• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • All Recipes
  • About
Occasionally Eggs

Occasionally Eggs

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes for Every Season

  • Cookbook
  • Contact
  • All Recipes
  • About
  • Cookbook
  • Contact
Bread

Spelt Flour Buns

November 16, 2022 by Alexandra Daum
Spelt flour buns are light, with a thin crisp crust, just right for a sandwich or with soup. An easier version of German breakfast buns.
Jump to Recipe
A pile of golden buns, close up.

Spelt buns are light, with a thin crisp crust, just right for a sandwich or to serve with soup. This is a much easier and less time intensive version of classic German breakfast buns, which need a long fermentation and use sourdough starter (typically mixed with yeast).

This type of spelt flour bun is very common in German bakeries but now that I’ve moved to Sweden, there’s much less bun variety available. I started making these when I still lived in Canada, where it’s almost impossible to get this type of bread, and they were a lifesaver. Spelt seems to be really growing in popularity in North America now, though, and it’s become easier to find the flour, at least. So you can make these at home!

Like all spelt bread recipes, these need a shorter kneading time and rise beautifully, so it’s a good option if you’re not that confident with bread making or a bun beginner. If you’re still unsure, try these no-knead buns instead.

This is a higher hydration recipe, making the dough a little different than some other bun recipes. If you’re familiar with making sourdough boules, it’s a bit more like that. This high hydration is how you get that crisp crust and light interior texture.

Table of Contents hide
Why You Should Try This Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Step by Step
Recipe Notes
How to Store
Expert Tips
Spelt Flour Buns

Why You Should Try This Recipe

Spelt flour is more flavourful than white flour and although it won’t achieve quite the same rise or fluffy texture, these taste so much better than plain buns. Make them if you’re a fan of bread that’s good on its own without any additions.

  • It uses whole grain flour: the recipe can be made with all light spelt, but does benefit from adding whole grain. This boosts the flavour and fibre content – win win.
  • You don’t need a stand mixer: I don’t have one, and spelt bread is generally best kneaded by hand in any case to avoid overdoing it.
  • Minimal ingredients: with just a handful of basic ingredients, you don’t need to worry about finding anything uncommon (assuming you can get spelt flour easily).

Ingredients

Spelt buns ingredients.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Spelt flour: this is a spelt specific recipe so I won’t offer any alternatives. Note that you can use a mix of light and whole grain, though, and even make 100% whole grain if preferred.
  • Seeds: if using seeds, use any mix of sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds. I don’t recommend flax or chia for this recipe.
  • Yeast: options are provided for both fresh and dry yeast. This recipe is developed with a step to activate the yeast, so you can use any type of dry yeast. Instant yeast may result in slightly faster rising times so be careful not to over prove.

Step by Step

1. Mix: whisk together the water and oil, then add the yeast. Add the flour and salt and mix into a shaggy dough.
2. Knead: use your hands or a standing mixer to knead, then place the dough into a bowl and use wet hands to tuck it into a round ball (see video).

Spelt buns steps 1 to 4.

3. Rise: set aside to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
4. Shape: divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, then shape into balls.
5. Rise again: place the buns onto a lined baking sheet and rise again until puffy, about half a hour.
6. Bake: until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Buns steps 5 and 6.

Recipe Notes

The seed coating isn’t necessary, but it’s delicious. You can coat with seeds or leave them off – the buns are good either way. For this particular recipe I do prefer them without the seeds as they’re more of a breakfast bun, but it’s up to you.

The base recipe here is vegan/egg-free, but the buns are brushed with egg if coating with seeds. It’s what makes the seeds stick. You can use water or even a bit of non-dairy milk but the result will be slightly different (more soft than crisp).

Cool fully to prevent the bun interior from rolling or pilling when slicing. If you don’t mind this, then certainly serve warm, as they do taste best fresh.

For kneading, the method here is slightly different as it’s a higher hydration dough. Think more of a stretching and slapping movement rather than a rolled kneading motion. Once the dough stretches a lot without tearing, it’s ready to prove – it won’t be soft and smooth when kneading. If using a stand mixer just let it go for about 5 minutes and it’ll be ready.

I did try scoring these but found that the combination of a wet dough and regular oven (not a steam oven) meant that the scoring only worked perfectly about 50% of the time. You can do oval buns with a centre score if you’d like that traditional shape.

How to Store

Storage: keep cooled buns in a sealed container at room temperature for a couple of days. This is yeast-based rather than sourdough and the buns will go stale fairly quickly, but can be toasted to wake them back up a bit.

Freezing: place the buns in an airtight container and freeze for up to six months. Thaw at room temperature and serve as usual. They will dry out slightly in the freezer.

Bun cut in half to show interior texture, close up.

Expert Tips

  • Don’t over knead: spelt flour has a lower gluten content and doesn’t take well to over-mixing. Knead until stretchy, but not as long as you would for white or bread flour.
  • Check your yeast: if you’re uncertain of the age of your yeast, test a little bit in some warm water first. It should foam up after a few minutes.
  • Refrigerate yeast: fresh or dry, all yeast should be refrigerated for the longest shelf life. Don’t keep it in the cupboard and certainly not over the stove.
  • Add spice: if you want to add Brotgewürz, go for it, but I’m not really a fan in this recipe – these are light, crisp buns, not dark bread.
  • Use damp hands: I keep a spray bottle on hand and spritz my hands before handling each piece of dough to form the buns. The dough is sticky and you’ll need to wet your hands lightly each time, and this is an easy way to do it.

More Spelt Bread Recipes

Honey Oat Bread
Spelt Pretzels
Swedish Cardamom Buns
Spelt Naan

If you make these Spelt Flour Buns or any other ancient grain bread recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

Yield: 12 buns

Spelt Flour Buns

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Rising Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
5 from 3 votes

Ingredients

  • 300 ml water
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons instant or quick yeast or 1/2 cube fresh yeast
  • 500 grams spelt flour*
  • 1 teaspoons sea salt

Seed Coating (Optional)

  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • Raw seeds sunflower, pumpkin, etc.

Instructions

  • Add the water and olive oil to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. If using dry yeast, set aside for 15 minutes in order to allow the yeast to bloom.
    300 ml water, 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or quick yeast, 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • Add the flour and salt, then stir to mix into a shaggy dough. It will be soft.
    500 grams spelt flour*, 1 teaspoons sea salt
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead, using a dough scraper as needed, until a soft, stretchy dough forms. It will be sticky. You should knead for 5-6 minutes by hand, or less time if using a stand mixer.
  • Transfer the dough back into the mixing bowl. Dampen your hands and use a scooping and rotating movement with your hand to form the dough into a smooth ball (see video).
  • Cover the dough with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about an hour or an hour and a half, depending on the room temperature.
  • Gently punch the dough down to deflate. Form 12 equal buns, pinching the pieces of dough to form balls and then rotating on a clean work surface to create some surface tension. Each bun should be about 72 grams in weight if you want to have exactly equal sizes.
  • Place the buns onto a lined baking sheet and cover again. Set aside to rise until puffy but not doubled in size, about half an hour. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) while the buns are rising.
  • Score the tops of the buns if desired and bake for about 20 minutes, or until very golden and the outside feels hard to the touch. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Seed Coating

  • For the optional seed coating, place seeds into a shallow dish. Brush the buns with the egg wash after shaping (don't let them rise first), then dip in the seeds. Place the coated buns back onto the lined baking sheet, then rise and bake as usual.
    1 egg, Raw seeds

Video

Notes

* Use any blend of light and whole grain spelt you’d like. I usually do 50/50.
• Please reference the recipe video for visual assistance in forming the buns.

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.


Nutrition

Serving: 1bun Calories: 216kcal Carbohydrates: 31g Protein: 6g Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g Monounsaturated Fat: 4g Sodium: 200mg Potassium: 22mg Fiber: 6g Vitamin C: 0.01mg Calcium: 2mg Iron: 2mg

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Bread, Breakfast, Pantry Recipes
Cuisine: German
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Print

Newsletter

Sign up for weekly updates and subscriber-only recipes.

More Bread:

Close up of vegetable pizza on parchment paper.Spelt Flour Pizza Dough
Twisted filled buns on a plate in a windowsill.Swedish Cardamom Buns
Einkorn bread, sliced, in dappled light.Einkorn Bread
Oat bread with several slices cut, top down view.Honey Oat Bread

Previous Post: « Easy Roasted Red Cabbage
Next Post: Hazelnut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Joe says

    March 4, 2021 at 11:19 pm

    How many buns will this divide into? Or how much should each approximately weigh?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      March 5, 2021 at 7:41 am

      It should make about nine buns. I haven’t made this recipe in a long time and unfortunately can’t test right now to see what the individual weights should be.

      Reply
  2. Emma says

    June 15, 2019 at 2:58 pm

    Hello ! I’d like to cook this recipe as a loaf instead of buns. What cooking time would you recommend ? Thank you

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      June 15, 2019 at 3:11 pm

      I’ve never tried this, but I’d say 50-55 minutes at the same temperature. It should sound hollow when tapped and be golden in colour. Hope that helps!

      Reply

About Alexandra
Recipes
FAQ
Contact
Work With Me

STAY IN CONTACT
get weekly updates, exclusive recipes, and more

   

Get the cookbook

© 2023 Occasionally Eggs | Images and text may not be used without permission | Privacy Policy