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.
Tried this recipe today.
It has good body without being heavy. First non wheat bread that actually tastes good!!
Want to try this recipe out but we use raw milk. Will that pose any issue?
Hi Julie, dairy milk should be fine. Whether raw or pasteurised won’t matter.
Wonderful recipe , turned out perfectly just like your photo . And it’s delicious !
Can the dough or the bread itself be made in a breadmaker?
Hi Jayshree, I’ve never tried making this in a breadmaker, and my concern would be over-mixing. If you can adjust the kneading time on your machine to be a little shorter, then it should probably work. Sorry I can’t be more help – I haven’t used a breadmaker since I was a kid.
I used goats milk and it worked out great!!! My husband absolutely loves any of my homade bread but he especially loved this one I just wish I would have done two loaves lol ugh he literally ate the whole loaf in one day haha
Hi, I’d like to try this recipe. A bit confused, what does 3-3 1/2 cups flour mean? 6 and 1/2 cups? Or 3 cups plus 1/2 cup?
Hi Yvonne, it means 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour, because you might need a little more or less depending on how you measure in cups and the flour.
Sorry I find your bread recipe confusing when you get to part 2- you say 300g of the flour on pat1- and then 500g on part 2.
Hi Rose, I see where your confusion might be, it’s a quirk of the recipe card. The lighter text under the instructions is the ingredients used for that step, and because this recipe uses the full amount of flour over steps 2 and 3, it’s only listed after the step 2 instructions. Just follow the instruction bit and you can ignore the lighter grey text if that’s not helpful to you.
I cooked two loaves today and turned out great.
Thanks for the recipe.
I made the Spelt Flour bread today using oatmilk.
Wonderful!
Great recipe. I’ll certainly bake again.
Thanks.
Hi I’m using organic dry yeast what would the quantity be please?
2 1/4 teaspoons, as called for in the recipe.
hey, this recipe just says yeast. Does the type matter? I’ve only ever made one loaf of bread so long ago and can’t remember. Excuse previous typos. Thank you
Hi there, doesn’t matter what type you use for this recipe as it’s bloomed – you may have a slightly faster rise time if using instant, but can use instant, traditional, or fresh.
It’s a tasty but very crumbly bread. I had to add about a 1/2 cup of bread flour to get the dough to tighten up. Maybe my spelt wasn’t ground fine enough??
Hi there, the crumbliness will likely be due to under- or over-kneading the dough and adding additional flour would exacerbate that further. While you can’t do a windowpane test with spelt, the dough should be stretchy when it’s been correctly kneaded and won’t be crumbly at all after baking.
I’m wondering if I can use my sourdough starter instead of yeast in this recipe? If so, what would the conversion amount and instructions be? Thanks.
Hi Christy, I have a couple of spelt sourdough recipes on my site, and I would recommend using one of those instead. I haven’t tested this recipe using starter – if you want to try, I would suggest 100g active starter at 100% hydration, overnight bulk ferment at room temp, and then shape and second rise in the tin about four hours room temp before baking as instructed. That’s an estimate but it’s where I would start.
I notice that you have said you can use milk instead of non-dairy, would it be the same quantity and is semi-skimmed (half milk) OK to use? Thank you.
Same quantity, semi-skimmed should be fine. I’d say that’s probably the most equivalent to non-dairy milk.
My husband and I just made this and we are impressed. According to your recipe, you used 500g of flour which would be close to 4 cups. At one point, as we were kneading, my husband thought the dough was perfect so we didn’t add additional flour. We probably used 3 1/4 cups in total. We used stone ground spelt flour and oat milk as the non dairy milk.
Thanks
Hi Julie, the cup measurements call for 3-3 1/2 cups flour, so you were spot on! Happy you liked the recipe.
Does the milk have to be non-dairy or is that a preference?
Hi Craig, a preference. I’m allergic to dairy protein so can’t test recipes with normal milk, but many readers have successfully made this recipe with dairy milk.
This is not only the most simple spelt bread recipe, but it is truly the most delicious one I’ve tried! It is soft and perfect for sandwiches with the best flavor. They taste like a healthy grain but the honey shines even though it’s just 1 Tbsp. PERFECTION – we will make this every week! Thank you!
Hi great recipe thanks alot ! Can I use fresh yeast and how much do I use?
Keep up the great work! I appreciate alot!
Hi Ray, a half cube of fresh yeast (21g) is needed here. I use fresh yeast for this recipe all the time, works great.
I’m about to make this bread so I will come back to rate it. I have a question about oil.
Can I make this oil free? at least in the dough. I’m okay to oil the proofing bowl and the baking tin. Thanks
Hi Randy, you can omit the oil. The bread will be a bit less tender but it will work. Add an extra splash of milk to make up for the reduced liquid.
Thank you , my first bread that I can actually eat !!
Fabulous recipe