf made with rosemary that grows wild on our property.
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#windyday #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #polentabread #rosemarybrushes #rosemarybrushes #bread #breadporn #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven
Happy Monk Tidings - March 5, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: Building Fences, Mending Walls; and Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
The mighty Seed Feast, Pender Island style, Happy Monk style. @chez_sjaan
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#seedfeastbread #seedbread #seedybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
The Seed Feast is pretty when it drops out of the banneton. Today I used a UFO bread lame #wiredmonkey to make it prettier. Nice control and it slices through those big pumpkin seeds!
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#wiredmonkey #ufolame #seedfeast #bread #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughscoring #sourdough #woodfiredbread #woodfiredoven #bakery #bakeries #bakeriesofinstagram #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - February 24, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: The Honest Baker; Bread choices this week: Salish Sourdough or Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - February 17, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice Week: Mountain Rye; Blog: A Hard-Earned Homecoming - [See link in Profile]
Saturday, Feb. 13. 2:45 am. Air temperature: -3°C (26.6°F). Mildrith, the wood fired oven, had an internal temp of 977°F (525°C). Balmy! Too hot to to bake bread, but she cooled quickly enough with the open doors, then baked 68 loaves! The problem was getting the orders out to customers, as the roads were unploughed with 8” of snow. Our all-wheel Subaru saved the day and customers got their bread! I tell ya!
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#cobovens #coboven #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #bakers #bakersofinstagram #bakersgonnabake #bakerylife #bakery #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc #penderislandlife #earthoven #earthovens
Half loaf of Happy Monk Salish Sourdough with @clarewilkening Herringware, beautiful “stacking tableware” by Clare Wilkening, whose ceramics are about “marine and terrestrial ecosystems” and homage to the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Salish People. The bowl was a brilliant Christmas gift from daughter Ella, a long-time friend of Clare’s.
Check out the Happy Monk being interviewed on (@madbaker)Mark Dyck’s Rise Up Podcast ... wherever you get your podcasts! Scintillating conversation for baking nerds and wood-fired oven enthusiasts!
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#baking #bakingpodcast #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #cobovens #breadbaking #breadmaker #bakery #bakinglife #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland #penderislandbc #podcast
@earth.oven
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
See you in the morning, Mildrith!
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#woodfiredovens #woodfiredbread #woodfired #sourdoughbread #baker #bakersofinstagram #bakersoven #woodfiredovenlove #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc