This post was originally published in April 2015. It’s been updated as of March 2020 with new pictures, improved text and instructions, and a video.
Simple Spelt Bread
I have a serious crush on homemade bread. Who doesn’t? I’m always happy in the kitchen, but baking bread always puts a smile on my face. The smell, the way the dough feels, and watching what sometimes feels a science experiment turn into something so tasty.
Nothing beats a loaf of bread fresh from the oven. This is a nice, simple sandwich loaf made with 100% whole spelt flour. If you’re looking for a good basic toast/sandwich bread, this is it. It’s my staple bread recipe.
The recipe calls for sprouted flour, which has a couple of awesome qualities – it’s easier to digest than regular flour (both spelt and conventional wheat) and it makes for a lovely light bread. Keep in mind, though, that it won’t last quite as long as other breads, so eat it pretty quickly.
Making bread from scratch
It’s easier than you think, really. You can watch the video for some ideas on how kneading should happen, etc. but it’s pretty basic. For this recipe, you just need yeast, flour, a bit of sweetener, water, milk, and olive oil. If you read through this, watch the video, and still think this might be a bit much, try this no-knead spelt bread first.
The 10 minute sit with the water, yeast, and honey is important – first, it’ll tell you that your yeast is still active, so you don’t waste a bunch of time and ingredients with dead yeast. Second, it’s supposed to help your dough rise faster but that only really matters if you’re using traditional yeast.
There’s a range in the amount of flour you need for this recipe because it depends on a few factors. The big one is that when measuring by volume (cups) the density will vary between flour types and your measuring method.
If you’re using gram measurements then you don’t really need to look at the range, but flour absorbability does vary between types so you will likely need a bit more or less. I use about 3 1/4 cups or just under 500 grams when I make it with the type of flour I use but have used much less with Canadian flour types.
Substitutions & Tips
The recipe calls for sprouted spelt flour, but you can see in the video that I use a lighter flour – it’s sifted or light spelt because I didn’t have sprouted. You can also use regular whole grain spelt, or a mix of any of the three.
This is a specifically spelt bread recipe, but if you don’t have enough on hand for the full recipe or want to sub something else, kamut, einkorn, or any other ancient grain can be used (and whole wheat/all purpose, of course). I haven’t tried making this recipe gluten free because it is spelt bread.
You can use dairy milk for non-dairy if you drink it, which can be said for just about any recipe. Any kind of liquid oil can be used instead of olive – just avoid very strong tasting oils like sesame. There is no substitution for yeast unless you’d like to try a spelt sourdough.
If you’d like to add some things in to this recipe, look to this honey and oat bread, also made with spelt flour. And if you love baking with spelt, almost all of my bread recipes are made with a base of spelt flour.
You can find spelt flour just about anywhere these days – most grocery stores carry it, you can order it easily online, and bulk barn carries light, whole grain, and sprouted. It’s a great flour and my go-to.
In the video, you can see that I roll the bread up into a log before placing it into the tin. This makes a nice tidy looking loaf and you can do that if you like, but it’s not essential – you can also just plop the dough into the tin and go.
More great spelt bread recipes
Spelt Tortillas
Easy Spelt Naan
Rye Sourdough Bread
Saffron Wreath Bread
Vegan Cinnamon Cardamom Buns
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Simple Spelt Bread Recipe
Description
Ingredients
- 60 ml (¼ cup) warm water
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
- 250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk can use dairy milk if preferred
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ~500 grams (3 – 3 ½ cup) whole sprouted spelt flour *
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Add the water and honey to a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over top and let it sit for ten minutes. After ten minutes, it should be foamy. If the mixture doesn't foam, discard – you need new yeast.60 ml (¼ cup) warm water, 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast, 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- Add the milk, olive oil, 2 cups (300 grams) of the flour, and the salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a loose dough forms.250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk, 3 tablespoons olive oil, ~500 grams (3 – 3 ½ cup) whole sprouted spelt flour *, 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Add the remaining flour ½ cup at a time, kneading between each addition, until a smooth, springy dough forms. This should take 6-8 minutes. It should be quite smooth and not really sticky. If you're using a stand mixer, use the dough attachment for this.
- Place the dough into a large greased bowl and cover with a tea towel or large plate. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for one hour, or until doubled in size. This is called proofing.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down gently and place it into a parchment-lined or well greased standard-size** loaf pan, tucking any untidy ends underneath. Cover with a tea towel and place the loaf into a warm place to rise again for half an hour longer. While it's rising, heat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Bake the bread for about 45 minutes, or until golden, and it sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and cool for ten minutes on a rack before cutting.
- Store the bread in a sealed container for up to three days, or freeze for up to a month.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
I made this yesterday. It tastes good enough. However, it did not rise as I expected, and it is quite dense. Any ideas?
The yeast DID become quite foamy after the 10 minutes. I used honey and homemade oat milk. The flour was “Whole spelt flour (brown) organic” from Natural Grocers. I’m fairly certain I kneaded (using kitchenmaid mixer and dough hook) for at least 8 minutes; the dough consistency was as described.
(NB: I am at ~5000 ft in Colorado; however, I have found I have not had to do any adjustments with other bread recipes and they work out just fine. The one trick that I usually employ for bread that I couldn’t use this time was warming the oven just a wee bit — preheat for 1 min then turn off — before putting the dough in to rise; so it was left to rise in normal room air temperatures. Not cold, but not AS warm as normal.)
Thanks!
Hi Carolyn, based on all the information you provided (helpful, thank you!) I’d say the dough was over-mixed. I’ve added a note to the recipe now about this, but using a standing mixer can result in a dense loaf with spelt if it’s kneaded too long. Next time, I’d go for 5-6 minutes, or even less, depending on the speed of your mixer. Go by feel rather than time. I hope this helps!
This bread was super easy to make and was so delicious that I’ll have to bake another tomorrow as it didn’t last the day in our house!
I love this recipe! I mill my own grains and this method is so easy. I never thought of using maple syrup as the sweetener in place of honey and the yeast foamed beautifully. I also added 2 teaspoons of gluten for that sponginess texture.
I love your recipe!!! My family loves it! So soft and less kneading.
I used this recipe to make hamburger buns! Thank you.
Hi Alexandra
Can I substitute the Oat milk in this recipe with Almond, or Coconut beverage? How about Soy milk?
As always, thx in advance for your help.
Ed
Hi Ed, you sure can. Any milk that would come in a tetra pack will work here, I’d just avoid something like canned coconut milk.
Do you think homemade hemp milk will work in this recipe. It only consists of hemp hearts and water.
Hi Cherri, hemp milk would be fine.
Can I , or should I, add dry malt powder to this recipe to enhance flavor and the fluffiness to the bread? If so, how much?
Thx in advance
Ed
Hi Ed, I’ve never worked with malt powder so I can’t advise on this, sorry!
I don’t have a stand mixer not a hand mixer so this bread was a tough job for me, took me nearly 1 hour of kneading till the dough not to stick to my finger 😮 And when it came out of oven, it looked tough as brick, feel as hard as brick, I was thinking oh no, a brick bread does really exit 😮 but I took my courage to cut it. Luckily, turned out it was soft inside. Tasted good too. Thank you for the recipe. I enjoyed the bread but may not do it again till I get myself a stand mixer or at least a hand mixer 🙂
Hi there, I think you probably would have been fine to just add a bit more flour! Spelt shouldn’t be kneaded so long and it will get pretty tough if over-mixed. I always knead this recipe by hand, but just add a sprinkle of flour as needed to prevent sticking. Hope this helps!
Hi Alexandra
I’m new to baking bread. And I am unfamiliar with what kind of yeast I should use in this recipe. Should I use active yeast, or quick yeast?
Thx in advance
Ed
Hi Ed, this recipe blooms the yeast, so you can use either interchangeably. Quick yeast might cause a very slightly faster rise, but they can both be used.
I made this bread today (August 1st) for Lughnasadh. It’s tradition to bake bread on this ancient Celtic/pagan holiday. I used white spelt and ended up needing more flour than the recipe called for, but the bread turned out fabulously deliciously fantastic. Perfect crust, perfectly soft and fluffy inside, amazing. Thank you.
I followed the recipe and added half a cup of chickpea flour as well. The recipe is easy to follow and works perfectly. Maybe the best recipe till now.
Just made it today and we loved it. My husband and 3 yr old couldn’t get enough. Making another loaf tomorrow. Can I let it proof in the fridge over night or leave it out to be baked in the morning?
Hi Rachel, I’m so glad you like it. I haven’t tried extending the proving time for this recipe, but you would need to reduce the yeast to leave it on the counter. It should work to have it in the fridge for the second proof, after shaping, and then bring it to room temp before baking (but haven’t tried!) – please let me know how it goes!
Can I add eggs to this recipe? Thank you for all your detailed instructions. I will need them.
Hi Jeanne, I think that eggs would make for a richer, denser loaf, more like a sweet dough. You could whisk them into the milk before adding but you may need to add more flour when kneading to make up for the greater liquid content. Hope that helps!
Ive now made this 3 times, first time by the recipe, 2nd time in the bread machine, 3rd knead and raised in machine, cooked in oven! All 3 times they came out great, but I preferred the texture to the ones cooked in the oven (and not loosing a chunk to the bread machine blade), due to arthritis it is hard for me to knead properly so having the bread machine to prep it really helped. I did raise for 30 mins again after the bread machine in the tin before baking and it came up heaps, the cooked bread was much bigger than my 1st loaf and an amazing texture. Thank you again
Thanks very much for all of your notes, Rachel! I’m so happy to hear it turns out well for you with the machine kneading.
Can i use agave instead of honey or syrup?
Yes, no problem.
This bread will now become my go to sandwich bread. The ease of work, time of proofing, baking…all are minimal, but producing one of the best breads I’ve ever made or eaten. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
This came out amaaaazing! thank you for sharing the reciepe
Good morning,
Is it okay to add flax seeds to the mix? I was thinking about 25 grams. Also a few grams on top of the loaf.
Yes, should be fine with no changes to other amounts needed.
Hi! Is it possible to bake this bread without any added oils or fats? Thanks!
Hi Nel, you can leave it out, but the crumb won’t be as soft.
Can I use this same recipe in a bread machine and would I have to adjust any of the measurements?
I’ve never tried making this in a bread maker, sorry!
This is a great bread recipe! I make it often with whole meal spelt and soy milk. But I don’t see a video on your website though you mention it several times in the post and in the comments. Just want to flag it’s not very easy to find if it is indeed somewhere on this page. Thanks so much for your recipes!