Where would we be if we never tried anything new? #Breadbakers are responsible for my baking outside the box! Success or failure, I’m better with the experience. Julie Menghini
We are off and running into a new year. I’ve just finished baking my bread for the first #Breadbakers event of the year. Our theme this month was to bake completely with “ancient grains flour”. I chose Spelt Bread, from whole grain spelt flour, because it’s something I’ve wanted to try.
What is ancient grains? The Whole Grains Council, generally define ancient grains loosely as grains that are largely unchanged over the last several hundred years.
This means that modern wheat (constantly bred and changed) is not an ancient grain, while einkorn, emmer/farro, Kamut®, and spelt would be considered ancient grains in the wheat family. Heirloom varieties of other common grains — such as black barley, red and black rice, blue corn — might also be considered ancient grains. Other grains largely ignored until recently by Western palates (such as sorghum, teff, millet, quinoa, amaranth) would also be widely considered to be ancient grains. Sometimes less common grains, like buckwheat, or wild rice, are also included.”
I had read some of the characteristics of working with this flour. It doesn’t have the gluten content of other wheat flours, and often lacks structure. It does contain some gluten however, and is not safe for people with celiac disease. It’s also important not to over knead this dough. It can be a very loose and sticky dough. It’s better to bake this bread in a loaf pan than free form. I consulted with fellow bread baker, Elaine, at Foodbod, who concurred with what I had found, and she gave me some welcome tips too.
Well, long story short, after my second proof, I watched my perfectly domed loaf flatten. The second proofing was only for an hour, and it rose above the rim of the pan but had a bit of spread too. This was very consistent with a lack of structure. I looked at the website that I had seen this recipe on, and my bread was very similar to the one on the site. I don’t know if this is also characteristic of spelt or something that I did. This is where I am asking for feedback from other bread bakers. I did question the way that the ingredients are combined in this recipe. Salt is added before the yeast. It did raise though so the yeast did it’s job.
How did it taste? This bread had a sweet nuttiness to it, and was soft and moist. It made an amazing piece of toast, and has poached egg avocado toast written all over it. It was an easy bread to put together, and I am anxious for you bread aficionados to chime in so I can make tweaks if this isn’t how this bread is supposed to behave.
- 1 cup warm water non-chlorinated
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 2 1/3 cups whole grain spelt flour plus additional for dusting
- 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
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Put one cup of water in a large bowl and heat it in the microwave until warmed. Add honey and stir until combined. Stir in butter and salt and when combined, stir in 2 cups of flour and the yeast. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon. Add more flour until dough comes together. It is a sticky dough, but you will want to be able to handle it. Turn it out on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic.
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Put dough in a well oiled bowl, turning once to coat both sides. Cover and allow dough to raise in a warm area for 2 hours.
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Shape dough and put in a well greased 8 x 4 loaf pan. Cover and allow to raise for 1 hour.
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Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 25 to 35 minutes. Bread will sound hollow when tapped.
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Remove from the bread pan and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.
Prep time includes inactive raising time.
Recipe adapted from http://www.asplashofvanilla.com/
Now if you want to see how the pros bake bread, take a look at the other #BreadBakers contributions.
This month’s BreadBakers’ theme is Ancient Grains, hosted by Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story. Ancient grains are generally accepted to mean grains that have remained largely unchanged/un-hybridized over the last several hundred years, which means NO MODERN WHEAT. Here’s what our creative bakers came up with.
- Ancient 4 Grain Breakfast Bread from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Ancient Grain Carrot Bread from The Schizo Chef
- Barley Flour Donut Muffins from I Camp in my Kitchen
- Blueberry Peach Quinoa Oatmeal Muffins from Magnolia Days
- Buckwheat Savoury Pancakes from Mayuri’s Jikoni
- Dimbleby’s Breastfeeding Bread from Food Lust People Love
- Eggless Sorghum and Pearl Millet Banana Muffins (Eggless Jowar and Bajra Banana Muffins) from G’Gina’s Kitchenette
- Foxtail Millet Bagels from Cooking Club
- Garlic Cheesy Einkorn Crackers from The Wimpy Vegetarian
- Injera Bread from Spiceroots
- Little Millet Banana Bread from Sara’s Tasty Buds
- Millet Idli from Gayathri’s Cook Spot
- Quinoa Banana Bread from Wholistic Woman
- Seeded Spelt Boules from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Spelt and Buckwheat Soda Bread from A Shaggy Dough Story
- Spelt and Einkorn Sourdough with Caramelized Onions from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Spelt Bread from Hostess at Heart
- Spelt Sweet Potato Paratha from Cook’s Hideout
- Teff Crepes with Spinach and Mushrooms from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Yeasted Jowar Naan from Sneha’s Recipe
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to [email protected].
This recipe is shared with link parties Throwback Thursday, Fiesta Friday and Saucy Saturdays! Come party with us and pick up some amazing recipes!
It looks good! Well done 🙂 I can well imagine how good it tasted too. I’ve never added honey to my spelt loaves so I can’t comment exactly in your loaf, but all I would say is, I have only ever given my spelt loaves a single, short prove. Literally, half an hour and then bake, I’ve also used dried and fresh yeast on different occasions.
I hope you enjoyed experimenting x
Thank you Elaine. I was really hoping to have you take a look. Do you get a lot more raise from yours? It rose fine, but like you are saying, may not need that time.
I would say yes, that my loaves have been more domed…
Thanks Elaine!
But please don’t let that take away from the fact that you made a great loaf!!
Thank you Elaine!
Flat or not, it looks really good, Julie. Very hearty and I hear you on the poached egg avocado toast!
Thank you Robin! It tasted great and I’ll take that. Enjoy your day!
I can only imagine the taste of this poached egg avocado toast! My mouth is watering… 🙂
Happy New Year Ana! I hope your holidays were wonderful and I think about you often. Thank you for stopping by. Fry your bread with butter on it and then smush avocado on it and top with an egg. Yummy!
What a hearty bread Julie! Is spelt much like wheat?
It is compared to wheat but I think it is a little sweeter and nuttier. I really liked the flavor and will try it again with the raise time Elaine recommended. 30 min total!
This looks like the spelt loaves (rugbrød) that I loved to eat when I lived in Denmark!
Thank you Lynda! I am so glad to hear that because I wasn’t sure how this loaf was supposed to look. Thank you for stopping by!
Domed or flat top, the bread looks good. Its interesting to learn a few facts about working with spelt. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Mayuri! I’ve gotten a couple tips to try and will update my findings…eventually. It was delicious regardless of how it performed though.
I had never heard of spelt flour before Julie, not before blogging anyway. I did look it up when I first came across it. You did a perfect job with yours, it looks wholesome and hearty and with that sweet, nutty flavor to enhance it, I’m sure it was wonderful! I love these challenges you partake in, I think it forces one to think outside the box eh? You’re doing a wonderful job. I’ve been thinking of you as I attempt some more “simpler” loaves. I made the KAF one that I will be posting about soon, more artisanal and rustic looking and it tasted good too.
Thank you Loretta! This bread is really good. Elaine said she only raises once for 30 minutes. I’m going to try that here shortly and will update my post with my findings. My children gave me two bread books that I have been wanting for Christmas. I haven’t had a chance to dive into them yet but will soon. I think I am going to cut back and do only one bread group and only one link party (FF). It seems like I’m keeping up with them but that’s all I’m doing. I have a lot of post ideas that I want to try including your recipe you just posted. I haven’t cooked much with curry and really want to try it. John loves spice, and I think it will deliver!
Julie I wish I had your bread for brekkie tomorrow 🙂 It looks so soft and pillowy good! I am sure it tasted fabulous
Thank you Georgina! It looks dense but it wasn’t at all, and I really enjoyed the sweet nuttiness of this bread. (Just like me! 🙂 )
It looks good and sounds wonderful with the avocado! Maybe a shorter second rise might help? I’m new to this too!
Thanks Karen, one of my fellow bread bakers said she only raises once and only for 30 minutes when she uses spelt. I’ll try that next time.
I think your loaf looks perfect . Had you not said you wanted more of a rise I would have thought that it looked exactly as you wanted.
Thank you Wendy! I think it’s supposed to look like this when looking at some of the other ancient grains submissions.
Wow Julie you are so brave and this sounds very nice, it looks lovely! I love the sound of poached egg avocado!
Thank you Lynz! I didn’t know what to expect, but I really did enjoy the flavor of this bread.
What a lovely looking bread — so soft and fluffy, just the way my family likes 🙂 I’m going to try your recipe some time soon.
Thank you Pavani! This was a delicious bread, and I am anxious to work with this flour again. So, I consider this experiment a success. Have a wonderful day!
This bread looks fabulous, Julie! I am always inspired by your beautiful loaves of bread! I also enjoyed learning more about the ancient grains — very interesting!
Thank you Anna! This was a delicious grain and I will definitely be using it again, but probably be mixing it with bread flour. Or reducing the raise time. So many great bakers have given me some tips!
Great loaf Julie! I’ve never baked a 100% spelt loaf before (normally I keep the whole grains at ~20-30%) because I find the dough so difficult to handle. Great words–as you said, success or not (I think it was quite a success!), it was an experience 🙂
Thank you! I loved the flavor of this grain and have so many ideas for changing it up. I guess that’s why we take on challenges right? Thank yu for stopping over. I’ll put my 20-30% ratio in with my tips so thank you for helping me out!
It has to be difficult to bake something unfamiliar, not knowing the expected outcome. Your loaf looks good from here, and if you found the perfect recipe for it, then it is a success in my book.
Thank you Patti! I agree, no one goes into something with all the answers. Happy New Year my friend!
In the original recipe I used, the author called for fast-acting yeast but said to leave it to rise until it doubled, approximately two hours! (Maybe he has a cold house in the chilly United Kingdom?) Well, mine was starting to overflow the pan in just over a half an hour in my warm sink. But then, sadly, the top did fall back down again. I figured it was just the spelt because his loaf wasn’t too rounded either, even after that supposedly long rise.. I’m intrigued to hear that Elaine is able to get a dome with all-spelt bread. Now I guess I’m just going to have to keep trying!
Meanwhile, I think your loaf looks lovely, Julie, with a nice open crumb!
Thank you Stacy! Elaine said one 30 minute raise only! I did love the taste, so I’ll go back to the drawing board too.
I’m relatively new to this whole bread bakers thing, joined because I want to learn more. Looks like yours was a success!
It’s a great place to get some tips and see how some very talented bread people do it. I love baking bread, but there is so much more I want to learn. Hope you enjoy it Wendy!
This I am trying! Bookmarking the link! Love a nice, simple bread and spelt makes great bread!
Thank you so much! I’m going to make it again, but shorten the raising time as suggested to only one 30 minute raise. Have a wonderful weekend.
Are you and Loretta trying to tell me something? Make your own bread! 🙂 It looks so good, Julie. I’ve never met any bread I don’t like, but haven’t tried spelt anything. Wait, I’ve had injera bread at Ethiopian restaurants. It’s delicious!
Thank you Angie! You are so danged talented Angie with the things that you do make that you could make bread with your eyes closed! I love the taste of this grain. Next time I’ll either mix it with bread flour or shorten the raise time. My lovely co-host, Elaine, is a great resource for bread!
Isn’t it wonderful when experiments actually turn out well?? And I’ve got to say that this bread certainly looks delicious! Awesome job, Julie!
Thank you Justine! I really loved the flavor of this bread so that in itself was a great experience for me. Have a great weekend!
Wow! You are really doing a great job with your breads, Julie! You are inspiring me to bake more bread! This one looks so good! Thank you for co-hosting FF102! 🙂 Happy FF!
Thank you so much Jhuls! I don’t know why I love baking bread. It’s just therapeutic all that kneading and watching it come to life. Not to mention the eating…my favorite part! 🙂
I’ve only baked spelt mixed with regular flour. You’ve inspired me to try it on its own.
I think you may be better off mixing it even though it is a delicious grain. Thank you Hilda!
This is a new bread for me so I can’t offer you any advice. Now sourdough I might be able to help 🙂 Looks really good and as always butter makes everything taste better. Are you having fun co-hosting? Lots of good recipes once again. Thanks for being a co-host Julie 🙂
Thank you Judi! I loved the flavor of spelt, but think it would be easier to work with mixed with another flour. I will be diving into sourdough soon so please be on call! I love co-hosting. The FF crowd are so kind and supportive as you know!
a great bread for sandwiches or with my breakfast eggs
Thank you Mireille!
Awesome and delicious bread, prefect to have with a slice cheese and ham.
Thank you! I agree, this bread would be perfect with ham and cheese. Thank you for stopping by!
I keep meaning to use the spelt in my cupboard – which I bought for bread and ending ulp sung in a salad instead. Now I’ve been remotivated!
Thanks for linking up with us on Throwback Thursday – we appreciate it, and are always looking forward to next week’s posts, too!! 🙂 Be sure to follow our pinterest board, too! 🙂
Mollie
Thank you Mollie, I definitely will check out your pinterest board!
Your bread looks delicious Julie, Spelt flour is a flour I have yet to try, reckon I need to rectify this, I fancy that poached egg avocado toast! Thanks for co hosting the Fiesta party x
Thank you Sarah! I had a great time co-hosting. There are so many great FF bloggers!
Fantastic bread yumm……..
Thank you! We really loved the flavor, and I’ll be using it again.