Tasty-Healthy Whole Spelt Bread

Thorsten's Note:

Easy to make whole grain bread with a lot of seeds in it. Tasty and healthy at the same time. Germany is known for its bread variety. This is my little personal addition to this variety. This bread was inspired by a recipe I found ounce in a regional cookbook. I like especially the nutty flavor of the whole spelt flour and the delicate different flavors of the seeds. Try it with a layer of cream cheese and honey for breakfast or with any of your favorite spreads. Goes well together with cheese and salad. Some said it taste best without anything else. I make this frequently and it became one of my favorite breads.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 20

Yield: 1.0 Bread

• 1 2⁄3; lbs whole spelt flour
• ½ cup sunflower seed
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup flax seed
• ¼ cup sesame seed , roasted
• 2 ½ cups water
• 2 ½ tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 (¼ ounce) packages dry yeast

Directions:

1. Roast the sesame seeds and set aside.
2. Grease a 11.5 x 5 inch loaf pan.
3. Dissolve yeast in a 1/2 cup of water.
4. Sift flour into bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix until a smooth dough is formed.
5. Fill dough into loaf pan and let dough rise for about 1 hour. The dough should rise noticable in that time. Otherwise extend time.
6. Meanwhile preheat oven (480 F, 250 C).
7. Put loaf pan into oven and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Reduce heat to 390 F (200 C) and bake for another 45 minutes.
9. Take bread out of the oven and turn it around. Bread should easily come out of the loaf pan.
10. Put bread into the oven again and bake for additional 15 - 30 minutes. Check frequently. When you thump on the Bread and it sounds hollow, bread is done.
11. Take the bread out of the oven and let cool down.
12. NOTE: I take the bread out of the loaf pan after 1 hour of baking and bake it until it is done. If the bread should not come out of the loaf pan easily, bake it until it is done in the form. The bread is dense (I like it that way). The moisture can be regulated by baking time, but bake it at least for 1 hour.
13. NOTE: You can replace the whole spelt flour against whole wheat flour. You could also use other seeds. Try what you like best.

Reviews

[BreadMaster]

This bread is wonderful. I did change it up. It makes two good sized loaves, I bake them as rounds. Bake 375 for 35 minutes. Perfect. The best way to enjoy this bread, for me, is dipping it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I am adding this to my menu of bread for my customers. Thank you for a wonderful hearty bread.

[AngAustinBrody]

This is great bread! Even my 5 and 7 year old boys loved it! I didn't have any sesame seeds, so I used hemp hearts instead, and I also didn't have whole flax seeds so i used 1/4 cup ground flax meal instead. It was great! thanks for the awesome recipe!

[Elisabetta47]

Heaven, sheer heaven. I've never made an easier bread (and that includes quick breads). This is substantial with a wonderful moist crumb and a divinely crunchy crust. In case anyone making it needs the metric measurements, I used 780 grams of spelt (farro) flour and dissolved a 25 gram fresh cake of yeast in 1/2 c of warm water with 1/2 tsp. of sugar. The dough rose beautifully. Listening to other reviewers I used 2 smaller pans and cut the baking time quite a bit. But I don't think you could ruin this wonderful bread. I bet it's even good burned! One thing I'm unsure of...the recipe calls for 2 1/2 c water but doesn't say "divided". Even so, I went ahead and dissolved the yeast in 1/2 c water and added the remaining 2 c to the flour mixture. Also, 1 ingredient line is for "1 tablespoon salt" and the next ingredient line is for "1/2 teaspoon salt". As sugar helps boost yeast, I suspect it should read 1/2 teaspoon sugar. But no matter; a thousand thank yous to Thorsten for this winner. UPDATE: I'm making this once weekly, so practically don't have to look at the recipe. Well, yes I do, as I accidentally added all the 2 & 1/2 c water into the mix along with the 1/2 c water that the yeast had dissolved in. And yet, we like it better this way. It's still way chewy, but not quite as dry. I think this is how I was supposed to do it in the first place!