Soft Spelt Rolls

Dinner rolls arranged together to show all sides of the buns.

Soft, tender, and delicious, these spelt rolls are made with 100% spelt flour, olive oil, and a touch of honey for a little sweetness.

Course Bread, Side Dish, Sides

Cuisine British, Canadian, European, German

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Rising Time 2

Total Time 2 40

Servings rolls

Calories 174kcal

Author Alexandra Daum

Ingredients

250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk or any kind
1 tablespoon honey sub maple syrup if needed
2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast or ½ cube fresh
3 tablespoons olive oil
400 grams (2 ⅔ cups) light (sifted) spelt flour
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

Instructions

Heat the milk until just warm, about skin temperature (around 35°C or 95°F). Add to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the honey, then sprinkle the yeast over top.
250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast
Set aside for ten minutes to allow the yeast to bloom. If using instant yeast, you can skip this step and add the yeast with the dry ingredients.
Whisk in the olive oil, then add the flour and salt. Stir into a shaggy dough.
3 tablespoons olive oil, 400 grams (2 ⅔ cups) light (sifted) spelt flour, 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
Knead the dough until it forms a soft, smooth ball. This will take about five minutes with a handheld electric mixer with the dough attachments, or around eight minutes by hand. Spelt flour dough will not pass a windowpane test but it should be smooth and fairly elastic when ready. Don't add more flour when kneading.
Place the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover well. Set aside to rise until doubled, approximately one hour in a warm, draft-free place.
Once the dough has risen, gently punch it down and divide into 12 equal pieces. Grease a rectangular dish approximately 31x21cm (~9x13 in.) lightly with oil or butter.
Rotate each ball with your hand on a clean work surface to create some surface tension on the buns, then place into the greased baking dish. Cover with a damp tea towel and place in an enclosed space like your (cool) oven to rise again until doubled in size, about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Once the buns have risen, bake for 20-25 minutes* until golden. Once baked, remove from the oven and brush with a little more olive oil, butter, or coconut oil. Cool for 20-30 minutes before serving. See notes for cooling.
Store in a sealed container at room temperature for a couple of days or freeze for up to three months.

Notes

* The baking time will vary slightly depending on the type of baking dish you use. Metal will cause the buns to bake more quickly than ceramic or glass.

Measuring: as always, I recommend using weight measurements for accuracy (cups aren't reliable). Cup amounts for flour are based on the typical home baker measurement of scoop and level.
Storage: keep in a sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days. They can be stored for longer but will start to dry out or mould after a while. Refrigeration will dry them out quickly.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled buns to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. Thaw at room temperature. Freeze the same day they're baked for best results.
Flour: If you choose to use whole grain flour, reduce the amount by about 20 grams or add an extra splash of milk and let the dough rest (autolyse) for about ten minutes before starting the kneading process to let the flour absorb the liquid.
Covering: I usually live in places with very high humidity and rarely have dried out dough, so covering with a tea towel in the oven for the second rise is generally fine. If you're somewhere very dry, use a damp tea towel and also place somewhere enclosed like the oven. Covering the bowl of dough for the first prove with a towel and a place is usually fine. You can also use something like beeswax wrap under the plate if you want something that keeps in moisture more effectively.
Heat until just warm: the milk should be just over skin temperature. If it's too hot, it'll kill the yeast. Test by touching the milk with your finger - if it feels the same temperature as your skin or just a little warmer, it's perfect. If it's too hot, set it aside to cool before stirring in the yeast.
Rising: the rising time of your dough will depend on a few factors, mostly temperature. Look for the dough to be doubled. If it hasn't doubled after an hour, you need to give it more time to prove until it has. Rising times are always estimates.
Cooling: if the buns cool slowly in the baking dish, they can get a little soggy at the bottom from trapped humidity. Cooling them quickly (like in an unheated room in wintertime) is great. If your home is warmer, you can turn them out of the dish and cool on a wire rack instead, but note that the edges will dry out a little bit. To prevent that, you can wrap the buns in a tea towel and then place on a wire rack to cool (the fabric will trap some of that humidity, but not too much).

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