Rustic Spelt Flour Bread In a Loaf Pan
This delicious loaf of spelt bread is everything a good whole grain loaf should be. It is dense and perfect for sandwiches, toast, and any meal you want to serve it with.
Servings: 1 loaf
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer or can be mixed by hand as well.
- 1 9x5 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup warm milk plus extra for the egg wash
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup canola oil or softened butter
- ⅓ cup honey or granulated sugar
- 2 eggs 1 for the bread dough and 1 for egg wash before baking
- 4 ½ cups spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
Instructions
- Add the milk, sugar, butter, and yeast to your mixing bowl. Mix and let this sit for 3-5 minutes. The yeast will be a little bubbly.
- Add all ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed until it is smooth. Check it after 1 minute to see if you need more water or flour. You will want the dough to be slightly sticky (tacky) as the spelt flour needs more moisture than refined flour.
- Mix on medium speed for 7-8 minutes until the dough is smooth.
- Cover and let this rise until it is doubled. Depending on the temperature in your house, this could take between 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours.
- Spray your loaf pan or brush with melted or softened butter. Form the loaf and place it in the prepared pan.
- Cover and let this rise until it is doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees at the end of the rise. You want the oven to be hot when the bread is risen.
- Brush the top with your egg wash. This is optional, but makes a pretty golden brown and shiny loaf.
- If you are making a butter top loaf, as I did. Slit the middle of the loaf VERY gently. Pipe or form a strip of butter and lay it in the middle of the slit.
- Move the loaf to the hot oven and bake for 40-55 minutes. I like to check for doneness with a thermometer. The bread should be baked to 190-192 degrees.
- Remove from the oven when it is done. Gently remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool for at least 20-30 minutes. This will help the loaf to finish baking with the carry-over baking, and for the starches to set.