Spelt Bread Loaf

I never thought I’d be baking our bread, but here we are. On my trips to London to see family my brother has for the last few years been baking these simple, easy to make spelt loaves for our family. This is the only bread my sister, older brother and mother can tolerate as they have sensitive tummies, and I have to say, I always end up feeling better when eating this bread too; it just feels good. Spelt is nutritionally superior to wheat, and is less inflammatory. The gluten in spelt has a different molecular make up to the gluten in modern wheat, making it easier to digest. It’s also higher in fibre which aids in the digestion of gluten. Spelt contains more protein, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals than wheat, and is rich in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and niacin.

While spelt is widely available in the UK where it’s easy to find spelt pasta, noodles and baked goods, the same isn’t true here in the US. I buy my spelt pasta imported, which ends up being more expensive, and I haven’t been able to find any spelt bread. Fortunately, Amazon sells some good quality imported white spelt flour, and with a FaceTime to my bro, here we are with our very own Spelt Bread Loaf in DC. I’m posting this so that we all have the basic make up of the recipe however, if you’re new to making bread, it would make sense to familiarize yourself with the art of kneading dough, and shaping bread before pushing forward. I’ve posted step by step videos below.

This bread is great for toasting with butter, or for making toasted sandwiches. I would only use without toasting on day one of baking. Good luck!

Organic Ingredients, makes 1 loaf

150 Grams or mls. Milk
150 Grams or mls. Water
8 Grams Sea Salt
8 Grams Brown Sugar
5 Grams Active Dry Yeast (make sure Yeast in newly bought as they can become inactive)
500 Grams White Spelt Flour

Note that it’s important to use White Spelt and not Whole Grain Spelt for this recipe.

You will need a weighing scale to measure ingredients, a loaf pan, 4.5 x 8.5 in/ 11.5 x 21.5 cm, a large bowl, plastic wrap and an oven with a ‘proof’ setting.

Place Milk and Water in a small pot and heat very slight; so that it’s luke warm. Place lukewarm liquid in a large bowl glass or stainless steel bowl. Add Sea Salt, Sugar and Yeast to the liquid and using a sift, mix well to incorporate. Add Flour into the mixture and using your hands mix well until you form a ball. Once you’ve formed a ball, place your ball on a wooden chopping board or work surface to knead. Do not place on a marble or cold counter top as dough does better with warmth. Placing a kitchen towel underneath the chopping board will help keep board in place.

Here is a video on how to knead dough. Don’t add any flour to your work surface if you can help it; as you knead the dough it will become less sticky. Knead for approx. 10 minutes, then form into a smooth ball and place it into your large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Pop into the oven on ‘proof’ setting and leave to proof for 2 hours. By this point the Dough should’ve more than doubled in size. If it hasn’t, something went wrong, likely that your yeast was inactive.

You’ll need to have someone hold your bowl down in place while you do this. Sprinkle a little bit of Flour on top of your dough ball - about 1/2 a teaspoons worth and on your fingers. Using your fingers, release the dough from the bottom of the bowl going round the bowl until its all released. With your fingers under the dough ball, and the sprinkled flour on top, flip the ball onto a chopping board. Fold the dough 12-15 times, folding in half, turning 180 degrees, then folding again, forming another ball at the end of this process. Flip the bowl over to cover the dough ball and place into the oven on ‘proof’ setting covered for 10-15 minutes while it proofs a little bit more. If your bowl doesn’t fit on top of your loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap.

Line your loaf pan with parchment paper.

Shape your dough into a loaf by watching this video and mimicking.

Place dough into your loaf pan lined with parchment paper and cover by placing a large bowl upside down on top of it, don’t use a kitchen cloth or plastic wrap as your dough will stick to it as it rises. Pop into the oven and Proof for one more hour. Uncover and bake in a 350f for an hour.

Once its done baking, remove from oven, take parchment paper off immediately and place loaf on a cooking rack. Leave to cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Leave to cool completely before sealing in a large ziplock type sealed bag. Good for up to 4 days.

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